# Toy Story Models

Small groups use building toys and craft supplies to construct a three-dimensional model of an ideal future state, label key features, and present it to the room.

**Time:** 30 minutes. Source indicates 15 to 30 minutes. UWT standardizes on 30 minutes to allow adequate building and whole-room sharing across tables.
**People:** 4 to 24. Subgroups of 3 to 6 people at separate tables. A single group of 4 to 7 works at one table; groups of 8 or more split into tables of 3 to 6 (maximum 4 tables at 24).

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Represent a project or system future state as a tangible 3D structure so teams can examine relationships between components.
**Use it when:** Use when a group needs to clarify shared goals or imagine an operational future state beyond flat text and diagramming.
**Skip it when:** Skip when the focus is on precise textual policy or when participants cannot assemble physical or digital models.

## Materials and tools

- 1 baseboard (cardboard or foam core, roughly 18x24 inches) per table
- 1 building kit per table (interlocking bricks, modeling clay, wooden craft sticks, pipe cleaners, or small toy parts)
- 1 pack of adhesive sticky labels or paper tags per table
- 1 fine-point marker per table
- 3 sheets of blank scratch paper per table
- Printed assignment cards (1 per table)
- Digital camera or smartphone for photographing finished models (facilitator)
- Shared digital whiteboard software and movable web camera (for remote or hybrid formats)

## Before participants arrive

1. Set up up to 4 tables with chairs for 3 to 6 participants each.
2. Place one baseboard, one building kit, markers, scratch paper, and adhesive labels on each table.
3. Place one printed assignment card face down at each table.

## Say this to open

Welcome. Today we are taking our goals off the page and building them in three dimensions. Each table has an assortment of construction materials, scratch paper, and a baseboard. As a team, create a physical model representing the ideal future state of our project. Use sticky labels to name key elements. Everyone should contribute ideas or help assemble pieces. You have 15 minutes to build. I will give you time warnings at seven minutes and two minutes remaining.

## How to run it

### 1. Introduce assignment and plan (3 minutes)

Read the opening script. Ask teams to turn over their assignment cards. Direct groups to spend their first two minutes jotting notes on scratch paper and agreeing on the core concept before assembling pieces.

### 2. Construct 3D models (15 minutes)

Teams build their physical model on the baseboard using the kit components. They write labels on sticky tags and attach them to critical components or junctions. Give time warnings at seven minutes and two minutes remaining. Stop building when time is called.

### 3. Present and tour models (8 minutes)

Each table nominates a speaker to explain their model in 90 seconds or less (up to 4 tables, taking at most 6 minutes total). Presenters describe the primary components, interactions, and label meanings. Facilitator photographs each completed model.

### 4. Debrief common themes (4 minutes)

Facilitator guides a brief whole-room reflection focusing on recurring structures, contrasts across tables, and tangible takeaways.


## Debrief questions

- What common elements appeared across the different models?
- Which relationships or connections became clearer once built in three dimensions rather than written on paper?
- What is one feature from another table's model that your own team should consider?

**Finished output:** Physical 3D labeled model per table, preserved via photographic record for project documentation.

## Remote

This activity is designed for physical tactile construction. To run remotely, send groups of 3 to 6 to breakout rooms with a shared digital whiteboard. Pre-populate each whiteboard frame with 20 basic geometric shapes (boxes, cylinders, spheres in various colors), 15 digital sticky tags, and flexible connector lines. Subgroups build a labeled digital architecture diagram for 15 minutes, then present for up to 90 seconds per group in the main room.

## Hybrid

Keep remote participants together in a breakout room using a shared digital whiteboard. In-person participants work at physical tables with physical kits. During presentations, point the room camera or movable laptop camera at in-person baseboards, and have the remote group share their screen.

## Access and participation choices

- Participants with motor or visual impairments can act as model architects, directors, or label writers without needing to manipulate small plastic pieces directly.
- Any participant may choose to observe, record notes, or pass during verbal presentations without explanation.

## If the session gets stuck

**One team member dominates the building while others watch silently.**

Prompt the team to divide roles explicitly: one person focuses on foundation, one on labeling, and another on connecting components.

**Groups run out of time before finishing or labeling their structures.**

Give explicit warnings at seven and two minutes, reminding them that an unfinished model with clear labels communicates better than an unlabeled complex tower.


## Terms used here

- Future State: The intended operational condition or goal that a team wants to realize after completing a project.

## Participant material: Team Assignment Card

TEAM ASSIGNMENT: TOY STORY MODEL

Task:
1. Discuss: What does success look like when our goal is achieved?
2. Build: Use the provided toys and materials to create a 3D model of that ideal future state.
3. Label: Write labels for the essential parts, people, or stages, and attach them directly to your model.
4. Present: Prepare a tour of your structure for the rest of the room (90 seconds or less).

Tips:
- Abstract representations are fine (e.g., a tall tower can be a central database, a bridge can be customer communication).
- Focus on connections and relationships between pieces, not artistic perfection.

## Sources and adaptation

Observed in Relationship Makers Handbook, pages 435-438, which notes an exercise associated with Rob Evans.

Retained core 3D modeling mechanic, materials (building toys/crafts/clay/baseboards), labeling requirement, and 15 to 30 minute source frame. Refined group format to tables of 3 to 6 (allowing single groups of 4 to 7, and multiple tables for 8 to 24) to ensure flexible arithmetic and keep presentations within 8 minutes. Specified remote whiteboard object palettes and aligned time-warning phrasing across scripts and steps.

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/toy-story-models/