Works with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or your own local model: paste this prompt and your AI will co-facilitate this exercise with you.

Help me prepare and run the exercise below. First ask for my participant count, time, setting, access needs and intended result. Check these against the stated limits. Use the supplied rules and materials. Explain any proposed changes before using them, and label them as adaptations. Do not invent source claims or require personal disclosure. Give me one step at a time when I say start. I manage the people, physical activity and clock; do not claim to observe the room. Ask me what happened before choosing a next step.

Reference revision: a340c889ab478f1958d4444dae42cb8d6dca8657958e6f75566e94bf9cca9543

# How Fast Can You Solve It?

Participants compete to solve a crossword puzzle, unaware that some have difficult clues while most have very simple clues. The group then examines how comparing individual speed impacts self-esteem and perceptions of fairness.

**Time:** 20 minutes. Directly matches the 20-minute allocation in the source text (7 minutes activity, 13 minutes debrief).
**People:** 4 to 24. Individual work followed by whole-room debrief

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Demonstrate the emotional and behavioral effects of comparing personal performance against others when task difficulty is unequal.
**Use it when:** Use when examining workplace competition, performance evaluation biases, or psychological safety in teams.
**Skip it when:** Skip when participants are experiencing acute evaluation anxiety, during formal assessments, or when trust in the facilitator is fragile.

## Materials and tools

- One copy of the easy crossword puzzle sheet per participant (for roughly 90% of the room)
- One copy of the difficult crossword puzzle sheet per participant (for roughly 10% of the room; at least 1 person at group_min)
- One pen or pencil per person
- One countdown timer
- One whistle or attention chime

## Before participants arrive

1. Print easy and difficult versions of the 15-word crossword puzzle.
2. Collate the puzzle sheets so that approximately one in every ten copies is the difficult version (for groups under 10, ensure exactly one copy is the difficult version).
3. Place writing utensils at all seats.

## Say this to open

We are going to do a short activity on focus and speed. In a moment, you will receive a crossword puzzle face down. When I say begin, turn it over and solve as many words as you can as quickly as possible. Once you complete the entire puzzle, stand up immediately so I can record your finish. Please concentrate on your own sheet and keep your focus steady.

## How to run it

### 1. Distribute sheets and brief (2 minutes)

Hand out the collated puzzle sheets face down. Remind participants to leave the page upside down until the signal to start. Deliver the opening script.

### 2. Race to solve (5 minutes)

Signal the start and start the 5-minute timer. As fast solvers stand up, call out their elapsed time and write it on a board. Stop the activity when roughly half the room is standing or when 5 minutes elapse, whichever comes first. Sound the whistle and ask standing players to sit.

### 3. Check answers and score (3 minutes)

Read the 15 answers aloud without reading any clues: 1 across cat, 2 across ship, 5 across three, 6 across bed, 7 across ball, 8 across run, 9 across house, 11 across green, 12 across year; 1 down cash, 3 down hamburger, 4 down meeting, 5 down tea, 7 down book, 10 down sky. Instruct everyone to score their sheet from 0 to 15.

### 4. Debrief initial reactions (4 minutes)

Facilitate a short discussion before explaining the trick. Ask two participants who finished early how they felt about their speed, and ask two participants who did not finish how they felt while watching others stand up.

### 5. Reveal inequality and reflect (6 minutes)

Explain that two different clue sheets were handed out for the exact same grid. Have one person read an easy clue and another read the difficult clue for the same number. Facilitate the workplace connection questions with the room.


## Debrief questions

- How did seeing others stand up affect your self-esteem and concentration while you were working?
- How did your perception of your own capability change once you learned the clues were not identical?
- What workplace equivalents exist where people are judged on speed or output without visible differences in task difficulty?

**Finished output:** Completed crossword sheets scored out of 15 points, followed by group observations connecting task conditions to workplace performance comparisons.

## Remote

Send private direct messages or personalized links containing either the easy or difficult puzzle sheet to participants. Instruct everyone to write answers in their digital document. Solvers type 'Done' in the public chat when finished. Facilitator reveals the unequal clue lists on a shared screen during the debrief.

## Hybrid

In-person attendees receive face-down paper sheets while remote attendees open assigned direct-message links. Both groups use chat or physical hand raises simultaneously. Answers and clue comparisons are projected on screen so both audiences see both clue sets side by side.

## Access and participation choices

- Provide large-print copies for visually impaired participants.
- Participants may choose not to stand up when finished, signaling with a raised hand or note instead.
- Scoring and public sharing of scores are strictly voluntary; participants may keep their final tally private.

## If the session gets stuck

**A participant with the difficult sheet feels embarrassed or singled out during the reveal.**

Affirm that the test was deliberately engineered against them and thank them for helping the room see structural unfairness in action.

**Fast participants glance at a neighbor's difficult sheet during the race and notice the discrepancy early.**

If someone calls it out early, acknowledge it immediately and transition directly into the debrief discussion on hidden disadvantages.


## Terms used here

- Jolt: A brief experiential training exercise designed to produce a sudden insight or shift in perspective.

## Participant material: Easy Clue Crossword

GRID STRUCTURE: Standard crossword matching the 15 solution words.

CLUES ACROSS:
1. An animal that says 'Meow' (3 letters)
2. A large vessel that travels on water (4 letters)
5. The number after two (5 letters)
6. Furniture you sleep on (3 letters)
7. A round toy used in soccer or baseball (4 letters)
8. To move faster than walking (3 letters)
9. A building where people live (5 letters)
11. The color of grass (5 letters)
12. A period of 365 days (4 letters)

CLUES DOWN:
1. Money in bills or coins (4 letters)
3. Fast food patty served on a bun (9 letters)
4. An assembly of people gathered for business (7 letters)
5. A hot beverage brewed from leaves (3 letters)
7. Bound pages you read (4 letters)
10. What you see when you look up outdoors on a clear day (3 letters)

## Participant material: Difficult Clue Crossword

GRID STRUCTURE: Standard crossword matching the 15 solution words.

CLUES ACROSS:
1. Feline mammal (3 letters)
2. Watercraft displacing significant tonnage (4 letters)
5. Smallest odd prime integer (5 letters)
6. Piece of furniture with a mattress and frame (3 letters)
7. Spherical object employed in athletic pursuits (4 letters)
8. To advance by rapid steps leaving both feet momentarily off ground (3 letters)
9. Residential structure (5 letters)
11. Wavelength band between 495 and 570 nanometers (5 letters)
12. Earth's orbital period around the sun (4 letters)

CLUES DOWN:
1. Legal tender or liquid currency (4 letters)
3. Ground beef disk typically grilled (9 letters)
4. Quorum convened for collective deliberation (7 letters)
5. Infusion prepared from cured Camellia sinensis foliage (3 letters)
7. Codex comprising bound printed quires (4 letters)
10. Earth's apparent celestial dome (3 letters)

## Sources and adaptation

Observed in Play for Performance (July 2004), edited by Sivasailam 'Thiagi' Thiagarajan and published by Workshops by Thiagi, Inc.

The source record represents the July 2004 issue of 'Play for Performance' published by The Thiagi Group, which includes multiple items. This run sheet reconstructs the specific exercise 'How Fast Can You Solve It?' featured in the newsletter jolt column. The core mechanic (race to solve a crossword with hidden easy versus difficult clues, measuring impact on self-esteem) and debrief questions are preserved from the source. United We Transform added the structured time breakdown across five steps, explicit text for the easy and difficult clue sets, accessibility provisions, and hybrid delivery procedures.

[The Thiagi Group](http://thiagi.net/archive/www/pfp/IE4H/july2004.html)

[The Thiagi Group](https://thiagi.net/archive/www/pfp/IE4H/july2004.html)

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/pfp-july-2004/