Mandela Strategies: UWT Reading Discussion

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Examine current work challenges against principles of negotiated transition and identify practical limits and experiments.

Use it when: Use during retrospectives or planning sessions when a team faces persistent deadlocks or needs fresh perspectives on collaboration.

Skip it when: Skip when the session requires fast operational decisions, technical debugging, or when participants lack time to read.

Group arrangement: Independent reading, small groups of 3 to 5 (e.g. 13 splits into 4, 3, 3, 3), paired or single-traveler rotation, and plenary debrief

Timing: Relationship Makers Handbook suggests 15 to 30 minutes; 25 minutes fits quiet reading, small-group analysis, and brief whole-room sharing.

Materials and tools

• One printed copy of the Participant Reading and Worksheet per person
• Pens or pencils
• Timer

Before participants arrive

1. Print the Participant Reading and Worksheet double-sided for each person.
2. Arrange seating into tables or clusters of 3 to 5 people.

Say this to open

We will read a short summary of themes from Nelson Mandela's 1999 address at Davos regarding South Africa's transition from apartheid. Please take five minutes to read silently and write notes on your worksheet. Choose one theme that connects to a current project or a public scenario. You do not need to share sensitive or private workplace details.

How to run it

1. Read and reflect 5 minutes

   Distribute the worksheet. Speak the opening script. Participants read the text silently and complete the three reflection prompts on their sheet. Fast readers can review their answers quietly.

2. Discuss in home groups 10 minutes

   In groups of 3 to 5, each person takes up to 2 minutes to explain which theme they chose, what differs in their context, and what practical step they might test. Listeners ask clarifying questions without debating or offering unprompted advice.

3. Exchange across groups 6 minutes

   One traveler from each group rotates clockwise to the next numbered table. In groups of 5, two travelers may move together. Travelers have 1 minute each to share one practical idea or caution from their home group. The host group notes similarities or differences.

4. Plenary debrief 4 minutes

   Reconvene the full room. Ask two or three volunteers to share one specific limit or experiment discussed. Keep contributions under 1 minute each. End on time.

Debrief questions

• What important differences exist between national political transitions and ordinary organizational challenges?
• Which theme felt most practical for a project you support?
• What risk arises if someone copies high-level political rhetoric without changing everyday working habits?

Finished output: Completed individual worksheets identifying a selected theme, contextual differences, and a concrete action to test.

Remote

Distribute the worksheet text in a shared digital document. Allow 5 minutes of quiet time with microphones muted. Move participants to breakout rooms of 3 to 5 for 10 minutes. For step 3, either re-mix breakout rooms automatically or ask one traveler per room to move to the next numbered breakout room for 6 minutes. Debrief in the main room.

Hybrid

Provide remote participants with a digital document and in-person participants with printed sheets. Group remote participants together in one or more virtual breakout rooms to avoid room feedback. During Step 3, remote travelers rotate only among virtual breakout rooms, while in-person travelers rotate between physical tables. If there is only one remote group, that group stays in place and pairs up internally to swap notes. In the final debrief, alternate between in-person speakers and remote chat or voice comments.

Access and participation choices

• Participants may read along or listen if an audio screen-reader or quiet partner reading is preferred.
• Participants may analyze a public case study or hypothetical project instead of their own organization.
• Any person may pass during group sharing by stating pass without explanation.

If the session gets stuck

Participants focus exclusively on South African history rather than operational work.

Acknowledge the historical scale, then direct attention to question 2 on the worksheet: how does that differ from our current deliverable?

A participant uses the session to air confidential interpersonal grievances.

Remind the group to keep examples focused on project structures, communication rhythms, and work practices rather than individual personal disputes.

Terms used here

• Apartheid: The legal system of racial segregation and white minority rule enforced in South Africa from 1948 until the early 1990s.
• Davos Address (1999): Nelson Mandela's speech to the World Economic Forum reflecting on South Africa's constitutional transition, cross-sector partnership, and ongoing economic challenges.