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name: questions-evolution description: "Question template for Evolution stories ('X changed from A to B'). Arc: Origin State → Pressure → Transition → New State → Reflection. Use with question-design skill."

Evolution Story Questions

Story type: "This thing changed from X to Y" Arc: Origin State → Pressure → Transition → New State → Reflection

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The Shape

Evolution stories track how something transformed over time - a project, a practice, a belief, a relationship. The reader watches change unfold and learns about the forces that drive transformation.

What makes it work: The tension between what was and what became. Evolution requires pressure - something had to push against the status quo.

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Question Sequence

Opening: The Origin State

What it was before change began.

• "What was [thing] like in the beginning?"
• "What was it designed to do? What problem did it solve?"
• "What did you believe about it then?"
• "What was working? What assumptions were you making?"

Pressure: Why Change Became Necessary

The forces that pushed against the status quo.

• "What started to not work?"
• "What pressure built up over time?"
• "Was there a breaking point, or gradual erosion?"
• "What could you no longer ignore?"
• "What external forces were pushing?"

Transition: How Change Happened

The messy middle of transformation.

• "How did the change actually happen?"
• "Was it intentional or did it emerge?"
• "What did you try that didn't work?"
• "What had to be let go of? What was hard to release?"
• "Were there false starts or wrong turns?"

New State: What It Became

The transformed form.

• "What is [thing] like now?"
• "What's different? What stayed the same?"
• "What can it do now that it couldn't before?"
• "What trade-offs did you accept?"

Reflection: Meta-Learning

What this teaches about change itself.

• "Looking back, was the change inevitable?"
• "What did this process teach you about transformation?"
• "Would you do it the same way again?"
• "How do you recognize when something else needs to evolve?"

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Tacit Knowledge Triggers (Evolution-Specific)

• "What died in the transition? What was the cost?"
• "What tried to stay the same that had to change?"
• "When did you know the old way was really over?"
• "What do you miss about how it was before?"
• "What couldn't exist until after the change?"

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Walking Adaptation

First quarter: Origin State (establish the baseline, comfortable territory) Second quarter: Pressure + early Transition (tension building) Third quarter: Transition completion + New State (resolution) Final quarter: Reflection (meta-learning, synthesis)

The Pressure section benefits from walking - physical movement can help process the discomfort of what wasn't working.

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Example: Stockbook → Zenvestor

Opening: "What was Stockbook in the beginning? What problem were you solving?" Pressure: "What started to break? When did you know it wasn't sustainable?" Transition: "How did the decision to rebuild happen? What did you throw away?" New State: "What is Zenvestor now that Stockbook could never have been?" Reflection: "What did building the same thing three times teach you about software evolution?"

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The evolution story honors both what was and what became.