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Exercises/Divergent Ideation/The Machine - Project of How
Ideation Warm-Up · Divergent Ideation

The Machine - Project of How

You keep repeating the sound/movement until everyone in the group is connected, making it a giant moving noisy machine!

30 to 60 minutesTIME
Medium group (9-25)GROUP SIZE
ActiveENERGY
In person, RemoteSETTING
Medium cognitive loadCOGNITIVE LOAD
Strengthens Participation Architecture This divergent ideation exercise strengthens Participation Architecture, one of the eight Gathering Effectiveness pillars.

How to run it

  1. One person starts making a sound and a move- ment, eg a “woop”-sound, flapping one arm.
  2. The next person connects to the first part in our machine, also making a sound and a movement.
  3. You keep repeating the sound/movement until everyone in the group is connected, making it a giant moving noisy machine! Works best with big groups.
  4. Instructions One person starts making a sound and a move- ment, eg a “woop”-sound, flapping one arm.
  5. You keep repeating the sound/movement until everyone in the group is connected, making it a giant moving noisy machine!
Live facilitator

Run this exercise live

The facilitator console stays in this browser. Its QR handoff is a short-lived participant snapshot containing only public exercise instructions, phase, prompt, and timer state.

Prompts to use +

One person starts making a sound and a move- ment, eg a “woop”-sound, flapping one arm.

You keep repeating the sound/movement until everyone in the group is connected, making it a giant moving noisy machine! Works best with big groups.

Instructions One person starts making a sound and a move- ment, eg a “woop”-sound, flapping one arm.

You keep repeating the sound/movement until everyone in the group is connected, making it a giant moving noisy machine!

Run this with your AI assistant +

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

Adapt this exercise for my exact room. Exercise: The Machine - Project of How. Readiness: Publishable Draft. Core moves: One person starts making a sound and a move- ment, eg a “woop”-sound, flapping one arm.; You keep repeating the sound/movement until everyone in the group is connected, making it a giant moving noisy machine! Works best with big groups.; Instructions One person starts making a sound and a move- ment, eg a “woop”-sound, flapping one arm.; You keep repeating the sound/movement until everyone in the group is connected, making it a giant moving noisy machine!. Return a concise facilitator script with timing, wording, safety notes, and remote/in-person adjustments.

Origin unverified

  • Where we observed it: The strongest current observations come from Project of How; aggregators are listed as additional observations, not origin proof. (1 source observed, including Project of How.)
  • What that means: we track where an exercise has been observed in public sources. We do not claim to know who created it, or how popular it is.
  • No efficacy claims: appearing in this library is not a claim that the exercise is proven effective. Facilitator judgment and context decide whether it works for a given room.
  • Corrections: if you have evidence of an earlier or more accurate source, read our methodology and trust boundary and tell us.

Pairs well with