We live in a world of thresholds—moments where what we know meets what we don’t, where what has worked begins to feel brittle, and where new ways of being and working are just starting to take shape. This is the realm of edges.
In facilitation, leadership, and systems change, edges are not simply metaphors. They are indicators of movement, of invitation, of challenge and potential. They show up when we notice our comfort being tested, when our default tools no longer fit the moment, when our story rubs up against someone else’s, or when a group tiptoes toward transformation.
This July, we’re exploring the theme of Edges not only because it shows up again and again in our work, but also because it will guide us through our upcoming Facilitation Summit. To support this exploration, we’re highlighting one of our favorite peer coaching tools: Troika Consulting. This structured activity invites three people to rotate through the roles of client and consultant, holding space for reflection, clarity, and challenge.
This month’s featured facilitation activity is Troika and we’ve included five provocative prompts you can use for Troika that are tied to the acronym EDGES:
- E – Explore the Unknown
- D – Disrupt Patterns
- G – Generate Dialogue
- E – Embrace Tension
- S – Steward Emergence
Each prompt invites participants to work with a different kind of edge—personal, interpersonal, systemic, or strategic. Below, we unpack each letter of the acronym, explore the deeper meaning, and share how it can guide your practice.
Explore the Unknown
Troika Prompt: Where in your work or life are you currently standing at an edge—something uncertain, emerging, or uncomfortable?
The edge of the unknown can feel exciting—or terrifying. For some, it sparks curiosity and energy. For others, it can produce anxiety and resistance. What matters is not whether we enjoy it, but whether we learn to stay present with it. In our certification programs, we often frame this as a “growth edge,” a place just beyond what’s familiar.
Edges are not always visible. Sometimes, we sense them before we can name them: a pattern breaking down, a restlessness we can’t explain, an opportunity that feels both thrilling and destabilizing. Exploring the unknown requires a stance of openness—not to answers, but to noticing.
It also helps to remember that edges don’t always emerge spontaneously. Sometimes we have to seek them. That might look like joining a new community of practice, offering to facilitate in a new context, or even initiating a difficult conversation. Growth happens in motion.
Facilitators aren’t immune to stagnation either. We often see facilitators return to tools and scripts that used to feel alive but now feel rote. Standing at the edge of our own evolution means becoming reacquainted with uncertainty—sometimes even learning to love it. That’s a skill in itself.
Troika is especially powerful for surfacing these edges. As you speak your uncertainty aloud, others can help you see the contours of what’s forming—even if you can’t quite see it yet.
Disrupt Patterns
Troika Prompt: Where are you being invited to stretch beyond your facilitation comfort zone—and what’s at stake if you do?
Disrupting patterns means naming what’s familiar—and questioning whether it still serves. That might be a facilitation habit, a team dynamic, a structure, or even a mindset. Disruption doesn’t have to be violent. It can be intentional, thoughtful, even gentle. But it does require honesty.
We often see facilitators cling to methods that once worked but no longer fit the moment. The urge to “stick with what I know” is strong. But so is the cost of stagnation.
Stretching beyond the comfort zone requires vulnerability. It can also reawaken creativity. The edge here is not about abandoning everything—it’s about holding your tools lightly, staying flexible, and listening for what the group really needs.
In learning theory, this aligns with the zone of proximal development: that sweet spot where challenge meets support. Troika can illuminate this zone by reflecting back where your current comfort is limiting your next step.
And while pattern disruption may start with technique or practice, it often moves inward. It asks, “What am I avoiding by staying in this groove?” or “Whose needs am I prioritizing when I fall back on this routine?” Sustainable disruption requires pausing to explore our own attachments to comfort, control, or perfection. This deeper layer is often where real transformation begins.
Generate Dialogue
Troika Prompt: What’s a provocative question that lives at the edge of your current project or inquiry?
Some edges live between us. They show up in culture, power, language, identity, and expectation. These edges often surface as friction—but underneath that friction is potential. When we generate dialogue at these edges, we open doors to new understanding, deeper collaboration, and collective insight.
Provocative questions help us reach these edges. They challenge assumptions, uncover values, and reveal blind spots. The edge might be a conversation your team has been avoiding. Or a topic you’re nervous to name out loud. Or a question that feels just a little too big to answer.
In our Facilitation Lab meetups, some of the most powerful moments happen when someone asks a question they’ve been carrying alone—and discovers that others have been holding it too. That’s the power of dialogue.
This Troika prompt encourages you to name one of those edge-questions, and let others reflect it back, stretch it, or reframe it. What feels provocative to you may be the spark that helps your collaborators move forward.
Not every question will feel welcome in every space. That’s part of the edge, too. Facilitators must tune into when to push and when to pause. A provocative question in the wrong moment can close a group down, but in the right moment, it can open up entirely new territory. Timing and trust are everything.
Embrace Tension
Troika Prompt: Where have you felt tension at the edge of a group, culture, or identity—and how is that informing your work today?
Tension is not the enemy of progress. It’s often the signal that something important is at stake. In facilitation, we sometimes talk about the “tightrope” between comfort and discomfort. Stay too comfortable, and there’s no movement. Lean too far into discomfort, and people disengage.
The most skilled facilitators learn to surf this edge. They notice when tension arises. They stay grounded. And they help others interpret the tension, rather than flee from it.
Sometimes, we have to sharpen the edge to make it visible. Other times, we need to soften it so the group can move safely through. There’s no single rule. As we discussed recently, facilitation is not about erasing all tension, but about knowing how to hold it well.
This Troika prompt invites you to examine a moment of past or present tension—especially one connected to difference, identity, or power. How did it shape you? What did you learn? How are you applying that learning now?
We also encourage facilitators to notice their internal reactions to tension. Often, the discomfort we perceive in a group mirrors our own edge. Instead of smoothing over the moment, try asking yourself: What if I stayed curious? What might this tension be pointing to? What’s just beyond it?
Steward Emergence
Troika Prompt: Where are you holding on to an old pattern or process, even though you’re aware something new is trying to emerge?
Emergence is the process through which something new comes into being—often gradually, unpredictably, or at the edges of what we understand. It’s not the same as a goal or a plan. It can’t be controlled. But it can be stewarded.
Many facilitators sense when something new is trying to surface. A group dynamic shifts. An old strategy loses traction. A client begins to ask different questions. You might feel it in the language people use, or in the energy of a room.
The challenge is that emergence often requires letting go. That might mean releasing a process that once served you, or admitting that your usual approach is no longer aligned. It can be humbling—and freeing.
Troika is a beautiful space for stewarding emergence. By naming what feels outdated or misaligned, and asking others to reflect what they sense is trying to take shape, you create a container for clarity. You also signal your readiness to evolve.
This final prompt asks you to name the edge between what was and what wants to be. That’s where the real work begins.
And here’s the truth: emergence rarely feels efficient. It feels messy, slow, ambiguous. That’s because we’re not just solving problems—we’re making room for what didn’t exist yet. Facilitators who learn to live in this ambiguity become better stewards of systemic change, helping groups build resilience for the unknown.
Edges as Practice, Not Destination
Edges aren’t places we conquer. They’re places we practice. They invite us to show up with presence, humility, and curiosity. They are, as one of our team members recently said, where the magic happens—not because they are magical, but because of how we meet them.
As you explore these prompts, we invite you to try them in a Troika with your peers, team, or learning cohort. You don’t have to have answers. You don’t even have to know exactly what your edge is. You just have to be willing to look, to name what you can, and to listen to what others see.
We hope these prompts serve as a doorway to your next threshold—and that you walk through with intention.
Here they are once again, ready for your next Troika:
- Explore the Unknown: Where in your work or life are you currently standing at an edge—something uncertain, emerging, or uncomfortable?
- Disrupt Patterns: Where are you being invited to stretch beyond your facilitation comfort zone—and what’s at stake if you do?
- Generate Dialogue: What’s a provocative question that lives at the edge of your current project or inquiry?
- Embrace Tension: Where have you felt tension at the edge of a group, culture, or identity—and how is that informing your work today?
- Steward Emergence: Where are you holding on to an old pattern or process, even though you’re aware something new is trying to emerge?
Walk to the edge. Look around. Listen. Something powerful lives there.
