Obama Argue it Out
Obama Argue it Out is an ideation warm-up exercise for divergent ideation: it helps participants open up more possible ideas before choosing a direction.
How to run it
- Give each person in the room/people science teams a brief period to share their point of view and then the moderator/facilitator/designated person begin the argument between all players
- "Obama structures meetings so that they're not debates," says one participant.
- Logistics Flipchart/whiteboard, markers, and player to jot down ideas as they come Cool Possibilities/Options Take a step into the future, and use the exercise to evaluate the consequences of a course of action.
- Assign half of the group to identify all the pros and half to identify all the cons this will force a serious.
- critique if a course of action seems "obvious" Have players jot down their initial thoughts on an index card before beginning the exercise so that they.
- have time to think about...
Run this exercise live
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Prompts to use +
Give each person in the room/people science teams a brief period to share their point of view and then the moderator/facilitator/designated person begin the argument between all players
Logistics Flipchart/whiteboard, markers, and player to jot down ideas as they come Cool Possibilities/Options Take a step into the future, and use the exercise to evaluate the consequences of a course of action.
Assign half of the group to identify all the pros and half to identify all the cons this will force a serious.
critique if a course of action seems "obvious" Have players jot down their initial thoughts on an index card before beginning the exercise so that they.
have time to think about...
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: Obama Argue it Out. Readiness: Publishable Draft. Core moves: Give each person in the room/people science teams a brief period to share their point of view and then the moderator/facilitator/designated person begin the argument between all players; Logistics Flipchart/whiteboard, markers, and player to jot down ideas as they come Cool Possibilities/Options Take a step into the future, and use the exercise to evaluate the consequences of a course of action.; Assign half of the group to identify all the pros and half to identify all the cons this will force a serious.; critique if a course of action seems "obvious" Have players jot down their initial thoughts on an index card before beginning the exercise so that they.. 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.