In a room of eight hundred, people perform. In a room of eight, people admit things. Twenty years of running both has convinced me that most of what is worth learning about new ways of working only comes out in the second kind of room.
01What makes a small room work
1
Nobody is selling. The moment someone has a product, the honesty goes.
2
Everyone has tried something. Opinions without attempts are just opinions.
3
Failure goes first. Start with what did not work and the rest follows.
The useful sentence usually begins with “I tried this and it did not work.”
02Where this breaks
When the room is too similar. Eight people from the same team will agree quickly and learn nothing. Vary the roles, the industries, the levels of experience.
Try this on Monday.
Gather five colleagues from different teams. One hour. One rule: everyone shares something they tried that failed.
DKDaniel KwartengFacilitator and coach