# Bateson and Dilts Pyramid Workshop

Teams systematically align five logical levels: purpose, identity, beliefs, behaviours, and environment. They produce shared team statements, behavioral commitments, and an environment action plan.

**Time:** 255 minutes. Calculated from the source session agenda: five core steps plus closing, totaling 4 hours and 15 minutes (255 minutes).
**People:** 4 to 20. Whole-room discussions interspersed with small working groups of 3 to 5 people (or pairs if total count is 4).

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Produce consensus statements and concrete action plans across purpose, identity, beliefs, behaviours, and workspace environment.
**Use it when:** Use during a team kickoff, chartering session, or strategic realignment when members need shared operating agreements from overarching purpose down to daily work habits.
**Skip it when:** Skip when you have under two hours, when the team lacks authority to change its workspace or operations, or when immediate tactical fire-fighting is required instead.

## Materials and tools

- 5 wall charts labeled: Purpose, Identity, Beliefs and Values, Behaviours and Capabilities, Environment
- 1 pad of 3x3 inch sticky notes per participant
- 1 fine-point marker pen per participant
- Blue painter tape
- Blank Action Plan Template sheets (one printed sheet per small working group)
- 1 laptop or tablet per table group (for hybrid sessions)

## Before participants arrive

1. Use blue painter tape to hang the five large paper sheets along the wall in order: Purpose, Identity, Beliefs and Values, Behaviours and Capabilities, Environment.
2. Distribute sticky notes and marker pens to each seat.
3. Distribute one blank Action Plan Template sheet per table for small working groups.
4. Arrange seating so participants can easily move between small table discussions and the wall charts.

## Say this to open

Today we will work through the five levels of the Bateson and Dilts Pyramid: Purpose, Identity, Beliefs, Behaviours, and Environment. We start at the top with why our team exists, and work down to the physical and social space we need to succeed. Our first block focuses on Purpose. Take two minutes now in silence to write answers on your sticky notes to: Why does our team exist, and what larger purpose do we serve?

## How to run it

### 1. Clarify team purpose (45 minutes)

After the 2-minute silent writing from the opening, invite participants to post their notes on the Purpose wall chart. Cluster matching ideas into clear themes. Discuss the common threads as a whole room. Together, draft and write a concise, one-to-two sentence team purpose statement at the top of the chart that everyone can support. Also record this agreed statement in the summary field of the group Action Plan Templates.

### 2. Shape team identity (45 minutes)

Pose the question: 'Who are we as a team?' Split the room into working groups of 3 to 5 participants (or pairs if 4 total). Groups spend 15 minutes listing descriptive traits, roles, and metaphors on sticky notes. Post notes on the Identity chart. Consolidate duplicates as a whole room and draft a concise team identity statement that aligns with the purpose. Scribes record the identity statement onto the Action Plan Templates.

### 3. Explore beliefs and values (45 minutes)

Introduce the question: 'What core beliefs and values guide how we work together and make decisions?' Participants reflect individually for 5 minutes and write essential values on sticky notes. Post notes on the Beliefs wall chart. Cluster similar points. As a full room, agree on 3 to 5 core principles. Record these principles on the chart and in the summary field of the Action Plan Templates.

### 4. Connect behaviours and capabilities (60 minutes)

Ask: 'What specific behaviours and skills must we show to live our purpose, identity, and beliefs?' Participants write actions and capabilities on sticky notes for 10 minutes. Post on the Behaviours chart in two columns: Behaviours (what we do) and Capabilities (skills we build). Agree on 3 to 5 priority habits. Working groups then complete Section 1 of the Action Plan Template with named owners and target dates.

### 5. Shape the environment (45 minutes)

Divide the Environment wall chart into two columns: 'Supportive' and 'Challenging'. Ask: 'What aspects of our physical, digital, and social workspace help or hinder our work?' Participants post sticky notes under both columns. Discuss adjustable factors that the team controls directly. In table groups, complete Section 2 of the Action Plan Template, listing specific workspace adjustments, named owners, and target completion dates.

### 6. Debrief and individual commitments (15 minutes)

Walk the wall from Purpose down to Environment. Give 3 minutes for silent review. Go around the room: each participant speaks one personal action commitment they will make to support the team agreements. As each person speaks, they directly write their own name, commitment, and starting date into Section 3 of their table Action Plan Template (or quietly log it if passing on oral sharing).


## Debrief questions

- How does our workspace environment either support or undermine the purpose we stated today?
- Which agreed behaviour will require the biggest daily habit shift starting tomorrow?
- What is our process for revisiting these agreements if our organizational priorities change?

**Finished output:** Five documented wall charts and completed table Action Plan Templates containing consensus statements, operational action items, and personal commitments.

## Remote

Set up a digital whiteboard with five columns for the pyramid levels. Conduct full-team discussions in the main room and small group tasks in breakout rooms of 3 to 5 participants. Participants post digital notes in each column. Scribes draft consensus statements directly into designated text blocks at the top of each column and fill out shared digital Action Plan Templates.

## Hybrid

Display the shared digital board on a central screen in the physical room. Assign one connected laptop or tablet to each in-person table group, where a designated scribe logs sticky notes and plan entries into the digital board alongside remote breakout groups. In plenary debriefs, alternate turns between remote individuals and in-person tables.

## Access and participation choices

- Participants may submit written sticky notes quietly instead of speaking aloud during plenary synthesis.
- Anyone may pass on reading their final commitment aloud by writing it directly into Section 3 of their table sheet.

## If the session gets stuck

**Discussions about Purpose become vague corporate slogans that fail to guide daily choices.**

Ask: 'If this team disbanded tomorrow, what specific work would fail or suffer?' Anchor the purpose statement directly to concrete recipients and real work.

**The Environment step turns into a complaint list about external enterprise policies that the team cannot alter.**

Draw a clear line between factors the team controls directly (meeting etiquette, response norms, desk habits) and external constraints. Direct action items strictly to internal team control.


## Terms used here

- Logical Levels: A hierarchical model organizing change and human experience into logical tiers: environment, behaviour, capability, beliefs, identity, and purpose.

## Participant material: Action Plan Template

TEAM ACTION PLAN

Foundational Statements (from Steps 1-3)
- Agreed Purpose Statement:
- Agreed Team Identity:
- Core Beliefs and Values (3-5 items):

Section 1. Behaviours and Capabilities (Step 4)
- Priority Focus Area:
- Specific Action Required:
- Directly Responsible Person:
- Target Date:

Section 2. Workspace and Social Environment (Step 5)
- Environmental Adjustment:
- Practical Steps:
- Directly Responsible Person:
- Target Date:

Section 3. Individual Personal Commitments (Step 6)
(Each participant at this table enters their personal commitment below)
- Name | Commitment | Starting Date
- [                      ] | [                                            ] | [          ]
- [                      ] | [                                            ] | [          ]
- [                      ] | [                                            ] | [          ]
- [                      ] | [                                            ] | [          ]
- [                      ] | [                                            ] | [          ]

## Sources and adaptation

Observed in WorkshopBank as 'Bateson & Dilts Pyramid'. WorkshopBank attributes the underlying logical levels model to Robert Dilts and Gregory Bateson.

Preserved the five-level logical framework, sequence, and timing from WorkshopBank (Purpose 45m, Identity 45m, Beliefs 45m, Behaviours 60m, Environment 45m, Closing 15m; total 255m). UWT updated the Action Plan Template to record foundational statements from Steps 1-3 alongside action items from Steps 4-6, eliminated redundant instructions between the opening script and Step 1, clarified breakout group sizes to 3-5 participants (or pairs for 4 people), and standardized digital whiteboard terminology for remote use.

[WorkshopBank](https://workshopbank.com/tools/bateson-dilts-pyramid-workshop)

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/bateson-dilts-pyramid-workshopbank/