Inquiry intelligence asks key questions that reveal the meta-wisdom of the city. The questions are simple and can be addressed to both individuals and groups.

  • What is important to you? What’s working in your life, family, community, school, health system, city? What’s not working in your life, family, community, school, health system, city? What is your vision of the optimum in your life, family, community, school, health system, city? Where do you source your bio-psycho-cultural-social energy in the city?
  • After we listen to people’s answers, we compare notes amongst individuals and groups and identify key. For instance, we might discover that cultural festivals are important for family bonds.
  • When we learn what is working, it enables us to see the strengths of the city at different levels of scale – individual, family, work place, neighbourhood.
  • When we learn what is not working (at different scales) we can identify blocks in the energy flow of the city. Then we can determine how our strengths will help release the energy flow. For instance we might learn that new immigrants in the city can’t sell their goods at certain locations. Then we might discover that if we combined the celebration of festivals with the opportunity to sell goods we might both strengthen bonds and generate local economic return.
  • The answer to what is your vision usually leads us to discover the change we need to unlock the potential of our city. It tells us the answer to the question: Change from what to what? For instance we might learn that people’s vision of the city is that we capitalize on our traditional manufacturing prowess using new technologies like 3D printing. Then we might learn that we have to re-train our expert designers as well as our skilled labourers.
  • When we find out where  people source their energy from – whether that be their workout routine (bio), their learning path (psycho), their faith system (cultural),  or their workplace (social), we often discover the identity of the “Wise Leaders/Elders” of the Human Hive.  These leaders often hold the collective wisdom of the city’s Inner Judges (like Mayors and their economic advisors) and Resource Allocators (like financial institutions).

Thus inquiry can act like a re-sourcing dance that brings together on the dance floor all the roles of the Human Hive for the discovery of productive outcomes.

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This blog is a prologue to the Integral City webinar conference  City 2.0 Co-Creating the Future of the Human Hive . We are inventing a new operating system for the city.  Click to get more details re the Free Expo and eLaboratory membership  scheduled September 4-27  2012. You are invited to attend and participate.