Thinking
Welcome to the lemus&co blog—your gateway to the innovative projects we’re crafting, the ideas we’re exploring, and the hypotheses we’re testing. Join us on this journey of discovery and growth as we share our latest insights and learnings.
#30: Be a Collaboration Designer
Right now, AI is introducing:
Disruption to how work is done
Automation of low-level tasks, pushing humans to become more creative, strategic, and relational
Increased risk of disconnection and depersonalization
In an age where AI handles the what, human-centered collaboration becomes the new competitive edge for the how.
Be a Collaboration Designer
I thought I coined this term.
Then I googled it… and found MURAL’s whole manifesto on it.
(Shoutout to Collaborative Intelligence - worth a read.)
But you know what they say:
Good artists copy. Great artists steal. -Picasso
So here we are.
The truth is: we were already pretty bad at collaboration.
85% of time in the workplace is wasted on inefficient collaboration (you already know I love referencing this stat)
Psychological safety is still the exception, not the norm
And now we’re adding AI teammates to the mix
If you’re leading teams, shaping strategy, designing orgs, or facilitating change - you can’t just “host a better meeting” anymore.
You need to design the system: the rituals, the norms, the spaces, the tech, the trust.
You need to be a Collaboration Designer.
8 Elements of a Collaboration Designer
Here’s what I believe makes a great Collaboration Designer - someone who can integrate AI and activate humans to do their best work:
Orchestration: The facilitation skills to move ideas, data, AI tools, and human energy toward a shared outcome
Storytelling: The ability to use internal and external stories to build influence, energize teams, and create clarity
Environment: Designing inspiring physical + digital spaces where creativity and connection can thrive
AI Fluency: Staying current on AI trends and tools, and knowing when (and when not) to use them
Maker Mindset: Helping teams move from stuck to shipped: with AI as a co-creator, not a replacement
Coach / Player Leadership: Knowing when to roll up your sleeves and when to lead from behind
Psychological Safety: Creating trust, calming the nervous system, and allowing for real risk-taking and honesty
Process + Tools: A deep toolkit across HCD, agile, lean… and the wisdom to use the right tool at the right time
No one’s actively owning this intersection.
Right now, we outsource it to:
HR for leadership development
IT for tool adoption
Workplace for space design
Coaches and therapists for psychological safety
Strategy and innovation teams for process and tools
But in the AI era, these pieces have to be woven together, not managed in silos.
The Collaboration Designer is that weaver.
Start Practicing and strengthen your collaboration design skills
Take a moment to reflect. Where do you struggle the most? Is it facilitation? AI fluency? Psychological safety?
Start brainstorming ideas on how to strengthen that skill today.
AI-Powered Self-Coaching Prompt
Use this AI prompt to generate ideas on how to level up your weakest area:
I am a {role} and my goal is to {goal inside my team}. I want to increase my skills as a Collaboration Designer based on these 8 elements: [link to full article]. Help me brainstorm practical ways to improve my {element I’m weakest at} in my daily work.
Example:
“I am a Product Manager, and my goal is to help my team move from ideas to execution faster. I want to increase my skills as a Collaboration Designer based on these 8 elements: [link]. Help me brainstorm practical ways to improve my facilitation and orchestration skills in my daily work.”
Drop this into ChatGPT, Claude, or any AI tool you use - and see what comes up.
—
Until next time,
David
Whenever you are ready, there are 4 ways I can help your organization:
Sprints: Get proof an idea will work (or not) in days or weeks. Not months or years
Coaching & Training: Equip your workforce to build more customer-focused solutions
All Hands Workshops: Turn your All Hands meetings + conferences into immediate results
Ways of Working: Launch behavior change interventions before investing significant resources
#29: The 3 Dangerous Mindsets Holding You Back
I just started reading Tiny Experiments by neuroscientist Anne-Laure Le Cunff, and I can’t put it down. I’m only a couple of chapters in, but her framework on The Experimenter’s Mindset stopped me in my tracks. (So much so that I had to start writing this newsletter immediately.)
Here’s a key insight from the book:
On page 36, Anne introduces four mindsets - Cynicism, Escapism, Perfectionism, and the Experimenter’s Mindset.
Each of these mindsets describes a different way people approach change, learning, and ambition. Over the years, I’ve worked with, coached, led, and sometimes ignored people operating in these different modes.
“The Experimenter’s Mindset” framework from Tiny Experiments by Anne-Laure Le Cunff.
Who are you surrounding yourself with?
In a previous post, I talked about the importance of blossoming in the shadows and finding a leader willing to experiment:
The key question is: Who are you surrounding yourself with?
Now, you can ask yourself these two simple but revealing questions about yourself and those around you:
Are they ambitious?
Are they curious?
Let’s break it down:
THE FOUR MINDSETS
1. The Cynic Mindset: Low Ambition, Low Curiosity.
These people see transformation as a threat, not an opportunity for progress.
Cynics are the hardest to engage because they resist change at every turn. We all fall into this mindset at times, but the key is not to let it define us. You can’t force someone out of cynicism, but you can help them acknowledge their lack of ambition or curiosity and see if they want to change.
Tip: If you find yourself in a Cynic Mindset, challenge yourself to say “What if?” more often. Start with a small experiment - one tiny step toward a new possibility.
2. The Escapism Mindset: Low Ambition, High Curiosity
This is where big ideas live but action never happens.
Anne describes this as the Peter Pan syndrome - a world of endless ideas but no execution. It feels fun, but it’s ultimately frustrating if you want to create real change.
Tip: If you lean toward escapism, pick one idea and commit to testing it in the real world. Start with a micro-experiment - something you can try in the next 24 hours.
3. The Perfectionism Mindset: High Ambition, Low Curiosity
This is where most professionals get stuck.
They’re driven, they want to succeed, but they only feel comfortable when they have all the answers. They optimize for productivity at the cost of exploration. This can be valuable in execution but dangerous in transformation work.
Tip: If you lean toward perfectionism, give yourself permission to experiment with “imperfect” ideas. Try a rough draft, a prototype, or an early test version before perfecting anything.
4. The Experimenter’s Mindset: High Ambition, High Curiosity
This is where change happens.
You’re hungry to solve the problem, but you also allow space for learning, adapting, and discovering new paths. This is the starting mindset of great innovators and transformational leaders.
Tip: To cultivate this mindset, set a personal goal to ask one new question every day. Curiosity grows when you make space for it.
How to Increase Your Ambition and Curiosity
If you want to lead change, you need both ambition and curiosity. Here’s a few ideas you can start trying today:
Boost Your Ambition
Set a bigger goal than you’re comfortable with. Challenge yourself.
Surround yourself with people who inspire you to think bigger.
Take one uncomfortable action today—send the email, make the pitch, raise your hand.
Expand Your Curiosity
Read outside your industry. (Pick up a book you’d never normally choose.)
Ask better questions. Swap “What should we do?” for “What could we try?”
Try a small experiment this week. (What’s something new you can test with low risk?)
By shifting toward an Experimenter’s Mindset, you create a culture of adaptability, innovation, and progress.
Now, I want to hear from you:
Which mindset do you see the most in your organization? Reply and let me know!
Until next time,
David
Whenever you are ready, there are 4 ways I can help your organization:
Sprints: Get proof an idea will work (or not) in days or weeks. Not months or years
Coaching & Training: Equip your workforce to build more customer-focused solutions
All Hands Workshops: Turn your All Hands meetings + conferences into immediate results
Ways of Working: Launch behavior change interventions before investing significant resources
#28: 2x2 Framework to De-Risk AI Investments
AI is the new shiny object. Every team I work with, every conference I attend, and every sales pitch I receive has AI as the foundation.
AI is a technology. Not a problem.
But here’s the issue: AI is an enabling technology to something. Right now, it’s often a hammer looking for a nail.
I’m all in on leveraging new technology, but we’re in an era where teams are communicating technology-first instead of starting with human needs.
Many organizations now have internal mandates to “start using AI.” I even see product manager job descriptions with vague directives like: “Figure out how we can use AI in our products.”
AI isn’t the problem. The lack of critical thinking around its application is. I want to see more leaders pushing their teams to use AI… but even more importantly, pushing them to think critically about what problem they are trying to solve.
3 critical questions to ask your team
Before your team jumps into AI solutions and starts scaling, ask these three critical questions:
What are the human needs that AI can solve?
What are potential AI solutions that meet that need?
How can we test the AI solution quickly and cheaply?
Let’s go through a simple 2x2 framework that organizes these questions and helps guide your teams where to focus.
2x2 Framework for AI Decision Making
A Simple 2x2 Framework for AI Decision-Making
To guide your team in de-risking AI investments, ask two simple questions:
Is the solution known?
Is the need known?
The intersection of these two tells you what tools and mindsets to activate. If you’re familiar with human-centered design and Agile toolkits, you’ll see the overlap.
Quadrant 1: Unknown Need, Known Solution
This is where many teams find themselves—starting with an AI-driven solution but not yet sure what the actual need is.
Your goal as a leader: Push your team out of this quadrant and into deeper problem exploration.
Quadrant 2: Unknown Need, Unknown Solution
Key Question to Ask: What are the human needs that AI can solve?
Team Activities:
Engage directly with customers
Analyze existing data and insights
Align with internal teams (e.g., sales, customer success)
Frame the problem
You want clarity on the problem-to-be-solved before digging into solutions.
Quadrant 3: Known Need, Unknown Solution
Key Question to Ask: What are potential AI solutions to solve that need?
The goal here is quantity—generating a broad range of ideas before narrowing down.
Team Activities:
Run structured ideation workshops (Crazy 8s, SCAMPER, Forced Connections)
Use AI to help you think of ideas
Conduct internal co-creation sessions for early feedback with stakeholders
Prioritize ideas using Dot Voting, Impact/Effort, MoSCoW
Quadrant 4: Known Need, Known Solution
Typically, this quadrant would say Execute, Ship, Deliver, Scale. BUT—we know better.
Instead of rushing into full-scale investment, de-risk first.
Key Question to Ask: How can we test the AI solution quickly and cheaply?
Team Activities:
Build no-code/low-code prototypes (Figma, Glide, Typeform, etc. There are so many depending on what you are trying to build)
Launch landing page & fake front tests to gauge demand
Run A/B tests to get real user feedback
The goal? Quickly create an experience that customers or stakeholders can react to—before you invest heavily.
3 Critical Questions for AI Teams
If your team is already jumping into AI solutions and ready to scale without validating key questions first, challenge them with these:
What are the human needs that AI can solve?
What are potential AI solutions that meet that need?
How can we test the AI solution quickly and cheaply?
AI isn’t about using AI for AI’s sake. It’s about solving real problems in better ways. Ask better questions. Build better solutions.
Whenever you are ready, there are 4 ways my team and I can help your organization:
Sprints: Get proof an idea will work (or not) in days or weeks. Not months or years
Coaching & Training: Equip your workforce to build more customer-focused solutions
All Hands Workshops: Turn your All Hands meetings + conferences into immediate results
Ways of Working: Launch behavior change interventions before investing significant resources
#27: Better collaboration starts with state of mind, Not strategy
85% of workplace collaboration is inefficient (link).
Teams spin in meetings, misalign on priorities, and struggle to drive real impact. Why? Because they jump straight to Strategy—without aligning on the State of mind they’re operating from.
State is the underlying mindsets, beliefs, and emotions shaping how you show up (e.g., I am feeling hopeless today).
Story is the internal narrative you’re telling yourself about yourself or your team (e.g., Nothing that our team does will matter).
Strategy is the actions you take in response (e.g., Creating OKRs as a team).
This idea comes from Tony Robbins, and I’ve used it daily for years to shift from feeling stuck to taking action. And it doesn’t just work for individuals—it’s a game-changer for cross-functional teams.
We live in uncertain times—families, companies, and even geopolitics feel unstable. That uncertainty leaks into how teams work together. The solution? Focusing on State before Story before Strategy.
Why Most Teams Struggle with Collaboration
Most cross-functional teams focus on strategy first. They align on OKRs, create roadmaps, set deadlines… but still find themselves misaligned, overwhelmed, or stuck in analysis paralysis.
The missing step? State-changing activities.
Here’s where teams go wrong:
They jump into Strategy without checking their State. Teams operate from exhaustion, stress, and uncertainty—leading to reactive decision-making.
They reinforce unhelpful Stories. If the team believes “we always work in silos” or “leadership doesn’t care,” their actions will reflect that.
They wonder why collaboration feels so hard. Strategy without alignment on State leads to miscommunication, burnout, and inefficiency.
But when teams intentionally shift their State together, everything changes.
State > Story > Strategy
How This Framework Works
Old Way (How Teams Typically Work)
Strategy: “We need to align on this roadmap, but no one is on the same page… let’s debate for an hour.”
Story: “This always happens. We never collaborate well. Our process is broken.” (often unsaid)
State: Frustration, stress, and disengagement. (also often unspoken until the yearly employee engagement survey)
New Way (A More Effective Approach)
State: “We’re noticing a lack of clarity and energy. Let’s step back and reset - maybe a working session or a fun warmup instead of another status meeting.”
New Story: “We’ve done great work before, and we can find alignment through small experiments.”
New Strategy: “Let’s run a quick prototype, get feedback, and iterate—rather than getting stuck debating hypotheticals.”
When teams change their State together, they build trust, work with energy, and create better solutions—faster.
Try This With Your Team Today
Identify your team’s current State. Are people drained? Uncertain? Operating from fear? Acknowledge it.
Introduce State-changing activities. Instead of another Strategy meeting, try a change of environment, small wins celebration, or a fun problem-solving workshop.
Watch the Story shift. When the team feels energized and connected, their mindset changes. And from there—a better Strategy follows.
Most teams reward Strategy work, not State-changing activities. But the best teams? They know that great collaboration starts with how people feel before what they do.
How can you invest in State Change to improve your team’s impact?
Whenever you are ready, there are 4 ways my team and I can help your organization:
Sprints: Get proof an idea will work (or not) in days or weeks. Not months or years
Coaching & Training: Equip your workforce to build more customer-focused solutions
All Hands Workshops: Turn your All Hands meetings + conferences into immediate results
Ways of Working: Launch behavior change interventions before investing significant resources
#26: Turn abstract mindsets into concrete behaviors with this prompt
Turning abstract concepts like mindsets and values into concrete behaviors can feel daunting. Here’s a simple framing I’ve used with teams to make it easier and get them into action:
brainstorming prompt:
How might we {mindset} through {structure}?
The answers = concrete behaviors your team can actually act on.
when to use this
This approach is useful when you need to:
Introduce new mindsets to a team
Get managers to take action on a new re-brand
Give leaders a clear, tangible way to influence change
2 Step Process
example: Bringing discovery mindsets to life
At a Fortune 500 offsite, leaders wanted their teams to work in a more discovery-driven way. But they struggled to identify immediate actions that would make that shift real.
step 1: define the columns (mindsets) & rows (structures)
columns (mindsets)
First, we identified four key mindsets we wanted leaders to embody:
Be Human
Flare Before Focus
Seek Diverse Perspectives
Make to Learn
These are the abstract ideas that define where the organization wants to go. Put your newly defined mindsets, values, re-branded vision here.
rows (structures)
Next, we identified five existing structures where behaviors show up:
Norms (meetings, calendars, one-on-ones)
Strategy (OKRs, communication, metrics)
Incentives (compensation, rewards, recognition)
Tools (software, operating models)
Environment (office design, objects, break areas)
step 2: brainstorm at the intersections
Each intersection of a column (mindset) and a row (structure) becomes a brainstorming prompt. For example:
How might we Be Human through weekly standups?
How might we Seek Diverse Perspectives through office design?
How might we Make to Learn through OKR definition?
This shifts conversations from vague aspirations to practical, observable behaviors that fit into existing workflows.
Try It with Your Team
Set up a 30-minute working session.
Pick a few key mindsets.
Map them against existing rituals and structures.
Brainstorm actions at the intersections.
Then, watch your team come alive as abstract ideas become tangible, testable behaviors.
If you try this out, I’d love to hear how it goes.
Whenever you are ready, there are 4 ways my team and I can help your organization:
Sprints: Get proof an idea will work (or not) in days or weeks. Not months or years
Coaching & Training: Equip your workforce to build more customer-focused solutions
All Hands Workshops: Turn your All Hands meetings + conferences into immediate results
Ways of Working: Launch behavior change interventions before investing significant resources
#25: Elevate others and storytell the hell out of them
Momentum starts when others take ownership of a movement—not just you.
Derek Sivers’ TED Talk, How to Start a Movement, illustrates this perfectly. In it, a lone dancer at a festival starts grooving solo. But when a second person joins in, the first dancer does something critical: he elevates this newcomer, teaches him the moves, and transforms him into a leader. The second dancer then invites more people until a full-on movement erupts.
Watch the video here (it’s worth it!):
👉 How to Start a Movement (TED Talk)
you are the first courageous dancer.
And your earliest advocates? They’re the key to making change stick. Your job isn’t just to lead—it’s to elevate them into leaders and use the power of storytelling to spread your message.
3 EXAMPLES
how we did it at Capital One
One of the best examples of elevating others was an internal TED-style conference our larger design team hosted.
We invited internal product managers, business analysts, and designers to speak in front of large crowds.
They shared deep emotional customer stories and personal journeys of transformation.
They weren’t just participants; we turned them into champions of change.
We started the dance, but we quickly elevated others to lead it.
2. how we did it at Nike
At Nike, we helped a manufacturing team strengthen partnerships with apparel stakeholders by:
Helping them truly understand their stakeholders’ needs—without judgment.
Practicing storytelling to elevate their mission and role.
The result? They shifted from being seen as a support function to becoming strategic partners—not by talking about themselves, but by focusing on others and amplifying their stories.
3. how we did it at BP
At BP, I worked with a team that was seeing early wins with a product-led way of working.
An All Hands meeting was coming up for the 350+ person product org, and I was tapped to share my expertise. But instead of taking the stage, I pushed this (very nervous) team to tell their story.
And it resonated.
People loved hearing directly from their peers—real stories of what was working (and what wasn’t). They didn’t want a consultant preaching theory. They wanted to hear from people like them—because that’s what builds trust.
This is a powerful lesson: People don’t just need advice. They need proof from their own community that something is real.
storytelling = leadership
Storytelling isn’t just communication—it’s a leadership behavior.
Yes, you start by leading from the front so people see what good looks like. But quickly, you need to move to leading from behind—creating space for others to step up and take ownership. That’s how movements grow.
try this today
here’s how to start practicing, today.
Identify one early advocate who believes in your change. Remember #2 from Blossom in the Shadows!
Give them the mic—let them tell their story in a team meeting, showcase their success, or even run a small experiment.
Support them publicly. Highlight their work, celebrate their progress, and invite others to join in.
Start the dance—but don’t dance alone. Elevate others, and let storytelling spread the movement.
Whenever you are ready, there are 4 ways my team and I can help your organization:
Sprints: Get proof an idea will work (or not) in days or weeks. Not months or years
Coaching & Training: Equip your workforce to build more customer-focused solutions
All Hands Workshops: Turn your All Hands meetings + conferences into immediate results
Ways of Working: Launch behavior change interventions before investing significant resources
#24: Build as if you are right. Test as if you are wrong
Ever feel like you and your team spend way too much time talking about ideas or asking questions, but not enough time doing? My former boss had the perfect advice for this:
“Ideas are nice. Questions can make you sound smart. But having something to react to will always push the conversation further and teach you more.”
She was right. Showing up with unfinished ideas people can try always made projects move faster.
(Oh, and she also liked to remind me, “Be confident and humble. Nobody likes an asshole.”)
This same mindset applies to changing the way your team works just as much as it does to developing a product.
Unfortunately, we forget to practice what we preach to our teams.
Unfortunately, most change agents forget to apply these principles to their own teams. Why?
Here are some common reasons.
Leadership isn’t used to seeing unfinished, early work.
Trust hasn’t been built, so people are hesitant to share something unpolished.
There is no time for big culture change projects, when delivery is the focus
People don’t know how to take small, actionable steps.
But don’t worry - this isn’t a lost cause! Let’s look at how you can make small, meaningful changes with your team that build momentum for bigger organizational transformation.
Let’s use a concrete example: Re-designing an ineffective meeting
Picture this: It’s your recurring leadership team (LT) meeting, where project updates are shared using the same old, barely legible Excel spreadsheet. People zone out. Everyone knows it’s ineffective, but nobody has had time to:
Get feedback from participants
Re-design the interaction model
Get buy-in from key stakeholders
Re-launch the meeting in a better format
Ugh, just writing that list feels exhausting, doesn’t it? But here’s the good news: by using the mantra “Build as if you are right, test as if you are wrong,” you can shift from “we’ll get to it later” to “let’s make a small change now.”
Here’s How to Do It, in 5 Steps:
Step 1: Commit to trying something new (before you even know what it is).
You know how you only clean your house when you invite people over? The same principle applies.
This is your forcing function. Tell your team: “I want to try something different at our next meeting, just for 5 minutes.”
Setting this expectation holds you accountable, and it de-risks the experiment by making it clear this is temporary. No need for perfection or big changes—just a quick try.
Step 2: Set a timer and build a C- version of your idea.
Now, give yourself 5 minutes (okay, maybe 30 max depending on the idea) to sketch out your experiment. The goal isn’t an A+ solution—it’s action.
Let’s say your idea is to add a quick breakout discussion, so you need to:
Enable breakout rooms on your conferencing tool.
Write down activity instructions.
Come up with 3 discussion questions for when the group returns.
Boom! You’ve got a plan in under 5 minutes.
Step 3: Test it during the meeting.
Now, the big moment: remind your team about the 5 minute experiment, and jump right in. Courage!
Afterward, get immediate feedback. Did it work? Should you tweak it? And if it flopped—no big deal. You only spent a few minutes on it.
Step 4: Ask for volunteers to try something next.
You’ve modeled the behavior of sharing unfinished work and taking quick action. Now, pass the baton. Ask someone else to try an experiment for the next meeting. This creates shared ownership and builds momentum. And, by going first, you have given permission to others to try on a new behavior.
Step 5: Use this as a Trojan Horse for bigger changes.
Remember, our larger goal is to create momentum for customer-centered, adaptive ways of working inside our organizations.
Once your team sees how small experiments can improve meetings, scale up. Say:
“Remember when we iterated on our LT meetings? What if we used that same approach to tackle {insert project}? Let’s see if we can replicate those results.”
No jargon, no fancy frameworks—just pointing to the outcomes you’ve already achieved. If someone resists, that’s a sign of barriers to address. And guess what? You can build some C- versions of solutions for those barriers and test them to see if you are right…or wrong. 🙂
By focusing on small, scrappy experiments, you’ll build confidence, trust, and momentum—one action at a time. Now go forth and build as if you are right, test as if you are wrong!
Summary
1. Commit to trying something new: Announce it to your team to hold yourself accountable.
2. Create a quick C- version: Spend just 5-30 minutes coming up with a scrappy plan.
3. Test it in the meeting: Be brave and get immediate feedback.
4. Invite others to experiment: Share ownership and build momentum by asking someone else to try.
5. Scale it up: Use your small wins as a springboard for bigger changes.
By following these steps, you’ll create a culture of action, experimentation, and trust—all while making your team’s work faster and more effective.
Whenever you are ready, there are 4 ways my team and I can help your organization:
Sprints: Get proof an idea will work (or not) in days or weeks. Not months or years
Coaching & Training: Equip your workforce to build more customer-focused solutions
All Hands Workshops: Turn your All Hands meetings + conferences into immediate results
Ways of Working: Launch behavior change interventions before investing significant resources
#23 How to sell 4-hour Sprints internally
Learn how the 4-hour sprint model helps teams deliver quick wins, prototypes, and faster results. Perfect for internal champions, this guide shows how to pitch, scope, and execute sprints to gain leadership buy-in and scale new ways of working. Inspired by Google Ventures with real-world examples.
Introducing new ways of working can be tough, especially in organizations where priorities compete, calendars are full, and decision-making is slow. But with the 4-hour sprint model, you can demonstrate quick, tangible wins that make it easier to gain buy-in and scale impactful change.
Teams that adopt this approach report major benefits:
Prototypes and customer insights delivered in days, not weeks.
Stronger alignment across cross-functional teams.
Early evidence on program viability
Accelerated delivery timelines—up to 75% faster.
Unfortunately, many internal champions struggle to sell this approach because they aim too big, too soon, or fail to show immediate results.
Hesitation without a clear ROI
The biggest hurdle to gaining internal buy-in is that stakeholders want proof before committing resources. Here are other common challenges:
Overloaded teams: Stakeholders are hesitant to dedicate time when everyone is already stretched thin.
Unclear ROI: Without early evidence, leadership may not see the value in experimenting with new processes.
Skepticism: Teams may question whether this approach will actually solve their problems.
Resistance to change: People prefer to stick with what they know, even if it’s not working.
Scale hesitation: Leaders may worry about whether new methods are scalable across the organization.
The good news? A 4-hour weekly sprint makes it easy to overcome these challenges by reducing friction, creating quick wins, and building excitement.
THE 4-HOUR SPRINT
Inspired by Google Ventures
The idea of sprints isn’t new—Google Ventures popularized it as a 5-day process to go from problem definition to tested customer ideas. While effective, a 5-day sprint can be intense, resource-heavy, and hard to sell internally.
That’s why I favor the 4-hour weekly sprint cadence—a practical, low-commitment approach that fits seamlessly into busy team schedules. It’s perfect for internal champions who want to experiment with minimal disruption and prove the value of this way of working.
5 Steps to sell the sprint approach internally.
1) Craft a quick value prop
Position the 4-hour sprint as a low-risk, high-reward experiment. Emphasize the minimal time investment (4 hours for one week to start) and the potential for early wins
Example: In a recent sprint with a large energy company, we positioned this as a way to get early evidence on a product direction to increase the chance of funding in the next budget cycle
2) Pitch it to many team leads and execs
Timing is everything. Finding teams that are available to jump in is critical. Write a short paragraph and send it in a Teams or Slack message to see who bites.
Tip: Don’t overdo the pitch. Keep it simple and gauge interest from those with immediate needs. Measure your conversion rates.
Example: 20% conversion rate: In a recent internal sales effort. Out of 10 internal pitches, 5 teams expressed interest, 3 committed, and 2 completed their first sprint—all within two weeks.
3) Scope down to a narrow problem to solve
Once the team has committed time, they may want to tackle every problem under the sun. Resist the temptation! Narrow the focus to one specific, actionable problem that will deliver a quick win for both the team and your initiative.
Example: For a manufacturing client, instead of addressing the full end-to-end new product introduction, we focused on one moment: generating a risk analysis.
4) Run the first sprint yourself
Run the first sprint yourself to reduce costs, increase speed and work out the kinks. Focus on proving the value before worrying about scaling the approach. This will strengthen your pitch when you ask for resources or budget later.
5) Measure and share the quick win
Track tangible results, such as faster delivery timelines, stakeholder engagement, or customer feedback. Use this evidence to escalate the approach to leadership and expand its use.
Example: In one program at a large organization, we turned 10 weeks of stalled time into the launch of a new product feature in just 7 days. We shared this data in VP+ meetings to secure funding for an org-wide rollout.
Whenever you are ready, there are 4 ways my team and I can help your organization:
Sprints: Get proof an idea will work (or not) in days or weeks. Not months or years
Coaching & Training: Equip your workforce to build more customer-focused solutions
All Hands Workshops: Turn your All Hands meetings + conferences into immediate results
Ways of Working: Launch behavior change interventions before investing significant resources
#22: Blossom in the shadows. 3 questions to create momentum for org change
Discover how to drive lasting organizational change by starting small. Learn from real-world successes and failures with key questions to pick the right projects, partners, and teams. Avoid high-stakes risks and build momentum by blossoming in overlooked areas of your organization
I am going to share two stories about driving organizational change, one success and one failure, along with 3 key questions to help you pick the right internal partners and build momentum for your change initiative.
The success? How we infused design thinking into Capital One.
The failure? What went wrong during a $1 billion digital transformation.
The lesson? Don’t chase splashy, high-profile initiatives. Instead, focus on blossoming in the shadows - inside overlooked areas of your organization where experimentation thrives, learning happens, and momentum builds.
Let me show you how.
why changing how we work is so hard
Changing the way people work in large organizations is hard.
Whether it’s introducing a new mindset, a groundbreaking tool, or an entirely different way of working, you’ll face uncertainty. You might worry that your idea will fail before it even gets off the ground.
The truth is, starting change successfully requires finding the right environment to experiment—one that gives you room to learn and adapt without the pressure of immediate, large-scale results.
unfortunately, most people approach change in the wrong way.
They aim too high, targeting big, visible projects with too much at stake. They think more resources and attention will lead to better outcomes.
But in reality, this often creates the opposite effect - fear of failure, layers of bureaucracy and endless stakeholder management.
the #1 mistake: starting too big
Instead of prioritizing experimentation, many people chase projects that are:
High-profile and high-risk - where failure isn’t an option.
Packed with stakeholders who resist new approaches.
Tied to rigid timelines, making flexibility impossible.
Lacking leaders who genuinely believe in the change.
But here’s the good news: change doesn’t need to start big to create big results.
You can take steps right now to build momentum, test new methods, and set yourself up for lasting success.
instead, ask these 3 questions
Is the initiative low-stakes?
Is the leader an advocate who’s open to experimenting?
Is the working team willing to try something new?
3-QUESTION CHECKLIST TO IDENTIFY WHERE TO PLACE BETS
#1. Is the initiative low-stakes?
Why it matters: Low-profile, unsexy projects give you breathing room to learn, iterate, and deliver results without the fear of high-stakes failure.
Example: At Capital One, we faced a pivotal decision - choosing between two projects:
Option A: A high-profile, fully-resourced project on bank rewards—visible, important, and packed with expectations.
Option B: A low-profile project with a senior executive who was willing to take a gamble.
We picked Option B because it gave us the freedom to test ideas, fail fast, and learn without the pressure of immediate success.
Actions you can take:
Look for stagnant business units where any improvement is a win.
Identify pet projects from senior leaders who want to experiment.
Target underserved teams that are open to trying something new.
#2. Is the leader an advocate who’s open to experimenting?
Why it matters: Advocates create safety. They allow you to take risks, experiment, and learn from failure without fear of judgment.
Example: The Capital One project worked because our senior executive sponsor was willing to take a gamble and experiment with us. That support gave us the space to learn and eventually prove the impact of design thinking.
Contrast that with the $1 billion digital transformation I worked on, where the initiative was top-down, too big to fail, and required approvals from 8 VPs. Each one had competing priorities and conflicting approaches, leaving us stuck in endless debates.
In the end, we spent more time managing expectations than actually testing and learning.
Actions you can take:
Build relationships with leaders who:
Believe in your vision.
Are open to experimentation.
Have influence to protect and promote your work.
#3. Is the working team willing to try something new?
Why it matters: A change effort is only as strong as the team behind it.
Example: In the $1 billion transformation, my team had a ton of ideas—but we hadn’t tested them yet. And we were surrounded by stakeholders who resisted experimentation and wanted clear, proven solutions from the start.
Compare that to the Capital One project, where we hand-picked curious, adaptable team members who leaned into trying new approaches—even when we didn’t have all the answers.
Actions you can take:
Look for teams that:
Lean into learning. Are they open to testing ideas and learning from mistakes?
Collaborate well. Do they say, “Let’s try it” instead of “We’ve never done it that way”?
Bring energy. Are they excited to experiment and co-create solutions?
Pro Tip: If the team’s mindset feels stuck, shift it with workshops or even smaller, low-risk experiments before diving into bigger changes.
summary
The secret to lasting organizational change isn’t starting big—it’s starting small.
At Capital One, we started with low-stakes bets and open-minded advocates—and it worked.
In the $1 billion transformation, we started too big, with too many stakeholders—and it didn’t.
The lesson?
Find your advocates. Pick the unsexy project. Blossom in the shadows.
#21: Boost idea generation by 10x with these 6 prompts
Today, I'll share with you 6 powerful generative prompts designed to spark innovation and elevate your team's brainstorming sessions by 10x. I will also share with you 3 steps to facilitate the session with your team.
In today's fast-paced world, fostering creativity within your team is essential for staying ahead. Back in 2010, an IBM survey of 1,500 CEOs revealed that 60% of them identified creativity as the most crucial leadership quality for the future . This underscores the importance of encouraging innovative thinking within our teams to propel our companies forward.
The Challenge: Mediocre Brainstorming Sessions
Despite the recognized importance of creativity, many brainstorming sessions fall flat. At their worst, they can even turn toxic. Why does this happen? One significant reason is a lack of planning.
Why most brainstorming sessions fail:
lack of clarity on the customer problem to be solved
Using verbs instead of nouns for brainstorming
Lack of generative prompts
Misunderstanding brainstorming as a chaotic shouting match
Stopping too soon and not pushing for quantity
No strategic warmups to shift a team into the right mindset
For this post, I am going to focus on #3: Lack of generative prompts. (I started writing about all 6 but the newsletter got WAY too long.)
The Power of Generative Prompts
The success of a brainstorming session hinges on the questions posed to the team. Asking a vague question like, "What ideas do you have?" often results in a deafening silence because it's too broad and unfocused. Instead, consider using targeted, generative prompts to guide the discussion.
6 GENERATIVE PROMPTS TO ELEVATE YOUR BRAINSTORMING SESSIONS
Let’s use a concrete example to showcase the 6 prompts.
Example: Volunteer retention in K-12 classrooms
A few years ago, I worked with a national non-profit focused on increasing the recruitment and retention of volunteers in K-12 classrooms. Their goal was to attract professionals to volunteer and teach students, and they needed fresh ideas to achieve this.
We ran a series of brainstorming sessions, using these six generative prompts to guide our discussions and generate innovative solutions.
The 6 Prompts
1. Amplify the Good
What is great about the current experience that we can elevate?
Example: Professionals always enjoy the in-person connection they feel with students. So, we could ask:
How might we enhance the value that professionals feel during their face-to-face contact with students, and create this experience even before they step foot into the classroom?
2. Remove the Bad
What is a pain point in the experience? What would happen if we completely removed it? Go for extremes here to push the brainstorming.
Example: Scheduling is always a pain. So, we could ask:
How might we eliminate the need to schedule professionals to volunteer in the classroom altogether?
3. Challenge the Status Quo
What is a clear and standard assumption about the experience? How can we challenge it?
Example: Teachers need to be present to manage the classroom. So, we could ask:
How might we create a classroom experience that doesn’t require a teacher's presence?
4. Create an Analogy
What are companies or experiences outside of your industry that we can leverage? Who else solves your problem in a similar way?
Example: Many modern software companies use subscription models and tiered services to attract and retain customers. So, we could ask:
How might we retain classroom volunteers similarly to how Netflix keeps users engaged with their streaming services?
5. Explore the Opposite
What is something that is true about the experience? What if we did the exact opposite?
Example: Teachers teach students. So we could ask:
How might we make a learning experience where students are in charge of teaching the classroom?
6. Use Adjectives
What are powerful adjectives to inspire the experience?
Example: Inspired by Brene Brown’s teachings on vulnerability. So, we could ask:
How might we create a brave and vulnerable classroom management experience?
How to facilitate the brainstorming session:
Step 1: Prepare “How Might We” (HMW) questions in advance
Begin by creating a set of "How Might We" (HMW) questions based on the 6 generative prompts. Involve your team members in this process to generate a wide range of questions. Aim to prepare 10-20 HMW questions to ensure you have plenty of options during your session.
Note: the HMW phrasing is very intentional:
How: This signals a focus on concrete solutions, moving beyond the abstract or philosophical “Why.”
Might: This word invites possibilities and openness, avoiding the pressure of should or must. It emphasizes exploration over finding the "right" answer.
We: I didn’t say You or I. This emphasizes teamwork and collective effort, reinforcing that brainstorming is a collaborative process.
Step 2: Brainstorm using one prompt at a time
Allocate 2-5 minutes to brainstorm each HMW question. Display one question prominently on your whiteboard and let the team focus solely on that specific prompt. If a question isn't generating ideas, don't hesitate to switch to another one from your prepared list. Remember - you have 10-20 of them in your back pocket!
Step 3: Schedule regular breaks
Brainstorming can be mentally exhausting. Plan for breaks every 30-40 minutes to maintain high energy levels and creativity. Monitor your team's energy and adjust the schedule as needed to keep everyone fresh and engaged.
Summary
"How Might We" prompts are powerful tools for dissecting problems and generating creative solutions. By using these prompts effectively, you can make your brainstorming sessions more productive and reduce the risks of falling into unproductive patterns. Embrace the collective creativity of your team and watch as innovative ideas flow more freely.
Take Action
Now that you have these powerful tools at your disposal, it’s time to put them into practice. Start by preparing your "How Might We" questions and involve your team in this creative process.
Remember, the key to successful brainstorming lies in thoughtful preparation and intentional phrasing. Encourage your team to think broadly and push boundaries. Schedule your next brainstorming session today, and watch as these generative prompts unlock new levels of innovation and creativity within your team.
Don’t just read about it—take action and transform your brainstorming sessions into a powerhouse of ideas!
#20: Take massive action by defining fears, not goals
I am going to share with you 5 steps and a 30 min meeting template to transform your team from making excuses to taking massive action.
One of the main reasons teams don’t take massive action during and after meetings is they associate the action with fear, often unnamed.
We don’t take action because we link it to pain
Here are common things I hear from the teams I coach. "I can’t do {action} because…
I don’t have the right team
I don’t have budget
my executives aren’t giving me permission.
I don’t have access to customers
I don’t have the right skills
Some of these things may be true but when we start our team meetings and workshops with these limiting beliefs, they become a self fulfilling prophecy. We link pain to taking action and nothing gets done besides the safe, status quo.
“Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right” -Henry Ford.
We crave innovation and new thinking from our teams. It is up to leaders to set the right beliefs and enable teams to push through fear to take massive action.
The antidote? Stop Goal-Setting. Start Fear-Setting
I first learned about this framework from Tim Ferris, American entrepreneur and investor, in his popular TED talk. Instead of setting future goals and hope we have the motivation to succeed, Tim advises us to dive deep into unpacking the fear.
We use fear to understand what might go wrong, how we can prevent it from happening, prepare for worse case scenarios and present the mind with upsides of taking action.
I have been using it for 7 years to push through my own personal limiting beliefs. I also sneak the language and frameworks into the teams I coach to get them to believe in a new a way of working.
Let’s unpack the 5 step process using a common work example: Sharing an unfinished idea with your customer
5 FEAR-SETTING STEPS
Example: Sharing an unfinished idea with your customer
Let’s use an example I experience daily at work: Sharing an unfinished idea with others for early feedback.
This can takes many forms:
a wireframe of a new product that isn’t quite ready that a team delays for weeks before sharing with their customer
an executive presentation that a team keeps hidden from their audience until they have a polished PowerPoint
a new process that is kept secret from internal customers until it is done and right.
Most of us are wired to not share with others until something is done. We grew up wanting to create A+ work before sharing it. Unfortunately, the opposite behavior is needed in modern organizations to de-risk the creation of new products, processes and ideas. We need to collaborate through multiple C- versions before getting to A+ work.
Most teams have the capability to create C- work. The issue is that most teams are afraid. Let’s use Tim Ferris’ 5 step Fear-Setting framework to get this team unstuck and into massive action.
Step 1: Define the worst case scenarios
The first step is to name the fear and really play up how bad it can get. In the wise words of Yoda: “Named must your fear be before banish it you can.”
Using my example above: What are the worst possible outcomes with sharing an early idea with a customer? Here are a few:
They absolutely hate it and tear it apart in an unproductive conversation
They call my boss and complain. I get yelled at. I never get a promotion. I get fired.
I damage my company’s brand. We are known for A+ products. I just showed them some C- shit. They tell all their friends, give negative reviews and my company goes bankrupt
Do these feel extreme? Not really. We all carry lots of fear when creating a change. Step 1 is to name it.
Step 2: How would you prevent it from happening?
Next, we take our Step 1 questions as brainstorming prompts.
For #1: How might we prevent customers from tearing apart our early stage ideas?
Idea: Before they “tear it apart”, we can set the expectations that our team only spent 1 hour on the idea and we need their help to make it better. Instead of us vs. them, it is a co-creation exercise so they can take the negative “tear it apart” energy and transform it into co-creation energy.
For #2: How might we prevent my boss from getting upset at me and damaging my career?
Idea: I have a meeting with my boss and reframe the sharing of early prototypes as a risk management process and that I want to save the company time and money downstream to increase credibility with our customers.
For #3: How might we share early ideas with customers without damaging our company’s brand?
Idea: We could hide the brand from the customer. We focus the learning about the desirability or usability of a product, service, or idea, not brand recognition. Hire a 3rd party researcher to protect the brand identity so it is blind to the customer.
—
Instead of sitting in the fear, we proactively design ways to overcome it.
Want to lead a Fear-Setting meeting with your team? Here is a free Fear Setting template + 30 min agenda you can run with your team tomorrow.
Step 3: How would you repair the situation if the worst case scenario happens?
Your brain still may be telling you…”But wait…all those worst case scenarios might happen!!!” Once again, these become discussion questions as a team:
A. What would you do in the moment if a customer tears apart your idea?
B. What would you say to your boss if they yell at you in a meeting?
C. What would you do if you damaged your company’s brand?
For A, perhaps you take ideas from Step 2 and get them to brainstorm new product ideas with you. Make the feedback about the ideas, not you personally.
For B, you could apologize and ask them for help on how to make the next round of customer feedback better.
For C, you could work with your PR team to run damage control on the few customers that are feeling squeamish about your brand.
Obviously, lots more ideas here!
Step 4: What are the benefits of an attempt?
Now, it is time to stop linking pain to action and start linking pleasure to taking action. What good comes out of making a small attempt?
The point here is to think about immediate, small wins that feel tangible. I can think of a lot with our example:
Increased speed in talking to customers for future rounds of research
Create small cultural change with my team and boss to reframe early prototypes as a risk management technique
Excitement of talking to customers
Reducing the burden of perfection
Making our product better, faster
Step 5: What is the cost of inaction?
Oomph. This one always hits home for me. What happens if our team doesn’t change? What is the impact in 3, 6 or 12 months from now?
Here are some examples:
we risk launching a product that nobody wants
We waste thousands of dollars in a launch
My team feels uninspired at work
Teammates leave the company
The cost of inaction is a powerful question to motivate a team into focusing the action to pleasure and possibilities!
Summary
The Fear Setting technique is an incredible framework for a team to address their fears head on and to shift their behavior from fear and pain to taking massive action that is pleasurable.
Run a 30 min Fear-Setting meeting
I made a simple Google Sheet template that includes the Fear-Setting questions and a 30 min agenda you can lead.
When are you going to send the invite to your team?
#19: How to be a better listener: The 3 Levels
I am going to share with you a framework be a better listener to increase your leadership skills.
Last week, I was in a meeting and I was fighting to speak. As soon as I started talking, a meeting participant was interrupting me with “uh huh..” “yup…” just waiting for the moment I took a breathe so he could jump in and say what he needed to say. I hear these phrases all the time:
“Let me finish my thought”
“give me 30 more seconds”
We shouldn’t have to fight to speak. Equally, we need to learn to give space to others to process and think.
Good listening is good leadership
Unfortunately, many leaders take up a lot of air time speaking. Instead, great leadership starts with actively listening to a team and understanding perspectives, pain points and ideas.
Want to learn to be a better listener? Learn about the 3 levels of listening and practice moving from Level 1 to Level 2 & 3.
THE 3 LEVELS OF LISTENING
Level 1: Selective Listening
This was the example I gave above and unfortunately, the level of listening that I see in most personal and professional environments. Instead of listening to what the other person is saying, we think about what we want to say. We zone out.
Level 1 Behaviors to Avoid:
Interrupting phrases while someone is speaking like ”uh huh…” “yeah, yeah, yeah…”
Notice when you stop paying attention to someone and are thinking about something in the past or future
Level 2: Attentive Listening
This is being present with your team and giving them your undivided attention. You are curious. You listen to each and every word they are saying.
Level 2 Behaviors to Practice
Ask a followup question to what someone has just said. Staying with them on their train of logic.
Practice discussion moderation tips #1: “What” Questions and #3: Synthesize Points
Paraphrase what someone said in your own words “What I heard you said was…” or “It sounds like….”
Notice when your mind is wandering to Level 1 listening and bring yourself back to Level 2.
Level 3: Insightful Listening
This is adding on more data to Level 2 listening and being insightful to what is not said in the room. You are noticing not just what people are saying but how they are saying it. Are they nervous because the pace of their words speed up? Are they potentially uncomfortable and using lots of filler words like “Ums”? Do you feel the energy shift in the room based on body language and your intuition?
Level 3 Behaviors to Practice
Observe body language. 90% of communication is non-verbal.
Practice discussion moderation tip #2: Surface Surprises and Tensions
Lead with a point of view, even if it is wrong. Based on your Level 2 and 3 listening, if you are sensing something, name it for the person. You might be wrong but it will help them and you accelerate the time toward clarity and understanding.
Summary
Great Listening is the foundation of any meeting and a fundamental leadership skill. Practice behaviors to go from selective listening to attentive and insightful listening.
#18: How to increase engagement in the first 90 seconds of a meeting
I am going to share 4 ideas on how I increase team engagement during the first 90 seconds of meetings.
Recently, I went to a 50 person party hosted by a friend. When I walked in, I was greeted by a sea of strangers having side conversations leaving me feeling unsure where to go or what to do. I felt nervous, until I built up the confidence to navigate through the crowd, grab a drink and self-soothe to orient myself. Nobody welcomed me.
The same uncomfortableness can happen when people arrive to a meeting. Thoughts that go through our head:
Should I go off mute?
Why is Margaret in this meeting?
Everyone is silent. I guess I will turn my camera off and wait
Marcus is running late. great. Let me catch up on my emails.
Ugh, my kids’ toys are in the background - I wonder if people are judging me…
Wait, what is this meeting even about?
Meeting leaders miss a critical moment to create connection
Just like we want to feel welcomed when we arrive to a party, it is our responsibility as kickass facilitators to shift participants from being nervous and awkward to feeling welcomed and connected.
Unfortunately, most meeting hosts miss that first 90 seconds because:
they feel like they have to wait for everyone to get started
they feel like the meeting needs to be productive and there is no time for “ice breakers”
they forget that trust and connection are the foundation for effective problem solving
they don’t have tools and frameworks prepared to create a moment of connection
Here are 4 ways to overcome these barriers and bring a moment of engagement and connection to the start of your meetings.
4 WAYS TO CREATE ENGAGEMENT IN THE FIRST 90 SECONDS
1. Ask people to share a relevant story
There is a purpose to your meeting. Ask people to tell a story or share a tool from their domain.
For instance, if you are a design team gathering business stakeholders to go over your latest round of research, you could start the meeting saying “OK as everyone is arriving to the meeting, I want you to describe the worst customer experience call you have ever been on”
If you are an accountant, you can ask people for their favorite Excel function and why
If you are doing quarterly planning, ask people to share a vacation plan that went awry
This is the moment people can geek out, share their favorite tools, tell a story and create a moment of bonding. It sets the stage for the meeting at hand.
2. Play “Name that Tune”
Another way to create levity at the start of the meeting is to share your audio and play some popular, recognizable songs. Ask people to guess the name and artist and give people 1 point for each one they get right.
For those that have been in my workshops, you know I love this technique. Last week I shared 5 of my favorite playlists on LinkedIn to set the tone during a meeting. Here is the playlist for Meeting Arrival. I also like the “Songs to Sing to in the Shower” playlist on Spotify.
3. Guide a silent meditation:
Not every meeting needs to start high energy.
Ask people to take 30 seconds to close their eyes and breathe deeply while thinking about one person on the call and send them gratitude.
This is a simple but effective group technique to feel the people in the room and be in a space of giving and receiving gratitude.
Watch the shift in the room after 30 seconds.
4. Ask trivia questions using ChatGPT:
There is a reason why trivia nights are incredibly popular. They create team bonding and connection. I love asking a generative AI product like chatGPT to come up with some questions related to my meeting.
Here is prompt you can copy and paste:
“Hey ChatGPT, what are 10 funny and true trivia questions with multiple choice answers related to {meeting topic}? Share with me the correct answer for each question.”
Here is an example related to a change management meeting I attended:
What’s a common joke about consultants in change management?
A) They are the only ones who understand what's going on
B) They make more coffee than decisions
C) They borrow your watch to tell you the time
D) They love change because they get paid by the hour.
Correct Answer: C. Ha. Got me...
Bonus points: Divide people up in two teams and create a little competition!
Summary
The start of a meeting is a critical moment to set the tone for your time together. It is an opportunity to lean into your shared humanity, and create a vibrant experience that creates connection and sets the meeting up for success.
Less about icebreakers and introductions. More about arriving and feeling welcomed.
#17: How I influenced a $1B change initiative, as an outsider
I am going to share with you 3 steps to positively influence others by sharing an example from my work last week.
Whether we like it or not, we are constantly trying to influence each other at work. Designers strive to infuse creativity into business strategies, while business professionals push for efficiency and scale from product teams. We all want a seat at the table… and if that other team just understood how valuable we were!
Mastering the art of positive influence not only fosters trust and admiration but also mitigates conflicts, paving the way for inclusivity and cooperation.
Unfortunately, many leaders find themselves without the cherished partnerships they desire.
‘man-splaining’ never helps you build trust
There are many other reasons why leaders fail to have the influence they seek:
Failure to cultivate genuine empathy for other teams or departments.
Succumbing to defensiveness and perpetuating a negative cycle of conflict.
Relying solely on persuasive pitches, neglecting the nuances of genuine connection.
Luckily there are ways to overcome these problems and shift yourself during a meeting or workshop to influence internal partners to increase trust and collaboration.
Allow me to illustrate this with an example from my experiences this week…
3 STEPS TO INFLUENCE OTHERS
The $1B change mgmt workshop
Last week, I flew to Europe for a 4-day workshop to work on a $1B change initiative with a line of business at a Fortune 50 company.
Our objective? Nothing short of revolutionizing the work processes across multiple teams spanning business, product, technology, design, finance, and beyond. This is the first time this has ever been attempted in the company’s history.
My mission: To instill in business stakeholders the profound value of an exploratory, discovery-driven approach to work.
Here's how I influenced others during the workshop, as an outsider, in three strategic steps.
Step 1: Speak their language
To sway business stakeholders toward embracing a more inventive, discovery-centric methodology, I knew I had to tailor my message to resonate with their priorities.
While phrases like "creativity," "human-centered design," and "discovery" may spark enthusiasm among design circles, they will fall flat in the boardroom. Instead, I reframed my pitch in terms that spoke directly to their concerns: profitability, cost reduction, and risk mitigation.
I translated my usual design-centric language to statements like “This is a structured risk management process to make sure we are connecting business value to customers by de-risking solutions along the way”
My design friends just rolled their eyes. My business friends are salivating.
By articulating our process as a structured risk management endeavor aimed at aligning business objectives with customer needs, I earned their attention and appreciation. One key stakeholder even remarked, "Thank you - that was one of the best ways I have heard ‘discovery’ been described. I get it."
To be fair, it was not the best way to describe discovery but it was the best way to describe discovery for this audience.
Step 1 accomplished: I established rapport and credibility by speaking their language fluently.
Skills for you to practice: Immerse yourself in their world by studying their documents and engaging in conversations. Become an adept translator, bridging the gap between their lexicon and yours.
Step 2: Understand the problem-to be solved
On Day 3 of the workshop, tension crackled in the air as skeptical questions were directed at me:
“We do discovery already. Isn’t this just duplication?”
“Do we need this at step 4 in our process?”
In the heat of discussions, it became evident that clarity on the problem at hand was sorely lacking. Rather than providing vague or defensive responses like “Well - it depends!” or folding under pressure, I pivoted to a stance of genuine curiosity. By delving deeper into their questions, I uncovered the underlying issues and needs driving their skepticism.
Here are specific questions I asked during the discussion I moderated when I was suddenly put on the spot:
“What’s the question behind the question?”
“Based on my description earlier, what is the same about your discovery work? what is different?”
Can you give me an example of where discovery has gone wrong? Where has it gone right?
Here is what I learned from reframing their question:
Identified instances where product teams in the organization were circumventing business, missing out on crucial insights
Uncovered friction stemming from business leaders giving teams solutions to execute and design teams pushing for problems to solve
Recognized the distinction between analysis-based and experiment-based discovery, paving the way for collaborative problem-solving.
By reframing the conversation around shared challenges rather than individual grievances, we fostered a spirit of collaboration and mutual understanding. We started pointing our finger at the reframed problem, instead of each other.
Skills for you to practice: Practice your discussion moderation skills, specifically activating the Questioner and Clairvoyant facilitation personas.
Step 3: Drive your POV
Armed with a deep understanding of their perspective and the challenges at hand, I seized the opportunity to articulate a compelling perspective. With trust established and insights gained, I leveraged storytelling and evidence to advocate for a discovery-driven paradigm.
I had everyone using our new shared language of “de-risking the process.” I told stories about the value of an experiment-based approach to problem solving. I admitted the issues and work still needed by some of my teams.
They could hear my message because I built that trust and understood their grievances.
As a result, we departed the workshop with a strengthened relationship and a better understanding of each other’s way of working. Mission accomplished (and a hell of a lot more work to do).
Skills for you to practice: Clarify your desired outcome and gather persuasive narratives and evidence to support your perspective. Lead with conviction and authenticity to inspire action and drive change.
Practice makes perfect
Even if you're not quite ready to dive into steps 2 and 3, there's no better time than now to embark on step 1.
Whose rapport do you aim to elevate this week? Begin by immersing yourself in their lexicon, speaking their language. It's the first step towards forging stronger connections and fostering understanding.
#16: 3 wayfinding questions to keep meeting direction on track
I am going to tell you 3 wayfinding questions to make sure your meeting participants stay on the meeting path you designed.
People get off track as the meeting is happening
I see people get disoriented in meetings all the time. They are hesitant to speak up. Loud voices can derail the direction. Consequently, time is wasted, participants lose alignment on the issue at hand and engagement dwindles as people resort to multi-tasking.
This was glaringly evident in a meeting last week with hired “facilitators” from a top 5 global consultancy firm. Instead of skillfully guiding participants through the meeting's objectives, they merely projected their screens and took notes.
I had multiple people message me saying: “Well that was a waste of time” and “What were we even trying to do?”
3 questions to keep the meeting on the right path
Fortunately, as kickass facilitators we know how to guide teams toward a common outcome.
There are 3 wayfinding questions I ask myself to help vocalize a simple statement to make sure my meeting direction isn’t at risk.
Where have we been?
Where are we going?
Where are we now?
WAYFINDING QUESTIONS
The 3 Wayfinding Questions
1. Where have we been?
This can take two forms:
a decision that was made in a prior meeting
the synthesis of what was just done in the last X minutes in the meeting
2. Where are we going?
This can be both the broader outcome after you leave the room, giving a sneak peak of an upcoming activity or what you hope to walk away with at the end of a meeting.
3. Where are we now?
This is re-grounding the group on what is happening at the moment whether they are going to do an activity, open a document or start a discussion.
Examples from the past week
Here are two recent examples from working sessions that I facilitated.
Example 1: Brainstorming session, about 74 minutes into the workshop
“OK team, welcome back. We are about to get back into brainstorming (where we are now) but first , I wanted to remind everyone that the big user need we are solving for is Growth and Connection. (where we have been). We are going to be voting on our top ideas in about 20 minutes. (where we are going)
Let’s jump back into brainstorming!” (where we are now)
Example 2: Framing the start of a meeting after a tense previous working session
“Good morning everyone! As you recall, last week, we made the decision to focus on early stage prioritization of ideas to reduce downstream duplication of work. (where we have been) In the next 2 hours, we will have walked through 3 concrete examples to see if our new process works. (where we are going). To get ready for that, I want everyone to open up the Prioritization document in the chat window and comment on your top products (where we are now).”
Give it a try
Framing your wayfinding statement using the 3 questions grounds the group on the meeting direction and gives the group confidence on the direction you are taking them.
Ready to give it a try this week?
#15: How to deliver clear feedback using SQUACK
I am going to share with you a powerful feedback framework that you can easily implement at your next meeting.
Ever lie awake, replaying the events of that previous meeting in your mind?
We have all been there. Have you ever left a workshop scratching your head, wondering how it really went? Or found yourself drowning in a sea of ideas and suggestions with no way to organize it? Maybe you received a cryptic message from a key stakeholder and unsure how to decipher it.
Let’s change that.
Teams that know how to give frequent and effective feedback can build trust by working more effectively through team dynamics and iterate through ideas faster and more effectively.
Unfortunately most teams don’t know how to give and receive feedback
they don’t have effective feedback frameworks
they don’t know how to deliver the message
they don’t create the space in a meeting or workshop to collect the information
they aren’t clear on the type of feedback they are looking for
Today, we are going to focus on #1: a framework for effective feedback. SQUACK
The feedback framework
The SQUACK framework
Suggestion: A comment to make an idea, behavior or work product better
Question: An area that needs more clarification
User Signal: Where we have aligned or veered from a customer outcome
Accident: A typo, math error, etc.
Critical: A problem that must be resolved because of business, legal or customer risk
Kudos: praise or gratitude
SQUACK is a deceptively simple feedback framework that teams like Google, T-Mobile, Uber and Microsoft use to increase their team engagement. It was originally developed by Julie Jensen and she has a ton more info and a book that goes into more detail. You can check it out here.
I really like it because it is helps me organize my thoughts before I deliver them and it integrates customer-centeredness, a typical outcome design and product teams are driving toward.
A real example from my work
Last week, I received this chat message from a key stakeholder after a tense working session I am leading.
Original Message: “Good to zoom out but I think we need we need to nail the step by step of the process?”
Here is the internal dialogue I started having:
Is this a Suggestion (S)? Are you suggesting we stop the zoomed out view and instead get into the details? That changes how I am going to design and facilitate tomorrow’s session
is this a Question (Q)? Are you unsure if we need to zoom out or focus on the details? Because you said the word “I think”…and there is a question mark. Do you need help answering that question and my perspective on it and more rationale? Should I schedule a meeting to talk about it?
Is this a User Signal (U)? We have an internal customer and I know they are looking for this new process to be implemented by end of May. Do they need the step by step as a deliverable based on our earlier research? Shit, did I misinterpret the research?
is this Critical (C)? Is this a a make-or-break request because it puts our company at risk? I know I am missing some context and now I am feeling less confident... Are you saying we must focus on the step by step and we don’t have the luxury of zooming out? Maybe because of a promise we made to an executive? are we hemorrhaging cash somewhere and good is better than perfect so let’s get on with it and focus on the details?
is this a Kudos (K): Did you like that we zoomed out? Because I saw that we were in the weeds during the meeting and the energy I felt in the room made me think it was helpful…so thank you? maybe? or is this a suggestion…?
And round and round we go.
We misinterpret messages all the time. We copy and paste it to a friend and comment "WTF." We can’t sleep thinking about the comment. We ask ourselves:"Did I mess up in today’s meeting?"
Of course, asking for a friend…
Instead, this is what my stakeholder could have written me in shorthand to bring clarity to his feedback message
New Message(s):
“S: can we get into the details tomorrow?
Q: what’s the purpose of the zoom out?
U: their pain point can’t be addressed at the zoom out level, we have tried it before
C: we need the step by step by May 6 - our original scope of work promise
K: The zoom out got me thinking different, thanks.”
Much clearer, nuanced feedback. If we had the SQUACK framework, we could have gotten there a lot faster.
How to implement it with your team:
Introduce the framework to your team at the end of your next meeting (copy and paste the SQUACK framework above + send them the original website)
You model the behavior first (in a Slack message, during a Teams meeting, in a Word comment, etc.)
Watch your team start to adopt it
Ask your team for feedback on trying the framework using…I think you get it.
Q: Will you try it this week?
S: Can you let me know how it goes?
U: Your team needs this level of clarity
K: Thanks for reading this far :)
#14: The unlikely question that shifts a team into action
I am obsessed with this one question to get teams out of their funk and into radical action.
So many teams are waiting to get started.
Have you ever found yourselves caught in the endless loop of waiting?
Waiting for executive buy-in
Waiting for engineering support
Waiting for the meeting next week
Waiting for the new hire to start next month.
Meanwhile, the to-do list keeps growing, Slack messages pile up, and every task seems like an uphill battle.
But what if it didn't have to be this way?
The one question
Ask this question to get them into action
What would {this} look like if it were easy?
{this} could be anything:
managing a reduced budget for a product launch
working with that annoying teammate
preparation for the executive shareout
my overwhelming task list
Inspired by Tim Ferris' wisdom in "Tools of Titans," this question has become my mantra. Just saying it aloud can feel like a weight lifting from your shoulders.
Fun fact about David: I kickstart my day with mindfulness readings, including excerpts from this book.
Try the Easy path first. The hard one will always be there
Let me share a recent breakthrough using this powerful question.
Context: I am working on a complex organizational change project with a Fortune 500 company to bring two internal teams to work closer together. There is so much tension between the groups that my sponsor told me “not to even get close to that team” because of all the dysfunction.
At first, we tried to write our own scope of work, have "alignment meetings" with senior stakeholders and other activities that were really hard and time consuming.
So, during a recent meeting with the team sponsor I asked: “What would {working with this team} look like if it were easy?”
The atmosphere shifted. Minds sparked. Shoulders relaxed. We stopped being victims to the situation and instead got into radical action.
So, I am joining an already-planned working session with those two teams next week: an easy path to get started.
And if challenges persist? We'll regroup, ask the question again, and pivot as needed. The path of difficulty with exec buy-in and re-allocated budgets will always be an option, but we’ll continue to explore the path of ease first.
From victims to empowered teammates
Beyond problem-solving and action, this question cultivates confidence. It transforms team members from passive victims in the Drama Triangle to empowered collaborators, eager to tackle challenges head-on. And who wouldn't want a team like that?
Let's break free from the cycle of waiting and embrace the power of ease to propel us forward.
Will you try it this week?
#13: How to use the Why/How Ladder to balance strategic and tactical meeting goals
I'm excited to share a visual model and set of strategic questions designed to ensure that all participants in your meeting are engaging at the optimal "conversation altitude" for maximum productivity.
Ever found yourself in a meeting where someone discusses concepts at such a high level that you're left wondering, "What the hell are we even talking about here?"
Or perhaps you've entered a meeting expecting strategic discussion, only to get bogged down in task management and logistics.
We have a “meeting altitude” issue.
Remember the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears? One bed was too small, one was too big, and one was just right. Similarly, our discussions can misalign: they're either too abstract and lofty, or too concrete and focused on minutiae. Your role as a facilitator is to navigate to the 'just right' altitude.
Achieving the right conversational altitude yields significant rewards: an aligned and engaged audience with clear directives.
Unfortunately, many meetings miss this mark. Here are three risks of failing to align meeting altitude:
Inefficient Use of Time: When participants operate at different levels, discussions can stray off-topic, extending the meeting duration without productive outcomes.
Increased Errors: Lack of alignment can lead to misunderstandings, resulting in decisions that don't fully address the core issues, potentially leading to further complications.
Reduced Participation: If team members perceive meetings as unproductive or feel their contributions are undervalued, they may withdraw and participate less over time.
Most meeting leaders don’t clarify their desired meeting altitude
There are other reasons why meeting leaders fail at solving the “meeting altitude” dilemma
They don’t define in advance what altitude they need the conversation
They lack awareness that the problem exists in the moment
They don’t have a good visual model to help them navigate the complex dynamic
They don’t have powerful questions to instantly change the dynamic in the room
Abstract, big picture thinkers can get frustrated because others are too in the weeds
Concrete tactical thinkers can get frustrated because others are too pie in the sky and are confused by the jargon.
Luckily, there is a way to solve for this. Enter the Why/How ladder.
Use the Why/How Ladder to solve it
Imagine the rungs of a ladder. Higher levels of the ladder are more abstract. Lower levels of the ladder are more concrete.
Ask Why-type questions to go up levels of the ladder to abstract Needs, Opportunities and Outcomes
Ask How-type question to go down the levels of the ladders to concrete Solutions, Ideas and Experiments
Let’s explore this further with a concrete example:
The Why/How Ladder
Step 1: Define your Levels and at what altitude you want the conversation
Last year, I was working with a product team that was looking to design a new electric vehicle (EV) charging experience for car drivers.
Let's look at this EV experience through our ladder analogy.
We had 6 different levels of conversations, meetings and workshops. The higher the level the more abstract. The lower the level, the more concrete. Here they are:
Level 6: Grow our revenue in an adjacent market (Business Outcome)
Level 5: Make the 30 min I now have to wait to charge my car valuable (Customer Outcome)
Level 4: Redesign the electric vehicle charging experience (Opportunity)
Level 3: Coffee delivery to drivers (Solution)
Level 2: Integrate coffee delivery to our Convenience store App (Experiment)
Level 1: use exiting API (Implementation)
Many of the meetings I led were derailed because some of the engineers that came were ready for Level 1 conversations while our product strategist was talking at Level 4.
Very different conversations, language and activities at different levels.
Start by clearly defining the levels at which you'll engage and agreeing on the conversation's altitude.
This ladder idea isn’t a new concept. The Luma Institute talks about Abstract Laddering. My example above aligns closer to Teresa Torres’ Opportunity Solution Trees. Both great resources to dig into more deeply!
Step 2: Use the Why/How ladder framework
Ask Why-type questions to go up levels of the ladder to abstract Needs, Opportunities and Outcomes.
Ask How-type question to go down the levels of the ladders to concrete Solutions, Ideas and Experiments.
Going Up the ladder:
Using our previous example, if someone shouts out “We should deliver coffee to drivers!” (Level 3), you can ask them: Why? They may respond: “Well…we want to redesign the electric vehicle charging experience!” (Level 4)
Going Down the ladder.
Similarly, if someone shouts: “We should deliver coffee to drivers!” (Level 3), you can ask them: How? They may respond: “Well…we could Integrate coffee delivery to our Convenience store App…” (Level 2).
etc. etc.
Step 2a: Use these questions to go up and down the ladder
Literally just saying "Why" or "How" may not be effective. Here are other questions you can use to get at the same concept.
Do you feel like the conversation or content is too in the weeds? Move Up the ladder with Why-type questions:
What makes you say X?
Connect {lower level} to {higher level} for me…
What do you believe to be true about X?
If we had X, what would happen as a result?
Is the conversation or content too abstract? Move down the ladder with How-type questions:
Can you give me an example of X?
How might we do X?
What needs to happen with X to make it a reality?
Step 3: Capture the information to clarify the right level
After you go up and down the ladder, you eventually want to land on a rung of the ladder to make sure you are speaking at the same altitude.
Using our EV example, if the conversation plateaus at things like “Redesign the electric vehicle charging experience” (Level 4), you can write it down and play it back to the team.
Pair this with our discussion moderation technique #3: Synthesize Points and you can say something like “It sounds like we are discussing things at this level 4-type language. Is that right?”
This gets everyone aligned and on the same page.
A simple action you can take
At your next meeting, set a clear altitude goal at the beginning. For instance, decide whether you need high-level strategic discussions or detailed logistical planning.
Practice moving up and down the ladder. Use Why-type questions to explore abstract ideas and How-type questions to get practical solutions.
By consciously practicing these steps, you'll find your meetings more focused, productive, and satisfying. Don’t just meet—conquer your meetings with clarity and purpose!
#12: How to balance the 4 facilitator personas for productive workshops
Today, I'll guide you through the four essential facilitation personas and the specific skills to hone for each, ensuring you effectively steer your workshops towards their goals.
The 4 Personas
During a workshop, there are many different mindsets and methods that a facilitator can use to drive a team toward a common outcome. I find there are 4 distinct personas.
The Questioner
The Motivator
The Task Master
The Clairvoyant
What is your natural persona?
Reflect on your instinctive approach in workshops. What strengths do you bring to the table, and where could you improve? It's crucial to adapt and balance these personas to suit each unique situation. Common pitfalls include:
The Overly Punctual Facilitator: So focused on timing that they miss the room's dynamics.
The Eternal Optimist: Engages in too much fun and games, losing sight of objectives.
The Perpetual Inquirer: Constantly asking questions without leveraging insights for actionable outcomes.
Facilitation demands continuous skill refinement. Let's explore each persona more deeply and identify practices to enhance your effectiveness as a facilitator.
The 4 FACILITATION PERSONAS
1. The Questioner
They dig deep to comprehend fully. They say things like “I’d like to understand that better”
This archetype embodies curiosity within the group, often stepping back to allow others the space to express themselves, aiming for a deeper comprehension of various perspectives. Their forte lies in posing thoughtful questions and excelling in active listening.
Skills to Practice:
Ask “open” questions: These questions usually start with What, How, When and Why
How did you get to that perspective?
What are some examples of X?
When is the last time that…
Use an upward inflection in your tone: It signals inquisitiveness. Chris Voss, master negotiator, talks about this in his 6 tips in the art of negotiation.
2. The Motivator:
They infuse vibrant energy to propel the team forward. They say things like “Yes! Let’s keep it going, team!”
As the group's spirited cheerleader and master of ceremonies, they possess a knack for dynamically shifting the room's atmosphere. Whether it's transforming distraction into engagement, lethargy into vitality, or chaos into concentration, they navigate these transitions with ease and flair.
Skills to Practice:
Boosting energy: Increase your speech temp. Play some music by Ratatat or engage in lovely, energetic warmups to invigorate the atmosphere.
Calming the energy: Adopt a more measure speech pace. Share a reflective poem, guide a collective breathing exercise, or set a serene (not sleepy!) ambiance with instrumental music from Thievery Corporation to create a focused yet relaxed environment.
Embrace methods that resonate with your authentic style to effectively modulate the room’s energy.
3. The Task Master
They manage time and keep people on track: They say things like: “We have 8 minutes left. Shall we move on to the next activity?”
This persona thrives on structure and efficiency, adept at navigating the workflow to ensure that every agenda item receives its due attention without delay.
Skills to Practice:
Ask “closed” questions: While the Questioner uses open-ended exploration, the Task Master shifts to focused inquiries that prompt immediate action or confirmation. They start questions with Can, Shall, Does and Is.
Shall we move on to the next activity?
Is this the right file we should all be looking at?
Does everyone have the Mural board open?
Agile agenda design: Use agenda design tools that can be edited in real-time to manage time risk. Here is a Google Sheet template that I designed that I always use for my workshops.
Tactful interjections. Master the art of gently steering conversations back on course, ensuring productivity without stifling dialogue. Learn effective techniques here.
4. The Clairvoyant:
They decipher the underlying essence of discussions in real time to get to the "aha." They say things like "Based on what I am hearing, I wonder if {point of view} is true"
This individual excels in deep listening and pattern recognition, piecing together spoken words and unsaid thoughts to unveil new insights.
Skills to practice:
Advanced analysis: Cultivate the ability to absorb and dissect data and observations to find patterns, trends, and correlations
Strategic frameworking: If Analysis is what to do, Frameworking is how to do it. Develop proficiency in organizing your analytical insights using structured visual methods. Whether it’s employing matrices like 2x2s, conducting SWOT analyses, or categorizing thoughts into Start/Stop/Continue formats, the goal is to present your findings in a clear, actionable manner. Expand your toolkit by googling “frameworks for {desired outcome}”
Articulating emerging insights in real-time: Practice the skill of sharing unfinished conclusions in real-time. This involves presenting your in-the-moment interpretations for group feedback, fostering deeper discussion even if your initial take is revised through collaborative refinement. We like to say “Strong Opinions, Loosely Held”
Combine personas for different scenarios
The best facilitators are able to mix and match these skillsets depending on the scenario. Some examples:
Reinvigorating a Low-Energy Team: When faced with a group that's lethargic and directionless, embody the Motivator-Questioner to stir enthusiasm while gently probing to clarify uncertainties
Streamlining Overwhelmed Discussions: When confronted with an abundance of data and an overwhelmed team with messy whiteboards, assume the role of a Clairvoyant-Task Master. Your goal is to distill clarity and prompt decisive action from a sea of information.
Managing Intensive, Multi-Day workshops: In high-stakes, extended workshops, a dual-facilitation approach magnifies effectiveness:
One facilitator adopts the Motivator-Task Master, ensuring vibrancy and adherence to the timeline
Simultaneously, another becomes the Questioner-Clairvoyant, focusing on deep listening and connecting the dots, thus fostering meaningful insights to action.
By strategically employing these personas, you can navigate diverse group dynamics and guide your team through any challenge.
#11: Accelerate complex problem-solving through weekly 4hr sprints
I am going to share with you a way to lead internal projects that accelerates problem solving, especially when you need a cross functional group for decision making and evolution.
Work rarely gets done in meetings.
Let’s be honest. Real work rarely gets done in meetings. The reality for most people I work with is that they are back to back all day in updates, check-ins, 1:1s, and weekly reports and have to find quiet times in the evening to do the critical, complex thinking. There are other reasons why work rarely gets done in meetings:
meetings are usually too short to dig into anything meaningful
poor facilitation
lack of prep work to drive impactful conversations
missing key individuals or customers for input and feedback
So, we have a meeting to decide on next steps and schedule another meeting. And on and on we go. No wonder why so many of us are burned out!
There is a better way: the 4hr sprint.
ACCELERATE COMPLEX PROBLEM-SOLVING THROUGH WEEKLY 4HR SPRINTS
Stop meetings. Start 4hr sprints.
A few years ago, I was working with a 100-year-old manufacturing company that wanted to implement a new internal risk management tool. (I promise you it was a lot more exciting in real life than that 1-liner!)
The idea needed buy-in across Sales, Operations, and Customer Success all with limited capacity and who usually work in siloes.
Old way:
Create a 50 page presentation with the approach.
Go to each VP to sell the idea.
Hire a consulting firm or make an argument for new headcount.
Wait weeks or months to get started.
New way (what we did):
Created a 4hr weekly working session.
Went to each VP to ask for exactly 4hrs/week of time from key team members for 3 weeks. Not a minute more.
Didn’t hire anybody but activated facilitation skills.
Waited 1 week to get started.
Inspired by Google Ventures
This isn’t a new concept. The concept of Sprints was popularized by Google Ventures as a 5-day process to go from problem definition to tested ideas with customers.
I love leading a good 5-day sprint. It’s fun, immersive and intense.
It also is impractical for most day to day teams, which is why I prefer a 4hr weekly sprint cadence.
Benefits of this approach
Reduces context switching: Stops the mental fatigue of constantly switching between problems and context every 30 min
Accelerates problem solving: We aren’t waiting for the right meeting or "a workshop" to start evolving the work, we are just starting.
Increases team connection: The longer work periods allows people to get to know each other, especially who work in separate teams
Increases productivity: This isn't a meeting. we are doing the work, people!
Allows for breathing room: Instead of a traditional 5-day sprint that forces ideas in a short period of time, spreading out the work gives space your brain to digest the content from the week before
When to use it
I tend to use this approach when:
there is a discrete problem to solve or idea to evolve
you need to bring a cross functional team together
they have limited time to work on the problem
leadership is asking for quick results
you have access to customers/stakeholder for feedback
the team has facilitation skills to lead the process
How to design a 4hr sprint
Here is a sample agenda:
Hours 1 and 2: Recaps + Active Problem Solving
30 min: Recaps, strategic warmups and time to connect
Why?: Participants are probably coming from another meeting and need time to fully arrive, get their head into the game, remember past context, and focus on what to expect in the next 4 hours.
90 min: Focused time for problem solving. Design flare, explore or focus frameworks depending on your workshop goal
Why?: Without visual frameworks, you are going to lose people and you risk everyone just talking, no action. Simple fill in the blanks and prompting questions can get people into action. This is also the core of connecting your workshop goal to tactical activities
Hour 3: Break + Prep for stakeholder feedback
30 min: Break.
Why?: Because we are humans, not robots. Invite them to spend 5 minutes to make sure there are no fires happening with their other work and encourage a walk, food and hydration. Do the same for yourself.
30 min: Prep for customer/stakeholder feedback
Why? So the team feels just prepared enough with the right questions to ask to evolve the work you just did
Hour 4: Stakeholder Feedback + prep for next week, feedback
30 min: customer/stakeholder feedback.
Why?: Reduce the time from creation to constructive feedback to accelerate the work. Don’t wait for another meeting. Invite them into the mess. Show them the unfinished work to evolve your idea. Also, having customers and stakeholders in the room gives a reason for your team to stay the whole time :).
30 min: Debrief on the feedback and make a plan for the next 4 hr Sprint
Why?: Because teams always love the post-feedback chit chat on what they learned. It creates engagement and excitement for the next working session.
Agenda template I always use
Need help creating and managing your agenda? Here is a free Google Sheet template that I have used for 10+ years to design your next workshop. Feel free to steal it, use it and make it better.
Results from the 100-year-old manufacturing client
We reduced time to market by 75+%.
When we worked in this way, the 100-year-old manufacturing client would normally get a functional tool in front of their internal customers in 12+ weeks.
We did it in 3.
We got the right team, right facilitation and right prototyping mindset to drive action in days and weeks. Not months or years.