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Exercises/Divergent Ideation/Jeffersonian Meals
Ideation Warm-Up ยท Divergent Ideation

Jeffersonian Meals

Jeffersonian Meals is an ideation warm-up exercise for divergent ideation: it helps participants open up more possible ideas before choosing a direction.

5 to 15 minutesTIME
Medium group (9-25), Small group (4-8)GROUP SIZE
ActiveENERGY
In personSETTING
Medium cognitive loadCOGNITIVE LOAD
Strengthens Participation Architecture This divergent ideation exercise strengthens Participation Architecture, one of the eight Gathering Effectiveness pillars.

How to run it

  1. Sit people in People Science teams at the tables no more than 12, no fewer than
  2. Process Sit people in People Science teams at the tables no more than 12, no fewer than 8 .
  3. The moderator will be given the clipboard and all instructions for the table see next page Logistics Make sure the People Science Table Assignments are set up for the exercise.
  4. question when they begin If the participants are not familiar with each other, send bios of each person to their fellow People Science.
  5. 211 Tags 45 60 minutes, 60 120 minutes, brainstorming, collaboration, creativity, dinner, discussion, famous, history, innovation, networking, perspectives, small groups, story-telling, Thomas Jefferson Source KWWS //youtu.be/...
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 +

Sit people in People Science teams at the tables no more than 12, no fewer than

Process Sit people in People Science teams at the tables no more than 12, no fewer than 8 .

The moderator will be given the clipboard and all instructions for the table see next page Logistics Make sure the People Science Table Assignments are set up for the exercise.

question when they begin If the participants are not familiar with each other, send bios of each person to their fellow People Science.

211 Tags 45 60 minutes, 60 120 minutes, brainstorming, collaboration, creativity, dinner, discussion, famous, history, innovation, networking, perspectives, small groups, story-telling, Thomas Jefferson Source KWWS //youtu.be/...

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: Jeffersonian Meals. Readiness: Publishable Draft. Core moves: Sit people in People Science teams at the tables no more than 12, no fewer than; Process Sit people in People Science teams at the tables no more than 12, no fewer than 8 .; The moderator will be given the clipboard and all instructions for the table see next page Logistics Make sure the People Science Table Assignments are set up for the exercise.; question when they begin If the participants are not familiar with each other, send bios of each person to their fellow People Science.. 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 Relationship Makers Handbook; aggregators are listed as additional observations, not origin proof. (1 source observed, including Relationship Makers Handbook.)
  • 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