A facilitated working session
Make room for better questions.
Leave with a sharper problem statement and one small experiment the team can actually try.
Every minute has a purpose.
Bring paper, a pen, a visible timer and a shared place to collect notes. Durations include transitions.
Ask a more useful question.
Small groupsDesign a small experiment.
Whole groupLeave with something useful.
A grounded observation
Describe one specific moment of friction without diagnosing motives or inventing customer evidence.
A useful question
Frame a question that admits multiple answers and makes the uncertainty visible.
A small learning plan
Name a reversible experiment, a willing owner, a review checkpoint and a reason to stop.
Make participation possible.
Participation may be spoken, written or passed. No one must disclose a personal experience.
Challenge assumptions and ideas, not the person offering them. Keep observations distinct from interpretations.
Ask before quoting or sharing someone’s contribution outside this group.
Treat role names as placeholders until a real person willingly accepts the responsibility.
These are proposed agreements. Check them with the group before the first activity.
Individual → pairs
Notice before solving.
18MINUTES
What to do
Spend four minutes writing moments of friction. Pair up, compare notes, and select one pattern worth exploring.
A question to work with
Where did the work feel harder than it needed to be?
Capture
One specific observation per note. Separate what happened from your explanation.
Separate seeing from explaining.
Example: a teammate asked where to find the handoff note twice during one practice task.
Possible explanation: the note may be hard to locate. This is a hypothesis, not proof of the cause.
A question worth investigating
How might we learn what makes the handoff note easier or harder to find?
Small groups
Ask a more useful question.
22MINUTES
What to do
Choose one pattern. Rewrite it as a question that leaves room for several possible answers. Share it with another group.
A question to work with
What are we assuming about the person experiencing this problem?
Capture
A problem question, the assumption behind it, and one thing you still need to learn.
Choose a question, not a winner.
Specific enough to investigate with the time and access available.
Important to the participants without assuming everyone has the same experience.
Open to more than one explanation and a reversible next step.
Selection method
Compare candidate questions against all three criteria. Each participant may state a preference or pass; use the discussion to choose one bounded learning question.
When we disagree
Record dissent and unresolved assumptions. If a key concern remains, narrow the question or defer commitment.
Whole group
Design a small experiment.
20MINUTES
What to do
Choose one question. Propose a low-cost way to learn something useful, and agree on a stopping point.
A question to work with
What observation would change our mind?
Capture
Experiment, willing owner, review date, and a visible sign that it is time to stop.
Turn an idea into a learning card.
Experiment to explore
Draft a small change to a fictional handoff note and observe a willing participant using it.
A willing participant — not yet assigned
Agree a specific checkpoint before leaving
Stop or rethink when
Stop if consent is withdrawn, access is unavailable, or the test would disrupt essential work.
Notice what shifted.
What became clearer during this session?
Which assumption still needs evidence?
What should we change about the way we worked?
Start with silent reflection. Sharing is optional; retain only contributions participants agree to capture. This page stays inside the final activity timebox.
Take one thing forward.
What is the smallest useful thing we can try next?
Record one experiment, a willing owner, and a review date. Share the notes only with participants unless they consent to wider distribution.
Before you leave
Confirm what was learned, what remains open, and who owns the next step.