Ahead of the Beyond the Status Quo Summit, on April 9, we’re sharing stories of communities coming together to do things differently in Edmonton. For more information about the summit, click here.

When it comes to planning, strategizing, or building projects and programs, the volume of barriers or problems can be daunting. In 2022, ECVO brought Hildy Gotlieb, of Creating the Future, to speak to Edmonton agencies about the power of Catalytic Thinking.  

“I went because it intrigued me,” says Kim Chung, Executive Director of the Centre for Family Literacy.  “It felt like the way I work but I didn't have a name for it. Catalytic thinking is creating the future that we know is possible by asking questions differently and looking at how we’re working differently.” 

The catalytic thinking process is rooted in brain science, and is designed to open up new possibilities. 

“When we think about decisions we need to make or want to make, the first step is to ask: who will be affected? Name all those people, then talk to those people, and say ‘this is what we’re thinking’,” says Chung. “But the way you ask the question of that group is ‘what does good look like?’ It's about reaching that highest potential outcome that we know is out there. 

“To give an example from the Centre for Family Literacy, after asking this question to our stakeholders, we know there is a future out there that we can get to, where literacy is supported, where everyone has access wherever and whenever they need it, where there’s no stigma or fear in learning. We can get to the future if we are asking the right questions,” says Chung.

“When you ask: what does good look like to you? What is the dream? The next question is: what does that make possible and for whom? This way you’re helping the affected groups become the decision makers in the process too. Eventually you get to a point where it doesn’t make sense to ask ‘what does that make possible’ again. That means you’ve reached your ultimate outcome. Next you ask, what are conditions for success? What needs to be in place to reach this outcome?”

The method works by asking these types of open-ended questions. 

Another example: What do people need to feel, know, understand, and be aware of? 

“For true success we have to make sure all these pieces are thought of so when we do things, they are going to be well informed and well planned. From those conditions come actions,” says Chung. “I realized that this process is how I work and this question framework has helped me be more consistent. Asking people to dream is really hard - they often can’t wrap their heads around dreaming with no barriers, restrictions or boundaries.”

The method works well in circumventing the natural urge to focus on problems rather than imagining new and creative ways to move forward.

“When we ask people what the challenges are we can immediately fill three flip-chart papers - we get stuck in the problems of the moment, we get reactive. And when we stay in that space we never get around to designing the future,” says Chung. “Instead of identifying all the barriers, we want to turn it around and ask what needs to be in place for us to get there? This makes it less scary and avoids the fear activation. “

This straightforward reframing technique may seem too good to be true, but when utilized correctly it gets results. 

"I've used it in some instances and someone said: what did you just do to me? We started in a place where we were stuck, and then I started asking questions differently. Eventually she said ‘I’m actually excited about this, what did you just do to me’?” says Chung.  “Will it work? We’ll see but we got out of the stuck part.”

"This has completely changed the way we plan. We’ve always been collaborative, almost all our programs are run in community. We take our programs to the community,”  she says. “Once I realized strategic planning is rooted in military planning and it was just another process, in a long list of processes our sector has inherited as “this is the way things have to be done”, it changed my whole perspective. Our sector is different and we need to embrace the strength in that. This is community impact planning, which is completely different and which fits who we are and how we work so much better.”