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: 5bd76d486ba242648f880bbc00e46e037e206a2ba18b52890fb7ff61055df40a

# Destination: Innovation

Two groups generate positive innovation goals as paper airplanes and innovation obstacles as paper balls, throw them in an air battle, and combine random pairs to draft resolution stories.

**Time:** 30 minutes. Supplied source suggests 15 to 45 minutes; 30 minutes provides enough time for writing and triad readings.
**People:** 6 to 24. Two equal large groups for the throw, then mixed triads for writing

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Identify key innovation benefits and organizational barriers, then draft practical ways to overcome one obstacle to achieve one goal.
**Use it when:** Use when a team needs to surface unspoken workplace barriers alongside desired innovation goals before strategic planning.
**Skip it when:** Skip when the room lacks physical throwing space, when playful projectile mechanics conflict with group norms, or when quiet analytical problem-solving is preferred.

## Materials and tools

- 6 sheets of plain paper per participant
- 1 writing pen or pencil per participant
- Floor tape to mark the launch line and destination target
- 1 whistle, bell, or audio chime for the facilitator

## Before participants arrive

1. Clear an open flight path roughly 8 meters long.
2. Mark a launch line on the floor at one end and an Innovation destination mark 8 meters away.
3. Place a flak line at a right angle alongside the flight corridor.
4. Divide blank paper and pens so each participant receives at least 3 sheets.

## Say this to open

Today we examine the benefits of innovation and the obstacles that get in the way. One team will launch airplanes carrying positive outcomes toward our destination. The other team will throw paper balls to represent workplace flak and organizational barriers. Afterward, we will pair the captured ideas to write short stories of overcoming obstacles.

## How to run it

### 1. Divide teams and write prompts (6 minutes)

Split the room into Team A and Team B. Give each person 3 blank sheets. Ask Team A to write one positive outcome of innovation on each sheet, then fold each into a paper airplane. For example, 'faster customer response times.' Ask Team B to write one barrier to innovation on each sheet, then crumple each into a paper ball. For example, 'strict sign-off requirements for small budget changes.' Anyone who prefers not to fold or throw can act as flight inspector or scorekeeper.

### 2. Fly through flak (4 minutes)

Station Team A behind the launch line facing the innovation target 8 meters away. Station Team B along the perpendicular flak line facing the flight corridor. Blow the whistle to start. Team A throws their airplanes toward the target while Team B tosses paper balls to knock them down. End when all paper has been thrown. Remind participants to throw gently at the paper planes, not at people's faces.

### 3. Form triads and harvest paper (4 minutes)

Form mixed triads of 3 participants, combining people from Team A and Team B. If numbers leave 1 or 2 extra people, form quads. Each small team collects 4 to 5 airplanes and 4 to 5 paper balls from the floor. Each group unwraps their collected papers, reads the outcomes and barriers aloud, and selects one outcome and one barrier that present a compelling contrast.

### 4. Draft resolution stories (8 minutes)

Each triad writes a short narrative or poem showing how their chosen barrier was resolved to reach the chosen positive outcome. Encourage practical workplace steps or slightly dramatized steps, ending with success. One person records the group draft. Groups that finish early may select a spokesperson to practice reading the story aloud within a one-minute limit.

### 5. Share stories and debrief (8 minutes)

Hear up to four triad stories within one minute each. Then conduct a whole-room debrief using the provided questions to compare playful flak with real operational boundaries in the organization.


## Debrief questions

- Which barriers from the floor represent necessary guardrails versus habits that no longer serve us?
- What specific tactic in the stories made it feasible to clear a stubborn organizational obstacle?
- What makes an innovation outcome compelling enough to justify the friction of pushing through barriers?

**Finished output:** A set of triad resolution stories linking specific workplace innovation benefits to practical strategies for overcoming real operational barriers.

## Remote

Use a digital whiteboard with two columns: Benefits and Barriers. Give 4 minutes for silent card generation. The facilitator or automated randomizer pairs one benefit card with one barrier card into breakout rooms of 3. Breakouts spend 8 minutes writing a short resolution story on a shared slide, then return to present.

## Hybrid

Have remote participants enter positive outcomes and barriers into an online board. An in-person volunteer transcribes selected remote entries onto paper planes and balls before the throw, or in-person teams capture floor papers and type them into the shared document for mixed triads.

## Access and participation choices

- Participants can write cards without folding or throwing paper.
- Participants with limited upper-body mobility may serve as destination judges or triad scribes.
- Anyone may decline to read their team's story aloud and pass the turn to a partner.

## If the session gets stuck

**Paper throwing becomes overly aggressive or chaotic.**

Remind participants before launching that throws aim only at paper targets in flight, not at individuals. Pause the throw immediately if safety boundaries are crossed.

**Triads pick an obstacle that seems completely immovable, stalling their story.**

Advise the group to scale the problem down: ask what tiny test or temporary policy exception would bypass the blockage for one month.


## Terms used here

- Flak: Anti-aircraft fire; used here as a metaphor for organizational skepticism, process friction, or resistance to change.
- Framegame: A reusable game structure that can accommodate different organizational topics by changing the content prompts.

## Sources and adaptation

Observed in Thiagi GameLetter (March 2010), where the framegame 'Destination: Innovation' is attributed to guest contributor Dimis Michaelides.

UWT preserved the core mechanic of paper airplanes versus paper flak balls and subsequent triad story writing as described by Dimis Michaelides in the Thiagi GameLetter. UWT added explicit group sizing, safety instructions for projectile throws, specific time allocations, access choices, and remote and hybrid adaptations.

[The Thiagi Group](http://thiagi.net/archive/www/pfp/IE4H/march2010.html)

[The Thiagi Group](https://thiagi.net/archive/www/pfp/IE4H/march2010.html)

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/tgl-march-2010/