Drawing for Success Superheroes

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Map individual practical strengths and expertise across a group using visual self-portraits.

Use it when: Use at the kickoff of a cross-functional project or workshop where participants need to discover who holds specific practical skills.

Skip it when: Skip when the team has worked together closely for years and already knows everyone's distinct competencies, or when participants strongly resist visual icebreakers.

Group arrangement: Individual drawing followed by pairs or trios, ending with whole-room gallery review

Timing: 15 minutes based on the source range of 5 to 15 minutes

Materials and tools

• One blank sheet of paper per person
• One marker or pencil per person
• One roll of wall-safe low-tack tape

Before participants arrive

1. Place one sheet of blank paper and one marker at each seat.
2. Clear a section of wall or whiteboard where participants can tape their sketches.

Say this to open

We all bring specific strengths to our work, like untangling spreadsheets, calming tense conversations, or spotting missing details. You have four minutes to sketch yourself using your work superpower. Artistic skill does not matter; simple stick figures or symbols work fine. If you prefer not to draw, write three bullet points describing your superpower instead.

How to run it

1. Introduce the prompt 2 minutes

   Read the opening script. Give one quick neutral example, such as sketching a stick figure holding a shield labeled 'Calendar Guardian' to represent protecting team focus. Check that everyone has paper and a marker.

2. Draw personal superpower 4 minutes

   Participants work independently. Each person sketches themselves in action using their chosen work strength, or writes bullet points if opting out of drawing. Call out when one minute remains.

3. Pair introductions 4 minutes

   Ask participants to pair with someone they do not work with daily. If an odd number is present, form one group of three. Give each person two minutes to introduce themselves and show their drawing. For a trio, give each person roughly eighty seconds.

4. Post drawings and group debrief 5 minutes

   Participants spend one minute taping their sheets to the wall. Gather the room facing the wall. Ask two individual volunteers from different pairs to share one interesting superpower they learned about their partner. Ask one chosen debrief question to the room and take two quick observations.

Debrief questions

• What complementary strengths did you notice across the wall that could help our current work?
• Which strength surprised you or revealed a skill you did not know our group had?

Finished output: A physical gallery of individual work strengths posted on the wall for reference during the session, with optional private retention for participants who choose not to display.

Remote

Use an online whiteboard with pre-made blank cards. Give participants four minutes to either sketch using the digital pen tool, upload an icon, or write text bullets on their card. Break participants into breakout rooms of two for four minutes. Bring everyone back to the main room to view the shared board together.

Hybrid

In-person participants tape physical sheets to a room wall, while remote participants add digital cards to an online whiteboard. During the posting step, a designated co-facilitator takes quick photos of the physical wall and uploads them to the virtual board, while screensharing the virtual board in the physical room. Pair remote attendees with remote attendees, and in-person attendees with in-person attendees.

Access and participation choices

• Participants may write bullet points or a single keyword rather than drawing.
• Participants may decline to display their sheet on the wall without giving a reason.

If the session gets stuck

A participant freezes because they feel self-conscious about drawing ability.

Remind them that stick figures, flowcharts, or plain written text bullets are completely fine.

A participant struggles to identify a work superpower.

Prompt them to think about everyday tasks colleagues ask them for help with, like organizing files or proofreading.

Terms used here

• Work superpower: A specific practical skill, behavior, or knack that an individual uses effectively in their job.