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Designing for sense‑making
How to prevent the rush to solutions that undermines good decisions Last week I wrote about how AI is quietly replacing working sessions. Instead of pulling people together to understand a messy problem, someone “puts it into AI” and emails…
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How AI Is Quietly Replacing Working Sessions
Lately, I keep hearing the same line at work: “I put this into AI and it came up with this model / framework / analysis.” A few years ago, those same problems would have triggered a working session: get the…
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Less Explaining, More Doing
A workshop pattern to cut exposition without losing clarity When does your workshop make you talk too much? Think about your last workshop. How much of the time did you spend explaining what was about to happen, why it mattered,…
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Are your workshops too long?
Why workshop length is a design decision “We need a half-day workshop.” Sound familiar? I’ve found workshop length is often treated as a given before the session even gets designed. Workshop length is a design choice But workshop length is…
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Why That Workshop Won’t Land
No shared problem, no shared progress. Your client wants a workshop to “fix” another team. You’re in the scoping call, 20 minutes in. They describe the tension: Team A gripes constantly about Team B. Team A wants a session where…
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Generative Play: Using creative moments to shape work
How workshops can turn play into progress A side-quest or a shortcut? You invite teams to build Lego models, create mood boards, or run design jams, and you see participation paired with scepticism. People lean into the activity, but they’re…
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Set the One Goal That Matters
Find the single goal hidden inside every overloaded brief. Clients love a busy workshop brief. By the time it lands in your inbox, it’s usually stacked with goals: “align on vision, brainstorm new ideas, prioritize the backlog, map the current…
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Diagnose Why Your Workshops Aren’t Delivering
See if you’re Capable, Developing, or just Curious about real collaboration Workshops Feeling Flat? 72% of meetings are unproductive*. What about your workshops? When a workshop feels flat, most teams don’t stop to ask why. They just pick a new…
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De-escalate Before the Mutiny: 5 Tactics to Tame Toxic Workshop Dynamics
Turn near-fistfights into breakthroughs by prepping smarter, spotting signs early, and pivoting with empathy (from a facilitator who lived it). Workshops can go off the rails fast. I ran one to help a small team finalize requirements. They had spent…
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Evolving Skills for Hybrid Collaboration
Workshop design skills are the missing piece in hybrid work. “Back to the office” is a misnomer. Commutes are harder, seats are largely unassigned, and for many of us, interactions remain superficial despite our co-location. Proximity doesn’t auto-spark collaboration. In…
