By Fraser Macdonald, Head of Innovation, Data for Children Collaborative

At the Data for Children Collaborative, we love challenges. We are continually building challenge-led projects aimed at improving outcomes for children globally. We do this because we believe that they enable collaborative innovation, novel solutions, and real impact. A large component of our work involves creating, facilitating and managing challenge-led projects.

We use our unique Impact Collaborations process to develop, facilitate and manage challenge-led projects for organisations focused on improving children's lives.  

Impact Collaborations focus on finding expertise, not asking for defined solutions. Centred on a 'Challenge Question', we pull together a diverse range of individuals and organisations. Through a series of facilitated sessions, the group will form a collaboration and design a project that can address the original challenge question using transdisciplinary techniques. Getting the Challenge Question framed correctly is critical to the eventual success of an Impact Collaboration.  

What is a Challenge Question?

At the collaborative, we spend a lot of time with organisations early on to develop challenge questions that will facilitate a successful impact collaboration. From experience, it is vital that this first step is given the time it deserves. The challenge question sets the collaboration's direction, considering the broader issue being solved while using a language that translates across disciplines.

A field of brown crops, with blurred background of trees and blue skies, with a hand showing OK sign. — So, what makes a good question?

We are often asked, "Is this a good challenge question?" Over the years, with trial and error and welcomed feedback from our previous collaborators, we have developed some fundamentals for how to ask the right question. There are three key factors to consider when creating a good challenge question.

Is the question explorable?

OK, that may be a slightly obvious statement. However, an important thing to remember here is that not all questions are challenge questions. Equally, not all challenge questions resonate with the right audience or deliver the right outcome. A simple way to think about this is to ask: Will this question require further exploration? Or is the answer immediately obvious? 

At the Data for Children Collaborative, we believe in the value of building transdisciplinary teams. Inviting unique perspectives to a discussion is how novel solutions are created. To attract a wide range of organisations, we must consider the complexity of what is being asked in the first place! If the question does not resonate across a broad spectrum of expertise, you won't attract a range of perspectives to the challenge. 

Is there a clear owner?

This goes beyond just having someone ask the question. Does someone want to use the answer? Challenge-led projects can tend to go off-piste. We have all been there, the dreaded 'Scope Drift'. The trick with challenge-led projects is avoiding scope drift while creating environments that enable new ideas and fresh thinking. A challenge owner must be part of any collaboration to maintain this balance. This partner's role is to ensure that no matter our direction, the project is still answering the question and addressing the initial challenge. The follow-up question to this would naturally be – what makes a good challenge owner? Our experience has taught us that challenge owners need to be clear in the issue they are trying to solve but open to having their perspectives tested and questioned. In short, they need to have the right balance of an open mind and an ability to drive change on an issue. 

Is the question 'outcome driven' or 'output driven'?

Firstly, we should clarify what we mean by 'outputs' and 'outcomes'. The two are often incorrectly used interchangeably. At the Data for Children Collaborative, we view outputs as directly tangible deliverables (i.e. a report, tool, or method). The outcome is what results from delivering those outputs. More often than not, you will have an output in mind. You might say, "This challenge should give us [insert an ouput]". You should avoid having a clear idea of the desired outputs. When building a challenge question, you must reflect on what you hope to achieve, not deliver. The Impact Collaboration process encourages multidisciplinary thinking. For the process to work, a challenge question should be based on a broader issue and the desired outcome, leaving the outputs & solution for the team to develop collaboratively.  

Challenge-led projects have the power to deliver truly impactful work. They also create an ideal environment for new and exciting collaborations. The language used, depth of the question and ownership of the answer all play into making a great question. Beyond that, too broad, and you may never really have a genuine impact. Too specific, and you can stifle the creativity of transdisciplinary collaboration.

That is a lot to think about, right? At the Data for Children Collaborative, our experience has taught us that it is worth investing time early in any challenge-led project and creating the right question. Generally, we aim to facilitate at least a half-day workshop. Within this session, we work with a challenge owner to understand the broader issue that needs to be addressed, the specific challenges embedded within that issue, and the barriers to overcoming those challenges. This is all part of our Challenge Led Journey, a concept that will feature in a future blog. A vital component of these workshops is to have the right stakeholders in the room. We have discussed how we approach stakeholder engagement in a previous blog.

If you feel that you have an issue that could benefit from a collaborative, challenge-led approach or if you'd like to learn more about or existing projects, then get in touch with the Data for Children Collaborative for a chat.

What makes a good challenge question?

"To ask the right question is already half the solution of a problem."