Choosing which Protocol to Run: Dilemma vs. Tuning

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Two of the most popular protocols featured in the NSRF Critical Friends Trainings are the Tuning Protocol and the Dilemma Protocols. They are both terrific processes to go through in a collaborative setting because they help teams find wisdom that may be alluding them. The Tuning Protocol allows a piece of work to be presented to a team so that it may be fine-tuned and enhanced, and those participating in the protocol almost always develop ideas to enhance the work that the creator of the work previously had missed. Similarly, the Dilemma Analysis and Dilemma Consultancy Protocols help participants to find solutions that the presenter of the dilemma may have previously missed. Each of these protocols is featured in a five-day Critical Friends New Coaches' Training.

While each of these protocols is very helpful, choosing the "right" one - the one that will benefit the presenter or team the most - can be a dilemma in itself! At a recent training, our group explored these protocols and attempted to simplify how to choose between tuning a plan or wrapping our minds around the dilemmas involved in the plan. We settled on this logic:

  • It is appropriate to use a Dilemma Protocol when I am asking "What should the plan be?"
  • It is appropriate to use a Tuning Protocol when I am asking "What do you think of the plan?"

Importantly, NSRF defines the purpose of the Dilemma Analysis Protocol as being used "to help an individual or a team to think more expansively about a particular, concrete dilemma, using a structured format of questions and responses." We believed that our "What should the plan be?" question helped us to solidify that we did need to think expansively about a topic. On the other hand, NSRF defines the purpose of the Tuning Protocol as being used "to look at a piece of work in order to 'fine tune' it or improve it in some way." Clearly, I have to have a plan of some sort in order for it to be fine-tuned. That said, we often enter into a dilemma with "some sort" of plan in the first place. My group decided that the dilemma should be used when we are still open minded to that question posed above: "What should the plan be?"

To add to the challenge of choosing the right dilemma, NSRF does have multiple dilemma protocols. My team also tried to analyze which dilemma protocol to use: the Dilemma Analysis Protocol or the Dilemma Consultancy Protocol. Fortunately, NSRF makes this decision easy with its placement of a piece of these protocols: Probing Questions.

The Dilemma Consultancy places Probing Questions early in the protocol. These questions are designed by participants to encourage deep-thinking by the person bringing the dilemma to the group.  If written effectively, the presenter of the dilemma will NOT be able to answer these questions on the spot. Instead, he or she should be able to clarify which questions most pushed his or her thinking. In doing so, the presenter helps other participants to see where the dilemma may best be dug into. Because the probing questions come early in the Dilemma Consultancy Protocol, my team came up with the following logic:

  • It is appropriate to use the Dilemma Consultancy Protocol when the presenter of the dilemma is "too close to the work." The person needs to step back and consider some big picture questions prior to proceeding deeper into the protocol, let alone addressing the dilemma.
  • It is appropriate to use the Dilemma Analysis Protocol when the presenter of the dilemma is further removed from the work and is unsure where to even begin!

Lastly, it is important to remember that each of these dilemma protocols, as well as the Tuning Protocol, are a means to reaching the end goal of knowing how to move forward with a plan or project. However, participants in Critical Friends Group Protocols must enter into the protocol knowing that the end goal may not be clear at the conclusion of the protocol. Instead, the process of talking about the work or dilemma at hand will usually serve as a critical step in knowing how to move forward in the end.

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