When exploring, expect the unexpected
by Ben Crothers
Ben is leading Facilitation Expeditions that begin November 8, 2021 and February 7, 2022
Click here for more info
Well hello again! Ben Crothers here. You might recall when I was last in your inbox, I talked about the importance of including exploration in your team's workshops (as well as opening and closing). Breakthrough strategy and solutions come from giving your team time for emergence, as well as divergence and convergence.
As is often the way with exploring, you have to expect the unexpected. A while back, I was facilitating a vision and ideation workshop with a bunch of developers for their Jira product, at Atlassian. I got them to do a Design the Box activity. The idea was for them to grab a cardboard box and design the outside as if it was the product box for the new Jira. What should be the 'winning benefits' displayed that would sell it? What would be the 'ingredients' and 'serving size'? Design the Box is a fantastic example of an exploration game, because it re-frames how people think about a very familiar thing (in this case, how Jira developers thought about Jira).
But then a weird thing happened. Amongst the 4 different small groups, they changed the rules of the game. Instead of a product box, they decided to make a better Jira, as if it was a physical thing.
Two developers bringing their vision to life through cardboard
This photo shows a couple of developers making their vision of a new Jira: a monorail train at a station (you can see that, can't you? ;) ). Sure, it's just pieces of cardboard, but what they brought to life was a brand new way of thinking about Jira (at the time): Jira wasn't just a passive place to store work tickets, it was an active machine that pushed work along to completion.
They reframed the purpose of Jira. Their thinking was transformed. This was a breakthrough moment for the team. And it was also really fun.
I want these breakthrough moments for you and your team. There are loads of exploration games, just like Design a Box, for you to try. Some other favourites of mine are Campfire for storytelling, Elevator Pitch for value focus, and Force Field Analysis for change management dynamics.
So, set aside time in your next workshop agenda to do some exploration, using one or more of these games. Great insight and progress is on the other side!
-Ben
Ben is leading Facilitation Expeditions beginning November 8, 2021 and February 7, 2022
