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Level 4 -  Epiphany Interviews
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Level 4 - Epiphany Interviews

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Everyone takes turns in the circle sharing a value of theirs they lived up to that day, and a value that they didn’t, along with brief stories about what happened.

Value I managed to live up to:

Value I didn't live up to:

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Move #1: Self-Image Flip

Move #2: System Fix

Move #3: Bad Times/Better Times

Move #4: Interviewer's Values

Move #5: Advice

Move #6: Admiration/Appreciation

Move #7: Love, Love, Love (Reggie's Move)

Trauma Move

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PASTE FROM LEVEL 1

Remember 🥂Values Empathy

Filter out ways they are pressuring themselves to be: their goals/fears and expectations.

should stories:

feelings in should moments:

Listen for ways of being that inspire them—dig for their wisdom!

could stories:

feelings in could moments:

PASTE FROM LEVEL 1

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We can use interview techniques to discover how another person's emotions point toward their values, “ways of being” that are important to them, and which were suppressed. Once we have uncovered a person's suppressed values, we can use them as a compass by which to guide our redesigns.

Note: To get quality emotional information, make sure you cultivate a feeling of psychological safety in your interviewee. Don't give them the feeling that they are being judged or are under examination. Be welcoming, loving, and excited!

Harvesting Values with Epiphany Interviews (Training Wheels Edition)

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Step 1: Ask or listen for a story with negative emotions, and identify them.

📋 Listen for what resonates in your body. Take notes!

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Step 2: Find the immediate cause, and the emotion's relationship to a value

Decide on the emotion that was most clear and present.

Write down the emotion, its immediate cause and how that relates to a value.

Emotion:

ex.: frustrated

Immediate Cause:

ex.: people were late

Value needs to be/was:

ex.: blocked

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More examples

Ex: Aisha felt frustrated because people were late. That blocked her ability to treat her time as sacred.

Ex: James loves following his curiosity to expand into the unknown. His job at the textile factory is very repetitive. It feels impossible to live that way there. He ends up leaving work each day feeling depressed. Ex: Lian felt deeply hurt. It seemed unsafe to try to keep things respectful when she was under attack. How could her friend have said those cruel things about her? Ex: Abeo’s desire to win the game had taken over. He felt guilty about having cheated. Deep in his heart, he wished that he had approached things honestly, and admitted that he had fouled his opponent.

Emotion:

Immediate Cause:

Value needed to be/was:

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Step 3: Get the person to talk about their value with epiphany moves
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#1) Self-Image Flip — Look for a value in the opposite of the situation.

Example: I just felt so weak in that moment... // What is your strong self like? How does that self (approach things/treat people/act/keep things/live life)?

Example: I'm completely incompetent... // What would it look like for you to be capable? How would you be able to (approach things/treat people/act/keep things/live life)?

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#2) System Fix — Get rid of the thing(s) that are suppressing the value.

Example: I was scared to say anything because I might lose my job. // How would you have been able to (approach things/treat people/act/keep things/live life) if you knew that you couldn't lose your job?

Example: The deadline was approaching, and I was just getting more and more frustrated... // How would you have been able to (approach things/treat people/act/keep things/live life) if you knew that you had all the time you needed?

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#3) Bad Times/Better Times — Look for commonalities / what's missing in this situation

Example: I just got so frustrated by the whole thing.

Are there other times that you have been frustrated like that? What way of (approaching things/treating people/acting/ keeping things/living life) seems blocked in those moments?

Example: I felt like it didn't even matter if I was there.

Can you think of a time when it seemed like it mattered that you were there? What was different? How were you able to (approach things/act/treat people/keep things)?

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#4) Advice — How do they wish they could remember to approach such situations?

Example: It was all just so confusing. // What advice would you give to yourself in that situation? (Memento model). What way of (approaching things/treating people/acting/ keeping things/living life) would be important to remember?

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#5) Admiration/Inspiration — How would someone they admire handle this situation?

Example: .And then I just felt horrible about the whole thing... // Can you think of a person who would have handled that situation better? How would they have (approached things/acted/treated people/kept things)? [CAREFUL: you might get an image according to which they are pressuring themselves here. If so, bring it back to a value or use another move.]

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#6) Love, Love, Love — Find out what love would look like in the situation

What would this situation look like if love would guide your choices? How would you approach things/ treat people/ act / keep things?

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Trauma Move — Tell the story from an outsider's perspective

Outline the story again, but from the outside... as if it were about someone else. How is that person having trouble (treating people/acting/approaching things/keeping things)?

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Name the 🌳 Personal Value:

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Step 4: Get Specific
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← Click here for MORE TOOLS
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Epiphany Moves

Change the Story, Get More Stories, Take a New Perspective:

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Self Image Flip: What is your __(opposite)__ self like?

Values can get crowded out by internalized expectations. If you notice a negative self-image, perform a Self-Image Flip by asking them what the positive reversal of that would be.

Example: I just felt so weak in that moment...

What is your strong self like? How does that self (approach things/treat people/act/keep things/live life)?

Example: I'm completely incompetent...

What would it look like for you to be capable? How would you be able to (approach things/treat people/act/keep things/live life)?

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System Fix: How would you have been able to ______ if it weren't for _______ ?

Values can also get crowded out by external factors. In that case, find a question by performing a System Fix — getting rid of the problem.

Example: I was scared to say anything because I might lose my job.

How would you have been able to (approach things/treat people/act/keep things/live life) if you knew that you couldn't lose your job?

Example: The deadline was coming up, and I was just getting more and more frustrated...

How would you have been able to (approach things/treat people/act/keep things/live life) if you knew that you had all the time you needed?

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Bad Times/Better Times: Are there other times when you felt ______? // Are there times when you didn't feel ______ ?

Sometimes people have trouble seeing that their values aren't tied to the specifics of one story. In that case, find a question that invites them to think about similar Bad Times or Better Times.

Example (Bad Times): I just got so frustrated by the whole thing.

Are there other times that you have been frustrated like that? What way of (approaching things/treating people/acting/ keeping things/living life) seems blocked in those moments?

Example (Better Times): I felt like it didn't even matter if I was there.

Can you think of a time when it seemed like it mattered that you were there? What was different? How were you able to (approach things/act/treat people/keep things)?

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Interviewer's Values: For me __(broad value)__ is like this ... how is it for you?

You want to make sure that you don't only see your own personal value in another person's story. But saying what that value means for you can give them something to push against.

Example (Self-Reference): I guess it's a kind of authenticity.

When I'm being authentic, it's about sharing my feelings in a way that immediately resonates in my body. Is it like that for you too, or is it something else?

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Advice: What advice would you give to yourself when you struggle with this?

Sometimes people haven't reflected on their story before (or maybe they aren't very self-reflected in general). In that case, ask them for some Advice they would give themselves.

Example: It was all just so hopeless...

What advice would you give to yourself in that situation if you could go back? What way of (approaching things/treating people/acting/ keeping things/living life) would be important to remember?

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Admiration/Appreciation: Can you think of someone who handles these situations well? How do they approach it?

Sometimes people's more easily recognize values they Admire or Appreciate in others.

Example: ...and then I just felt horrible about the whole thing...

Can you think of a person who would have handled that situation really well? How would they have (approached things/acted/treated people/kept things)? [CAREFUL: you might get an image they are pressuring themselves with here. If so, bring it back to a value or use another move.]

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Love, Love, Love: — Where is the love in this situation?

Reggie Luedtke came up with this. I'm not exactly sure why it works, but it's got a pretty solid track record. What wasn't being loved/is worth loving in this situation?

Example: ...and then I just felt horrible about the whole thing...

What would it look like if love would have been guiding your choices? How would you have been (approaching things/ treating people / acting / keeping things)? Alternately: What's worth loving in this situation?

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Third Person (also Trauma Move) — Tell the story from an outsider's perspective

Outline the story again, but from the outside... as if it were about someone else. How is that person having trouble (treating people/acting/approaching things/keeping things)?

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Emotion Questions
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Anger

What's worth protecting?

What way of living is blocked?

What way of being has no space here?

Take Notes:

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Frustration

What's worth protecting?

What way of living is blocked?

What way of being is not safe to emerge?

Take Notes:

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Rage

What's worth protecting?

What way of living is blocked?

What way of being is not safe to emerge?

Take Notes:

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Fear

What's worth protecting?

What way of living is threatened?

What way of being can you not bear to give up on?

Take Notes:

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Anxiety

What's worth protecting?

What way of living is threatened?

What way of being can you not bear to give up on?

Take Notes:

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Nervousness

What's worth protecting?

What way of living is threatened?

Take Notes:

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Shame

What's worth recovering?

What way of living is overridden?

What value did you fail to live by?

Take Notes:

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Embarrassment

What's worth recovering?

What way of living did you neglect?

Take Notes:

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Guilt

What's worth recovering?

What way of living did you neglect?

What did you fail to prioritise?

Take Notes:

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Self-disgust

What's worth recovering?

What way of living did you give up on?

What do you no longer trust yourself with?

Take Notes:

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Regret

What's worth honoring?

What way of living is lost for now?

What way of living has become impossible?

Take Notes:

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Hate

What is worth protecting?

What way of living is violated?

Take Notes:

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Distaste

What's worth recovering?

What way of living is estranged?

Take Notes:

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Disgust

What is worth protecting?

What way of living is violated?

Take Notes:

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Revulsion

What is worth protecting?

What way of living is violated?

Take Notes:

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Sadness

What's worth honoring?

What way of living is lost for now?

What way of living has become impossible?

Take Notes:

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Grief

What's worth honoring?

What way of living is lost for now?

What way of living has become impossible?

Take Notes:

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Remorse

What's worth honoring?

What way of living is lost for now?

What way of living has become impossible?

Take Notes:

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Confusion

What's worth recentering around?

What way of living is out of focus?

What way of living do you not know how to bring to this?

What ways of living seem to be in conflict with each other?

Take Notes:

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Being Lost

What's worth recentering around?

What way of living is out of focus?

What way of living do you not know how to bring to this?

What ways of living seem to be in conflict with each other?

Take Notes:

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Desperation

What's worth nurturing?

What way of living is unsafe to emerge?

What's worth identifying?

What way of living would allow the above emerge?

Take Notes:

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Helplessness

What's worth nurturing?

What way of living is unsafe to emerge?

What's worth identifying?

What way of living would allow the above emerge?

Take Notes:

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Hurt

What's worth nurturing?

What way of living is unsafe to emerge?

What's worth identifying?

What way of living would allow the above emerge?

Take Notes:

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Yearning

What's worth nurturing?

What way of living is unsafe to emerge?

What's worth identifying?

What way of living would allow the above emerge?

Take Notes:

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Heartbreak

What's worth demoting?

What way of living doesn't make sense anymore?

What's worth embracing?

What way of living will save the above?

Take Notes:

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Alienation

What's worth nurturing?

What way of living seems impossible?

Take Notes:

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Bitterness

What's worth nurturing?

What way of living seems impossible?

Take Notes:

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Depression

What's worth nurturing?

What way of living seems impossible?

Take Notes:

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Hopelessness

What's worth nurturing?

What way of living seems impossible?

Take Notes:

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Loneliness

Take Notes:

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Numbness

What's worth nurturing?

What way of living seems impossible?

Take Notes:

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🌳 Preliminary Personal Value:

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🌳 Personal Value: (take notes, and keep a running "best guess")