Updated! Best workshop exercises we know IV

A conversation between Dave Gray and Jose Manuel Redondo Lopera

Dave Gray writes the Gamestorming newsletter, and I write the Facili-station newsletter. We thought you might enjoy reading a conversation between the two of us about our favourite workshop exercises. We will each write three letters, responding to each other’s thoughts.

Previous letters:

1. Letter 1 from Dave, about the exercises he comes back to over and over again every time he plans a workshop.

2. Letter 2 from me, about the 5 types of foundational exercises at the core of any workshop.

3. Letter 3 from Dave, about facilitating creative energy and flow.

This is letter number 4 of 6.

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Dear Dave,

I really enjoyed your last letter about the 3 mental processes you always go through a workshop (open, explore and close) and some specific exercises that can help you to navigate and transition in each one.

It complements on my previous article about how to successfully design any workshop - 4 phases and 3 states of thinking in every workshop.

In this letter I want to share with a you a multipurpose exercise that has always served me well in lots of workshops, that can easily adapted and be scaled up or down depending on the scope and length of the workshop.

Look at it as a kind of a “swiss army workshop knife”: the upgraded sailboat exercise that can actually last to a two-day workshop.

Short format

The short format can be use in project and team retrospectives where you only focus on:

1. The sun☀️: what was the goal / outcome we wanted to achieved in this period together.

2. The sail⛵️: what are we doing that is moving us forward towards the sun.

3. The anchor ⚓️: what are we doing that is holding us back towards the sun.

After some post-up, clustering, dot voting, prioritisation and landscape mapping on the sail and the anchor, your team knows what to keep and what to stop doing.

Medium format

The medium format can be use at the start of a new project or strategic initiative like a kick-off where you gather all key stakeholders early on to map out an agree upon the viability of the initiative running a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis:

1. The sun ☀️: what is the strategic goal / outcome we want to achieve with this initiative

2. The sail (aka strengths)⛵️: what are the internal organisational strengths we have that will move us forward to the sun.

3. The anchor (aka weaknesses)⚓️ : what are the internal organisational weaknesses we have that will hold us back from reaching the sun.

4. The wind (aka opportunities) 💨: what are the external opportunities out in the market, the economy…. that might help us to move us forward to the sun.

5. The underwater mine (aka threats) 💣: what are the external threats and risks out in the market, the economy…. that might hold us back from reaching the sun.

After some post-up, clustering, dot voting, prioritisation and landscape mapping on the sail, the anchor, the winds and the underwater mine, your strategic stakeholders and project team has a pretty good picture of the strategic fit and viability of the initiative and what to do next.

Long format

The long format can be use at the start of a new project or strategic initiative where a company wants to figure out what to do and how to relate to a new disruptive technology that is coming aggressively into the industry.

As a IT consultant I have been lots of times brought in to help companies to both see, understand and realize the benefits and pitfalls of new technologies (AI, cloud...) for them and how it would help them within their strategy, industry and organisation, so they can make their mind, and pick an specific target area to pilot and implement this new technology:

1. The sun ☀️: what is the strategic goal / outcome we want to achieve with this initiative

2. The sail (aka strengths)⛵️: what are the internal organisational strengths we have that will move us forward to the sun.

3. The anchor (aka weaknesses)⚓️ : what are the internal organisational weaknesses we have that will hold us back from reaching the sun.

4. The wind (aka opportunities) 💨: what are the external opportunities out in the market, the economy…. that might help us to move us forward to the sun.

5. The underwater mine (aka threats) 💣: what are the external threats and risks out in the market, the economy…. that might hold us back from reaching the sun.

6. The motor boat engine (aka game changer) 🚤: what are the strategic benefits of this new technology, how this new tech will help us achieving our goals (“sun”) sooner and faster in the SWOT context we are currently, which departments or products will first benefit by using this new tech.

7. UPDATE!! The captain/s (aka pilots)👨‍✈️ what are the possible pilots we can can internally successfully run in our organization to test this new technology and gain experience (MVP - Minimum Viable Product): name of the department, the project and the person responsible.

Once again, after some post-up, clustering, dot voting, prioritisation and landscape mapping on the sail, the anchor, the winds, the underwater mine and the motor boat engine, your C-level managers, strategic stakeholders and project team has a pretty good picture of the strategic fit and viability of the initiative and what to do next.

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Dear Dave, I hope this has been helpful to you and our readers. I look forward to reading your response and until next time!