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Purpose: Compare and evaluate practical advice items through systematic paired elimination to identify the most actionable recommendation.

Use it when: Use when a group needs to evaluate a broad set of recommendations, guidelines, or ideas and prioritize the most viable one.

Skip it when: Skip when the goal is to generate open-ended ideas rather than evaluate existing ones, or when the team needs nuanced consensus across multiple varied categories rather than a single winner.

Group arrangement: Initial pairs transitioning to larger review clusters as eliminated players become facilitators

Timing: Source specifies 15 to 30 minutes; 20 minutes fits groups up to 24 with a structured debrief

Materials and tools

• One index card per participant, each containing one practical advice statement on the session topic
• A countdown timer
• A collection tray or envelope for retired cards

Before participants arrive

1. Prepare or print one distinct advice card per participant before the session. A sample set of 24 workplace advice statements is provided in participant materials.
2. Set up an open room where participants can walk around and pair up easily.

Say this to open

We have a deck of advice cards, one for each person in the room. You will pair up, compare the advice on your two cards, and decide together which one is more actionable and practical. The person holding the chosen card moves forward to find another partner. The person whose card was not chosen drops their card into our tray and joins the conversation as a neutral facilitator, helping other pairs discuss and decide. We will repeat this until only one card remains.

How to run it

1. Model the paired comparison 3 minutes

   Read two sample advice cards aloud to the whole room. Prompt participants to weigh trade-offs: cost, ease of implementation, and observable impact. Neutral example: compare 'Acknowledge mistakes immediately in writing' versus 'Ask clarifying questions before offering an opinion.' Have the room pick the stronger one. Hand out one card face down to each participant. Allow 30 seconds for everyone to read their card silently.

2. Run first elimination round 4 minutes

   Ask everyone to stand and pair up with someone nearby. If participant count is odd, one person joins a pair to make a trio. Partners read their cards to each other, debate the relative merits for two minutes, and select the stronger card. The owner of the eliminated card places it in the collection tray and becomes a facilitator. The owner of the winning card remains a cardholder.

3. Run progressive elimination rounds 8 minutes

   Remaining cardholders find a new cardholder partner. Facilitators who have lost their cards fan out across the room, join existing cardholder pairs, and help mediate their discussions without casting their own card. When a pair agrees on the better card, the eliminated card is deposited in the tray and that holder joins the growing pool of facilitators. Repeat pairing until exactly one cardholder remains.

4. Read the winning card and debrief 5 minutes

   Ask the final cardholder to read the winning advice statement aloud to the full room. Lead a short whole-room debrief using the provided questions, taking three to four spoken reflections from the floor.

Debrief questions

• What criteria did your pairs use most often to decide that one piece of advice was stronger than another?
• Which eliminated piece of advice was the hardest to let go?
• How can the winning advice be applied in your work this week?

Finished output: One mutually agreed top advice statement selected from the initial card pool.

Remote

Distribute private messages with one advice statement to each participant. Place pairs in two-minute breakout rooms to compare text. The holder of the dropped card returns to the main room, where the host assigns them as co-hosts to visit subsequent breakout rooms and help mediate debates. Re-pair remaining cardholders in new breakouts each round until one cardholder remains.

Hybrid

Pair in-person participants with in-person partners and remote participants with remote partners in early rounds. Display all card texts on a shared digital board so eliminated participants, whether in the room or online, can view the remaining contenders and help evaluate them during final cross-mode rounds.

Access and participation choices

• Participants may choose to serve as neutral facilitators from the beginning without holding an initial card.
• Cards can be read aloud by partners, and large-print cards should be made available.
• Anyone may pass on speaking during the whole-room debrief without explanation.

If the session gets stuck

A pair reaches a deadlock and cannot decide which card is better.

Prompt an available facilitator to step in, hear thirty seconds from each cardholder, and cast the deciding vote.

One cardholder cannot find an open partner because an odd number remains.

Form one trio of cardholders where two cards are retired and one moves forward, or invite the solo cardholder to pair with the winner of the next finished match.

Terms used here

• Cardholder: A participant who is still carrying an active card in the elimination process.
• Facilitator (in-game role): A participant whose card was retired, who now helps other active pairs listen, debate, and choose.