Getting Clear About Program by Peeling the Onion:

A Problem-Solving Activity

Purpose: To provide a structured way to develop an appreciation for the complexity of a problem or program in order to avoid the inclination to start out “solving” the problem, rather than working first to understand it.

For Example: Too many school leaders approach facility improvements without adequately thinking through the educational programming needs that necessitate the change. Referencing something most people can relate to – home improvement – we tell a story called, “I want a pool table and I have a garage” to illustrate our proclivity to stop thinking when we find a convenient and easy way to adapt spaces for our programs.

A family wants a pool table, but lacking a room in their home sufficiently large enough to house it, they put it in their garage. Once it’s there, a sense of loss waves over the family. Out go the storage and the car, not to mention the ease with which groceries were once brought into the house. Once they go to play pool, they realize the level of the garage floor changes approximately three inches over the course of 20 feet for drainage. Yet a flat surface is required for pool. And then there’s the matter of heating the garage.

Time allotted: 40 minutes

Group format: 10-12 members, facilitator

Facilitation tips: Most of us are eager to solve problems before we truly understand their depth. This protocol is designed to help us peel away the layers in order to see that most problems are not simple-minded and require more than our initial take on what should be done. The facilitator should keep to the times strictly and gently remind people when they are deciding too soon: Let’s hold that for later, OK?

The Activity:

  1. Someone agrees to share a facility question for which they would like consultation. (7 minutes)
  2. Only clarifying questions may be asked (these must be purely informational). (3 minutes)
  3. A round where everyone gets to say: What I hear the question is…

(The presenter is silent and takes notes.) (6 minutes)

  1. Another round where everyone gets to say: What further questions these statements raise… (6 minutes)
  2. Presenter: Having heard these questions, I think there are implications for… (5-10 minutes, may open the conversation if time)
  3. All debrief the procedure (5 minutes)

Reflection questions:

How was this experience of peeling the onion?

Why did we do this activity?

What other “onions” are there to peel in our work together?

Additional Thoughts:

In order to avoid solutions based on easy answers, we need to force the conversation about the problems we are trying to solve and talk about what we really need to do programmatically – which becomes our greatest insurance against avoiding later pitfalls. Rather than finding one place where a program can be located, why not identify three other places? And why not follow that question with one that asks what else those three places could be? (Given the rapidly changing nature of the world into which we will send our students, we must design school buildings that are “flexible and convertible” enough to support a range of educational program models, including those which we have not yet identified.)

Adapted with permission, from a protocol developed by Nancy Mohr, National School Reform Faculty