# Big Solutions in a Box Walk

Trios walk while discussing a broad operational challenge, synthesize their top three priority actions onto a single index card, and attach them to a central cardboard box display.

**Time:** 15 minutes. 15 minutes suggested by UWT based on the 5 to 15 minute source band.
**People:** 4 to 24. Trios. If headcount leaves one remainder, create one quad; if it leaves two remainders, create one pair.

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Synthesize a broad project challenge into three concrete priority actions per group while walking.
**Use it when:** Use during project kickoff, cross-team alignment, or post-event planning to turn broad problems into a short list of concrete priorities.
**Skip it when:** Skip when the venue lacks safe, accessible walking paths, when confidentiality prevents talking in open halls, or when technical work requires continuous screen access.

## Materials and tools

- One index card (4x6 or 5x7 inches) per subgroup
- One pen per subgroup
- One large cardboard box (or one medium box per trio if building a solution tower)
- Roll of masking tape or glue sticks
- Facilitator timer or audible bell

## Before participants arrive

1. Designate a safe indoor or outdoor walking loop with clear turn-around points.
2. Place the cardboard box and tape or glue sticks on a central table.
3. Prepare one index card and one pen per group.

## Say this to open

Form groups of three. You will walk together for seven minutes to answer one focal challenge: What are the top three things we must change so our areas work together effectively? Adapt this prompt to your project as needed. Each group gets one card and one pen. Synthesize your discussion into your top three solutions, write them down, and bring the card back.

## How to run it

### 1. Form groups and brief (3 minutes)

Assemble participants into trios. If the headcount leaves one person over, add them to an existing trio to make a four-person group. If two people remain, have them work as a pair. Hand each group exactly one index card and one pen. Announce the specific focal challenge, physical walking boundaries, and time limit.

### 2. Walk and agree (7 minutes)

Groups walk along the designated route. They discuss the question and agree on their top three priority solutions. The scribe records only those three items onto their single index card. Sound an audible bell or chime at six minutes to signal the return walk.

### 3. Attach cards to box (2 minutes)

Groups return to the room and gather around the cardboard box. Each group uses tape or glue to attach their index card to an open face of the box. If using individual boxes, groups stack them to form a solution tower.

### 4. Review and debrief (3 minutes)

Participants stand around the box to read cards. Invite brief comments from three volunteer groups on recurring themes, differences, and immediate practical actions.


## Debrief questions

- Which solutions appeared on more than one card?
- What recurring blocker came up during your walks?
- Which single idea on this box can we start testing this week?

**Finished output:** A physical cardboard box displaying each group's top three synthesized solutions on index cards.

## Remote

Form breakout rooms of three people for 7 minutes. Invite participants to stand or walk with mobile audio if able. Each trio chooses one scribe to type three agreed actions into a shared digital whiteboard shaped like a box. Convene in plenary to review the posted items.

## Hybrid

In-person participants walk in trios. Remote participants work in breakout rooms of three. A room proxy transcribes remote trios' top three ideas onto physical index cards and mounts them on the box before the debrief.

## Access and participation choices

- Walking is optional; groups may sit, stand in place, or use mobility devices without explaining why.
- Trios choose their own scribe; anyone may pass on writing, walking, or reporting to the full room.

## If the session gets stuck

**Groups wander out of earshot and return late.**

Define a clear visual boundary such as one hallway loop or set an alarm on one member's phone set for six minutes.

**A group fills the card with ten separate ideas instead of three.**

Ask the group to pause at the box, circle their top three items together, and cross out the rest before taping.


## Terms used here

- Solution tower: A stack of individual cardboard boxes where each group marks or cards their own box and stacks them together.

## Sources and adaptation

Observed in Relationship Makers Handbook, pages 54-55.

Retained the walk-and-talk trio format, single card constraint, and cardboard box display from Relationship Makers Handbook. UWT supplied the 15-minute pacing, arithmetic rules for remainders, explicit hybrid workflow, and debrief prompts.

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/big-solutions-in-a-box-walk/