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Exercises/Constructive Conflict/Challenge Axis - Knowmium: The Un-Training Consultancy
General Collaboration Exercise ยท Constructive Conflict

Challenge Axis - Knowmium: The Un-Training Consultancy

Challenge Axis - Knowmium: The Un-Training Consultancy is a structured group exercise for constructive conflict: it helps participants surface tension or disagreement in a structured way.

5 to 15 minutesTIME
PairsGROUP SIZE
ActiveENERGY
In person, RemoteSETTING
High cognitive loadCOGNITIVE LOAD
Strengthens Problem Specificity This constructive conflict exercise strengthens Problem Specificity, one of the eight Gathering Effectiveness pillars.

How to run it

  1. Ask participants to think of their challenges related to the program topic. For example, in a presentation program, keeping eye contact with the audience is a common challenge. Note: Some of these challenges may have arisen in pre-work surveys.
  2. Show participants the shared whiteboard containing the X/Y Challenge Axis labeled with simple, complicated, complex, or chaotic. Explain the meanings of each quadrant:
  3. Simple: easy to resolve and results are predictable
  4. Complicated: harder to resolve and may require expert advice or practice, yet results are predictable
  5. Complex: many possible ways to resolve but results not predictable
  6. Chaotic: when the situation is too turbulent to create a path forward
  7. Ask participants to plot their challenges on the X/Y Challenge Axis.
  8. Discuss challenges and why participants positioned challenges. Consider pairing participants with similar challenges in future activities and discussions.
Live facilitator

Run this exercise live

The facilitator console stays in this browser. Its QR handoff is a short-lived participant snapshot containing only public exercise instructions, phase, prompt, and timer state.

Prompts to use +

Ask participants to think of their challenges related to the program topic. For example, in a presentation program, keeping eye contact with the audience is a common challenge. Note: Some of these challenges may have arisen in pre-work surveys.

Show participants the shared whiteboard containing the X/Y Challenge Axis labeled with simple, complicated, complex, or chaotic. Explain the meanings of each quadrant:

Chaotic: when the situation is too turbulent to create a path forward

Ask participants to plot their challenges on the X/Y Challenge Axis.

Discuss challenges and why participants positioned challenges. Consider pairing participants with similar challenges in future activities and discussions.

Run this with your AI assistant +

Works with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or your own local model: paste this prompt and your AI will co-facilitate this exercise with you.

Adapt this exercise for my exact room. Exercise: Challenge Axis - Knowmium: The Un-Training Consultancy. Readiness: Publishable Draft. Core moves: Ask participants to think of their challenges related to the program topic. For example, in a presentation program, keeping eye contact with the audience is a common challenge. Note: Some of these challenges may have arisen in pre-work surveys.; Show participants the shared whiteboard containing the X/Y Challenge Axis labeled with simple, complicated, complex, or chaotic. Explain the meanings of each quadrant:; Chaotic: when the situation is too turbulent to create a path forward; Ask participants to plot their challenges on the X/Y Challenge Axis.. Return a concise facilitator script with timing, wording, safety notes, and remote/in-person adjustments.

Origin unverified

  • Where we observed it: The strongest current observations come from Knowmium; aggregators are listed as additional observations, not origin proof. (1 source observed, including Knowmium.)
  • What that means: we track where an exercise has been observed in public sources. We do not claim to know who created it, or how popular it is.
  • No efficacy claims: appearing in this library is not a claim that the exercise is proven effective. Facilitator judgment and context decide whether it works for a given room.
  • Corrections: if you have evidence of an earlier or more accurate source, read our methodology and trust boundary and tell us.

Pairs well with