Obstacles

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Examine how anticipated barriers produce hesitation and defensive behavior even when the environment is completely clear.

Use it when: Use when teams face hesitation around outreach, new processes, or perceived organizational bottlenecks that may no longer exist.

Skip it when: Skip when the group lacks mutual trust, when participants find deception alienating, or when floor space is restricted or uneven.

Group arrangement: 2 to 4 volunteer walkers, with remaining participants serving as safety spotters and observers

Timing: UWT suggested 15 minutes to allow safe pacing, silent chair removal, and structured debrief.

Materials and tools

• 6 to 12 sturdy chairs
• 2 to 4 fabric blindfolds or sleep masks (with disposable liners)
• 1 room timer

Before participants arrive

1. Arrange 6 to 12 chairs irregularly across the central floor space, leaving perimeter walls and walk paths completely clear.
2. Check floor surfaces for tripping hazards, cords, or slick spots.

Say this to open

We are going to explore how we navigate obstacles. I need two to four volunteers who are willing to navigate across the room without seeing. Everyone else will act as safety spotters and silent observers. Walkers, study the chair positions now.

How to run it

1. Inspect the course 3 minutes

   Recruit 2 to 4 volunteers to stand at one end of the room. Deliver the opening script. Give the walkers 60 seconds to memorize chair locations. Assign non-walking participants as silent spotters along the perimeter to keep walkers safe from walls.

2. Blindfold and clear 3 minutes

   Have the walkers put on blindfolds, or close their eyes if they prefer not to wear a blindfold. Once eyes are covered, signal spotters to help silently lift and move every chair to the perimeter. Ensure total silence so walkers do not hear the removal.

3. Navigate the room 4 minutes

   Instruct the walkers to walk across to the opposite wall without hitting any chairs. Spotters remain completely silent unless a walker is about to contact a perimeter wall, stepping in gently only if needed. When all walkers cross, invite them to remove blindfolds.

4. Debrief assumptions 5 minutes

   Reveal the open floor. Ask walkers what they felt and pictured while stepping forward. Ask observers what they noticed about the walkers' movements. Invite up to three participants to name a workplace rule or bottleneck that people still avoid even though it is no longer present.

Debrief questions

• To the walkers: What mental map or sensations guided your steps while crossing?
• To the observers: What did you notice about the walkers' posture, speed, and caution?
• To everyone: What is one assumed constraint in our daily work that may no longer exist?

Finished output: A shared list of 1 to 3 outdated organizational constraints or assumptions surfaced by the group.

Remote

This exercise requires physical navigation and cannot run directly online. For remote groups, run a separate 15-minute diagnostic: display a shared document listing current project constraints. Give individuals 3 minutes to mark items as confirmed active or assumed outdated, followed by 10 minutes of group review to retire dead constraints.

Hybrid

Keep physical navigation entirely in the in-person room. A mobile camera broadcasts the room view. Remote participants serve as live observers, noting walker caution and hesitation in the chat, and contribute observations during the shared debrief.

Access and participation choices

• Participants may decline to walk and serve as spotters or observers without giving a reason.
• Walkers may close their eyes instead of wearing blindfolds and may stop or remove coverings at any moment.

If the session gets stuck

Chair legs scrape noisily while being moved, tipping off the walkers.

Require spotters to lift chairs completely off the floor rather than sliding or dragging them.

A walker feels distressed or disoriented while deprived of vision.

Remind participants before stepping that they can halt, raise a hand, or remove their blindfold instantly.

Terms used here

• Spotter: A participant stationed along the room perimeter to prevent collisions without guiding or speaking to the walkers.