It may appear that the most important roles in the Team have already been described.  Actually, the most important role in the Team is that of Inquiring Members.  Their practice of the “art of inquiry” is paramount to the development of productive answers.  Competent, cogent, capable and intuitive questions are needed to “see through” the process that will lead to an effective and productive result.  Developing such questions is not as straightforward as it may appear.  Perhaps it begins with a simple, innate curiosity using conjecture that empowers us to look “outside of our familiar cultural box.”  For myself, intuition often leads me to insights, but it then becomes necessary to demonstrate through good questions how that insight could come alive for others.  One dictum is obvious as a friend of mine quotes, “No questions, no answers.”  The better the questions the more evolved will be the answers.  Good questions and answers lead to more scaffolding of the topic and lateral extensions for related discoveries. 
 
The art of inquiry is in many ways very similar to forensic analysis – the evidence leads the investigator to speculate about the situation, and then forms those speculations into insightful questions.  Some aspects of the investigation and question may be answered while others aspects may not.  That offers the opportunity to ask more questions.  As the questions become answered, there should develop a conceptual integration of the problem, the questions and the answers. 
 
Now, returning to the line of thought involving a Design Team, we must ask, “Who will teach the first teams?”  Don’t jump to the conclusion that original thinkers immediately see themselves as teachers.  I hadn’t for a long time until I realized the value of an innovative concept as social sustainability was not being readily accepted.  LOL!

At this point in time, I am well along in the development of a two or three day workshop for people who are interested in the potential of implementing the concepts of social sustainability.  The focus is to prepare participants for the experience of hands-on participation in a Workshop Design Team(s) – to work on a project of their choosing with other team members, playing out the roles within the team to engage the Design Team Process, which usually develops synergistically. 
 
In 2007-08 I conducted held an Experimental Design Team over the course of 8 months in Evergreen, Colorado as a “proof of concept” demonstration.  The demonstration project proved that the design team and the design team process were successful.  The volunteers discovered that although the concepts of social sustainability seemed to be nebulous, they come alive and personally relevant in an experiential setting.  

You are invited to contact me for more information for an agency, company or local community Social Sustainability Design Team Workshop.