Tip #51: Do a Best/Barrier Workshop

This is one of my favorite exercises because it generates clarity and energy through two simple questions: What do we look like at our best? What is stopping us from doing that every day? (And yep, you might recognize this one from the “Building Your Game Plan” questions.) It takes about an hour.

1. Divide the group into tables of six to eight people (maximum five tables),

   and ask each table to spend ten minutes discussing question 1: What do we look like at our best? Describe specific instances in which your group performed at its highest level—the behaviors, the communication, the patterns of interaction.

2. Ask each table to share their responses

   with the rest of the room, capturing the result on a whiteboard or an easel (twenty minutes).

3. Now ask each table to spend ten minutes exploring question 2:

   What keeps us from doing that every time? Name the barriers that prevent your culture from performing at its highest level—the more specific the better.

4. Ask each table to share their answers with the larger group (twenty minutes).

   The goal is not to be diagnostic but rather to start an ongoing conversation about the challenges and opportunities of the landscape you all share.