---
title: "Concept Analysis"
description: "Subgroups analyze a key concept across overlapping subsets of ten diagnostic questions. Participants then regroup into mixed jigsaw teams to share findings and construct a comprehensive operational profile."
last_updated: "2026-09-07"
canonical: "https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/tgl-august-2011/"
---

# Concept Analysis

Subgroups analyze a key concept across overlapping subsets of ten diagnostic questions. Participants then regroup into mixed jigsaw teams to share findings and construct a comprehensive operational profile.

**Time:** 35 minutes. Source indicates 20 to 120 minutes; UWT specifies a 35-minute standard session suited for 6 to 24 participants.
**People:** 6 to 24. Initial inquiry teams of 2 to 4 participants, followed by reorganized jigsaw synthesis teams of 3 to 6 participants.

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Map the critical attributes, variable traits, boundaries, and non-examples of an essential working concept using existing group knowledge.
**Use it when:** Use when a team frequently uses a central buzzword, role title, or strategy term without mutual agreement on what qualifies and what does not.
**Skip it when:** Skip when teaching purely mechanical procedures, arbitrary terminology, or factual trivia where participants have no prior context to examine.

## Materials and tools

- One pre-marked copy of the Concept Analysis Questions handout per initial team, with designated questions circled
- One complete, unmarked copy of the Concept Analysis Questions handout per participant
- Blank note paper and pens for all participants
- Countdown visual timer

## Before participants arrive

1. Select a single target concept central to the group work (for example: Facilitator, Internal Customer, or Minimum Viable Product). Write it clearly on a front display.
2. Determine initial team count based on group size: 3 teams for 6 to 11 people; 4 teams for 12 to 16 people; 5 teams for 17 to 20 people; 6 teams for 21 to 24 people.
3. Pre-mark initial team question sheets using 1 to 10 only. For 3 teams: Team 1 gets 1-6, Team 2 gets 4-10, Team 3 gets 7-10 and 1-3. For 4 teams: Team 1 gets 1-4, Team 2 gets 3-6, Team 3 gets 5-8, Team 4 gets 7-10 and 1-2. For 5 teams: Team 1 gets 1-4, Team 2 gets 3-6, Team 3 gets 5-8, Team 4 gets 7-10, Team 5 gets 9-10 and 1-2. For 6 teams: Team 1 gets 1-4, Team 2 gets 3-6, Team 3 gets 5-8, Team 4 gets 7-10, Team 5 gets 9-10 and 1-2, Team 6 gets 2-5.

## Say this to open

We are going to analyze the concept written on the board: [insert concept name]. Rather than starting with a lecture, you will work in small groups to map what you already know about its traits, examples, and boundaries. Each group has a specific set of analytical questions circled on their sheet. Take careful individual notes, because you will carry your team findings into a new group for the second round.

## How to run it

### 1. Introduce Concept and Assign Questions (4 minutes)

Announce the target concept. Divide the room into 3 to 6 initial teams of 2 to 4 people according to your setup count. Distribute one pre-marked question sheet per team along with blank note paper. Explain that each member must take individual notes to bring into the second round.

### 2. Initial Team Deep Dive (10 minutes)

Teams discuss the concept strictly through their assigned circled questions. Members formulate answers, note concrete examples, and flag points of friction. Walk the room to ensure groups focus on their specific questions without offering facilitator definitions. Give a two-minute warning before calling time.

### 3. Reorganize into Jigsaw Teams (3 minutes)

Form new synthesis teams where each group contains representation from the different initial question sets. In evenly divided rooms, have members count off 1 to N within each initial team and gather by number. If initial team sizes are uneven, manually distribute members across new teams of 3 to 6 participants so every group has at least one person from each initial team. Hand an unmarked, complete 10-question sheet to every participant.

### 4. Jigsaw Synthesis (12 minutes)

New teams work through the full 10-question rubric in order. For each question, members whose initial team examined that prompt present their group findings. Other participants add observations or challenge assumptions. Each person completes their personal sheet with agreed insights.

### 5. Debrief and Definition Capture (6 minutes)

Bring the room together. Invite 2 or 3 quick comments highlighting critical attributes and tricky non-examples. Review the practical debrief questions. Conclude by having each person write a one-sentence operational definition on their sheet.


## Debrief questions

- Which critical attribute generated the most debate, and why?
- What borderline non-example was the hardest to distinguish from a true example?
- How does having an explicit boundary on this term change daily work decisions?

**Finished output:** Every participant completes a 10-point analysis sheet and drafts an operational definition of the target concept.

## Remote

Set up breakout rooms for the initial teams and provide digital cards indicating assigned circled questions. Participants capture individual notes in a shared workbook. For the jigsaw phase, reassign participants across new breakout rooms containing one representative from each initial room to review the full 10-question rubric.

## Hybrid

Equip each physical jigsaw table with a conferencing terminal so in-person and remote participants collaborate directly within mixed teams across both rounds. If equipment is limited, run a dedicated remote track that follows identical question assignments, group sizes, and jigsaw timings in parallel with the in-person room.

## Access and participation choices

- Provide question handouts in large print and high-contrast digital text.
- Participants may record notes in writing, audio notes, or by partnering with a peer.
- Anyone may choose to have a peer present their initial group findings during the jigsaw round without explaining their preference.

## If the session gets stuck

**A team spends the entire initial time arguing over question 1 (dictionary definition) and ignores the other prompts.**

Intervene and direct the group to question 4 (clear examples) or question 6 (critical attributes) to establish concrete ground before returning to phrasing.

**Uneven attendance leaves a jigsaw team missing a representative for one set of questions.**

Provide that jigsaw team with a copy of the written notes produced by an initial team that covered the missing questions, or pair a representative from another table to brief two groups.


## Terms used here

- Critical Attribute: An essential characteristic that must be present for an item to qualify as an example of the concept.
- Variable Attribute: A feature that can vary across valid examples without changing whether it belongs to the concept (such as size, color, or price).
- Borderline Non-Example: A case that closely resembles a genuine example but lacks at least one critical attribute.

## Participant material: List of Concept Analysis Questions

List of Concept Analysis Questions
(Reference examples show how each question applies to the concept of 'Triangle')

1. What is the dictionary or working definition of this word/concept?
Example: A triangle is a closed plane figure with three straight sides and three angles.

2. What are some synonyms of this word or concept?

3. What are some antonyms or direct opposites of this concept?

4. What are some clear, undisputed examples of this concept?

5. What are some borderline non-examples of this concept? (These seem genuine at first glance but lack an essential trait. Example: A sector of a circle has three boundaries, but is not a triangle because one side is curved.)

6. What are the critical attributes of this concept? (Features that must be present in every true example. Example: Having three straight sides is a critical attribute of a triangle.)

7. What are some variable attributes of this concept? (Features that can change across valid examples. Example: Color, area, or orientation.)

8. To what higher-level category does this concept belong? (Example: Shape or polygon.)

9. What are some related concepts at the same categorical level? (Example: Squares, rectangles, and pentagons.)

10. What are different types or variations of this concept? (Example: Right triangles, equilateral triangles, and isosceles triangles.)

## Sources and adaptation

Observed in Thiagi GameLetter (August 2011), published by The Thiagi Group, authored by Sivasailam (Thiagi) Thiagarajan.

Retained Sivasailam Thiagarajan's 10-question concept analysis framework, team grouping logic, overlapping question assignments, and jigsaw flow from the August 2011 Thiagi GameLetter. Corrected source distribution tables to eliminate an erroneous reference to 'Question 11', assigned distinct overlapping subsets for 4-team setups, standardized group size logic across 6 to 24 participants, and fixed jigsaw formation instructions for uneven team headcounts.

[The Thiagi Group](https://thiagi.net/archive/www/pfp/IE4H/august2011.html)

[The Thiagi Group](http://thiagi.net/archive/www/pfp/IE4H/august2011.html)

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/tgl-august-2011/