Decision Maze

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Compare how different assumptions and trade-offs lead to distinct practical consequences in a complex scenario.

Use it when: Use when a team needs to examine strategic options, project risks, or policy choices before committing to a plan.

Skip it when: Skip when there is a single legally or technically mandated path with no room for alternative choices.

Group arrangement: Small teams of 3 to 4 participants working in parallel.

Timing: Evidence suggests 20 to 120 minutes depending on complexity; 45 minutes fits a 3-tier branching scenario with room debrief.

Materials and tools

• One Decision Maze scenario packet per team (three printed scenario sheets: Station 1, Station 2, Station 3)
• One Decision Log worksheet per team
• One pen or pencil per team
• One countdown timer visible to the room

Before participants arrive

1. Print one copy of the 3-page Decision Maze packet and one Decision Log worksheet for each team.
2. Arrange seating into small team clusters of 3 or 4 chairs around a table.
3. Keep Station 2 and Station 3 sheets folded or sealed until teams reach them.

Say this to open

Welcome. Today we are exploring how choices compound over time. Your team will navigate a scenario with branching paths. At each stage, your group must choose one option based on the trade-offs described, write down your reasoning on your Decision Log, and only then open the corresponding next station. Let us begin with Station 1.

How to run it

1. Form teams and review the scenario 5 minutes

   Divide participants into teams of 3 or 4. Hand out the Station 1 scenario sheet and the Decision Log. Explain the task: read the situation, discuss the trade-offs, and select one path by consensus or majority vote.

2. Navigate Stage 1 and Stage 2 15 minutes

   Teams analyze Station 1, choose Path A or Path B, and write their rationale on the Decision Log. Once logged, teams open their chosen Station 2 sheet (2A or 2B). They read the consequence, evaluate the next options, and record their next choice.

3. Resolve Stage 3 outcomes 10 minutes

   Teams open their chosen Station 3 branch based on their Stage 2 selection. They read their final operational outcome, assess what resources they kept or lost, and summarize their final state on their Decision Log.

4. Compare paths and debrief 15 minutes

   Reconvene the full room. Ask one representative from two contrasting paths to state their choices and outcomes in 2 minutes each. Then facilitate the debrief questions with the full room.

Debrief questions

• What critical assumptions influenced your team's first major choice?
• Where did an unexpected consequence in Stage 2 force you to shift your strategy?
• How did the trade-offs you accepted early on limit your later flexibility?

Finished output: Completed Decision Logs showing the sequential path, stated reasoning, and final scenario outcomes from each team.

Remote

Set up breakout rooms for teams of 3 to 4. Provide the branching scenario using linked digital slides or forms where selecting an option reveals the next station. Each team records choices in a shared online document before returning to the main room for debrief.

Hybrid

Place remote participants together in dedicated breakout rooms using the digital maze document. In-person participants work in room pods with printed sheets. The whole-room debrief occurs in the joint plenary call with screen-shared logs.

Access and participation choices

• Teams assign roles internally such as reader, scribe, or timekeeper so individuals can contribute in ways that match their working style.
• Any participant may pass on reading aloud or reporting back to the plenary without giving a reason.

If the session gets stuck

A team opens all branches at once to reverse-engineer the best ending.

Remind teams that the exercise evaluates decision-making under uncertainty, not puzzle solving; instruct them to follow only the branch earned by their recorded choice.

A team becomes deadlocked on a single decision and runs out of time.

Step in at the 3-minute mark of any stage and instruct the team to take a quick vote or flip a coin so they can experience the downstream consequences.

Terms used here

• Branching path: A structure where each choice leads to a distinct set of subsequent options and consequences.
• Trade-off: A balance achieved between two desirable but incompatible features, giving up one advantage to gain another.