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: a8611f78356ab9475dea996f0d7ed74c358923aa1ade634ecd526b29f636423f

# TRASH: Goal-Setting Simulation

Participants watch six quick, contrasting demonstrations of dysfunctional goal statements using scrap paper and a wastebasket, then write clear, realistic workplace goals.

**Time:** 35 minutes. Thiagi Group source suggests 20 to 40 minutes. 35 minutes accommodates all six rounds, pair practice, and individual goal drafting.
**People:** 4 to 24. Plenary fishbowl demonstrations, then pairs or trios, ending with individual writing.

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Compare the emotional and practical impacts of dysfunctional goal styles and practice writing brief, plain-language performance targets.
**Use it when:** Use when training supervisors, managers, or project teams on defining realistic targets, clarifying delegation, and avoiding vague or impossible expectations.
**Skip it when:** Skip if the team is in acute conflict or if members are currently anxious about contentious annual performance reviews.

## Materials and tools

- 1 standard wastebasket
- 30 to 40 sheets of scrap paper
- 1 digital timer or stopwatch
- Paper and pens for all participants
- Digital whiteboard or shared text document link for remote or hybrid sessions

## Before participants arrive

1. Place a wastebasket on the floor at the front, out of direct focus.
2. Stack scrap paper within arm's reach of the facilitator.
3. Arrange room chairs with an unobstructed view of the demonstration area.

## Say this to open

We will explore how goal statements drive performance and morale through an exercise called TRASH. I need a few volunteers across six short demonstrations where we try to get paper into that wastebasket under very different instructions. After each quick turn, we will pause for brief reactions on how that style of goal felt.

## How to run it

### 1. Demonstrate no-goal and trivial-goal rounds (6 minutes)

Call Helper 1. If fewer than 6 participants total, rotate volunteers across rounds. Hand them paper without directions. Talk about goals for 30 seconds, look at the timer, and lightly scold them for not throwing it in the bin. Ask Helper 1 and 2 observers for quick reactions on unstated expectations. Next, call Helper 2. Put the bin beside them, instruct them to drop balls in for 30 seconds, and have the room supply paper. Count the score, congratulate them, and ask 2 people how trivial goals feel.

### 2. Demonstrate impossible and incomprehensible goals (7 minutes)

Call Helper 3. Direct them to stand 10 feet back, close their eyes, use their non-dominant hand, and note you will move the bin. Stop after 30 seconds. Ask for 2 quick reactions on impossible stretch goals. Call Helper 4. Deliver the technical prompt: 'Place these recyclable cellulose spheroids inside a hollow truncated container launched in a parabolic arc whose focus is 125 centimeters above your cranium.' Ask Helper 4 and 1 observer for immediate reactions to bureaucratic jargon before throwing.

### 3. Demonstrate flaky and verbose goals (7 minutes)

Call Helper 5. Deliver the flaky prompt with a straight face: 'Center yourself and become one with this cosmic resource to visualize a perfect karmic union with the container.' Debrief awkwardness and vagueness with 2 participants. Next, call Helper 6. Read the verbose OSHA lifting specification in a flat monotone until the 30-second timer buzzes, stopping them before they toss. Elicit 2 quick reactions on wordy over-specification, paralysis, and confusion.

### 4. Draft trash activity goal in pairs (6 minutes)

Instruct participants to pair up. Form one trio if the participant count is odd. Give them 3 minutes to write one balanced goal for the paper toss that avoids all six demonstrated traps: clear, feasible, brief, and measurable. Call on two pairs to read their statements aloud. Ask the room for quick thumbs up or thumbs down on whether the draft meets all four tests.

### 5. Draft personal workplace goal (5 minutes)

Have participants work alone to write one real job-related goal for themselves or a colleague on blank paper. Remind them to state the concrete target, conditions, and realistic standard in plain language without jargon or fluff.

### 6. Debrief and close (4 minutes)

Invite two volunteers to read their drafted workplace goals aloud. Ask the room how these statements protect teams from confusion, under-utilization, or frustration. Summarize how clear targets shape daily clarity and autonomy.


## Debrief questions

- Which dysfunctional goal style from the six demonstrations do you encounter most often at work?
- What is the cost to team morale when goals are set as trivial tasks versus impossible targets?
- What simple test can you run on your own goal statements to ensure they are brief and clear?

**Finished output:** Each participant drafts one plain-language, achievable work goal.

## Remote

Facilitator streams video with a bin and paper visible on camera. In round 1, direct-message Helper 1 privately without goal context, then call time. In round 4, paste the jargon text into chat. For step 4, create breakout rooms of pairs with one trio if needed. Pairs write their trash goal on a pre-created Google Doc or shared whiteboard canvas. For step 5, participants type personal goals in private notes or add them anonymously to the shared board.

## Hybrid

Facilitator demonstrates on camera with an omnidirectional microphone. Pair remote participants into separate breakout rooms and in-person participants with room partners. Form one trio if either group has an odd headcount. Post an open shared whiteboard link. In-person and remote pairs post their step 4 and step 5 goal drafts as digital sticky notes so both cohorts see all submissions on screen.

## Access and participation choices

- Participants may decline serving as a demonstration volunteer and observe instead without explanation.
- Physical tossing can be replaced by dropping, rolling, or having an assistant release the paper on the volunteer's signal.
- Drafted personal work goals may be kept private during step 6.

## If the session gets stuck

**Helper 1 guesses the intent and tosses the paper into the bin during round 1 before you speak.**

Acknowledge their initiative, then highlight that unstated goals force staff to guess, which causes inconsistent results across different employees.

**Helper 1 feels embarrassed when the facilitator simulates criticism.**

Smile immediately after delivering the line and state clearly to the entire room that this was a deliberate setup to show the unfairness of hidden standards.

**Pairs get stuck trying to make the wastebasket goal sound formal or legalistic in step 4.**

Prompt them to use everyday conversational words: name the distance, the object, the container, and the time limit.


## Terms used here

- Fishbowl demonstration: An arrangement where one or two people demonstrate an action in the center while the broader room observes.

## Sources and adaptation

Observed in The Thiagi Group archives (first published June 2001) and indexed on SessionLab.

Retained the six distinct goal simulations (no goal, trivial, impossible, incomprehensible, flaky, verbose) and the paper-toss simulation from The Thiagi Group. Added explicit rotation rules for groups under 6, trio handling for odd headcounts, strict word caps under 90 words per step, and specified shared digital canvas mechanics for remote and hybrid delivery.

[SessionLab](https://www.sessionlab.com/methods/trash-goal-setting-simulation)

[www.thiagi.com](https://www.thiagi.com/archived-games/2015/2/22/trash-goal-setting-simulation)

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/trash-goal-setting-simulation/