ANALYSIS TOOL BOX

Starbursting

Generate questions, not answers. Put the tasking at the center of the star, then sweep all six points — Who, What, When, Where, Why, How — capturing every question you cannot yet answer. The tool defers answer capture until you explicitly switch phases, nudges you when a question field reads like a finding, flags points you have under-explored, and surfaces near-duplicate wordings for your judgment rather than merging them for you. Tag questions for the sub-team that should take them, promote the ones that matter into project framing or an indicators watch list, and save versioned passes as the team adds to the sweep.

How this technique works
Continue in Indicators

About this technique

What is Starbursting?

Starbursting is brainstorming in reverse: instead of generating answers, you generate questions. Write the topic at the center of a six-pointed star and label each point with one of the reporter's questions: Who, What, When, Where, Why and How. Then fill each point with as many questions as you can, without answering any of them until the set feels complete. Heuer and Pherson list it among their idea-generation techniques. Its output is an inventory of questions, not ideas or conclusions.

When to use it

Use Starbursting at the very start of a project, when you've received a vague tasking or a broad request and need to turn it into a structured research plan. It ensures you've considered every angle before you collect or analyze anything. The questions it surfaces then feed later techniques: research priorities, key intelligence questions and indicators.

How to use this tool

  1. Write the topic or tasking at the center of the star, and note where it came from.
  2. Generate questions under all six points. Don't answer yet, since the phases are deliberately separate.
  3. Merge near-duplicates, move questions to a better point, and tag who owns each one.
  4. Flag the important ones. Mark candidate Key Intelligence Questions to carry forward into project framing, and candidate indicators for a watch list.
  5. Move to the answer phase. Record answers, or mark a question out of scope with a reason.
  6. Filter and export the open questions as your research plan, or export the star diagram.

Common pitfalls

  • Answering too early, which cuts off the questions you haven't thought of yet.
  • Neglecting Why and How, where unexamined assumptions usually hide.
  • Leaving out-of-scope questions unexplained. Record why each one was set aside.

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