---
title: "Making Space with TRIZ"
description: "Participants devise a strategy to guarantee absolute failure, examine which of those disastrous behaviors they currently practice, and decide exactly what to stop doing."
last_updated: "2026-09-07"
canonical: "https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/triz/"
---

# Making Space with TRIZ

Participants devise a strategy to guarantee absolute failure, examine which of those disastrous behaviors they currently practice, and decide exactly what to stop doing.

**Time:** 45 minutes. UWT 45-minute allocation expands the documented 35-minute core TRIZ process to include a structured debrief.
**People:** 4 to 24. Small groups of 4 to 7 people. If numbers do not divide evenly, form groups of 5 or 6, ensuring no group has fewer than 4 or more than 7 people.

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Identify and systematically stop counterproductive activities and habits that undermine a key objective.
**Use it when:** Use during retrospectives, reorganizations, or strategy refreshes when unaddressed habits and cluttered procedures block progress.
**Skip it when:** Skip when a group lacks safety to admit mistakes without punitive reactions, or for a brand new project that has no existing habits.

## Materials and tools

- Flipchart paper or butcher paper (one sheet per table group)
- Markers or pens (one per person)
- Sticky notes (one pad per small group)
- Wall tape or adhesive putty
- Shared digital whiteboarding tool (for remote or hybrid sessions)

## Before participants arrive

1. Seat participants in clusters of 4 to 7 chairs around small tables, adjusting cluster sizes so no table has fewer than 4 people.
2. Place one flipchart sheet, markers, and sticky notes at each table.
3. Post the target goal or strategic objective clearly on a central board.

## Say this to open

Today we will examine our objective using reverse thinking. We will intentionally design a plan to achieve absolute disaster, honestly check how close our current reality is to that disaster, and decide what we must stop doing.

## How to run it

### 1. Introduce the Goal and Worst-Case Objective (5 minutes)

Read the target goal aloud, such as meeting project deadlines or client response targets. Speak the opening script. Introduce the reverse challenge: design a strategy to guarantee the worst result imaginable. For example, if the goal is fast client service, an unwanted result is never responding to calls. Table groups confirm they understand the unwanted goal.

### 2. Generate Worst-Case Strategies (10 minutes)

Ask: 'What can you do to make sure we achieve the worst result imaginable?' Give 1 minute for silent solo notes, 2 minutes to discuss in pairs, 4 minutes in table groups, and 3 minutes for the table to synthesize their destructive ideas onto their flipchart.

### 3. Compare with Current Reality (10 minutes)

Ask: 'Is there anything we currently do that resembles items on this first list?' Teams evaluate real practices with strict honesty. Run 1 minute for solo notes, 2 minutes in pairs, and 7 minutes for the table to record real counterproductive habits onto their flipchart.

### 4. Commit to Stop Unwanted Activities (10 minutes)

Ask: 'What first steps will help you stop these counterproductive behaviors?' Spend 7 minutes in tables selecting 1 or 2 items to halt immediately, phrasing each as 'I will stop...' or 'We will stop...' Reject any ideas that propose new tasks. Spend the final 3 minutes having each table read out one stop commitment to the full room.

### 5. Debrief and Action Review (10 minutes)

Gather the full room to reflect on the findings and next steps. Pose the debrief questions to the group. Take up to 4 volunteer responses across the questions, ensuring participants focus on practical barriers to stopping ingrained behaviors.


## Debrief questions

- Which current practice surprised you most when you saw it on your disaster list?
- What makes stopping an ingrained habit harder than starting a new project?
- Who outside this room must be notified about the activities we plan to halt?

**Finished output:** A prioritized list of counterproductive behaviors currently practiced and explicit 'I will stop' or 'We will stop' commitments.

## Remote

Run in video breakout rooms of 4 to 7 participants using an online whiteboarding tool. Give each room a template with three columns: Worst Ways to Fail, Current Resemblances, and What We Will Stop. The facilitator uses the platform broadcast message feature to post simultaneous countdown announcements marking the 1-minute solo, 2-minute pair, and group review phases. Convene the main room for the final commitment share and debrief.

## Hybrid

Form separate all-remote and all-in-person groups of 4 to 7 people so room audio remains clear. Both cohorts record ideas on a shared digital whiteboarding tool. In-person tables photograph or transcribe their flipcharts directly to the digital board. The facilitator calls alternately on remote and in-person groups during the Step 4 share-out and Step 5 debrief.

## Access and participation choices

- Participants may write silently on sticky notes without speaking publicly.
- Individuals may observe table analysis without disclosing personal habits.
- People may pass during pair turns or whole-room sharing without explanation.

## If the session gets stuck

**Participants start proposing new tools, policies, or projects during the final step.**

Intervene immediately and remind the room that TRIZ only removes activities. Reject new projects and ask what practice will be discontinued.

**The room becomes defensive or begins assigning personal blame for listed practices.**

Refocus the room on systemic processes, institutional habits, and shared legacy routines rather than individual fault.


## Terms used here

- TRIZ: A reverse-thinking facilitation method adapted from the Russian engineering technique (Teoriya Resheniya Izobretatelskikh Zadatch) to clear out counterproductive habits.
- 1-2-4-All: A layered progression moving from solo reflection to pairs, then small tables, and finally whole-room review.

## Sources and adaptation

Observed in Liberating Structures (Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless), inspired by an element of Altshuller's TRIZ engineering framework.

Retained the three core prompts, group sizes of 4 to 7 participants, and the 10-minute segment intervals from Liberating Structures sources. UWT extended the total run time from 35 to 45 minutes to include a dedicated 10-minute debrief step and allocated the final 3 minutes of Step 4 for plenary stop-commitment sharing.

[Liberating Structures](https://www.liberatingstructures.com/6-making-space-with-triz/)

[Liberating Structures](https://www.liberatingstructures.com/6-making-space-with-triz/?utm_source=ScrumMasterToolbox)

[Liberating Structures](http://www.liberatingstructures.com/6-making-space-with-triz/?utm_source=ScrumMasterToolbox)

[Liberating Structures Menu](http://www.liberatingstructures.com/6-making-space-with-triz/)

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/triz/