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Exercises/Divergent Ideation/What Can I Do? - Free Energiser
Ideation Warm-Up · Divergent Ideation

What Can I Do? - Free Energiser

Point out to the group this is a list of things that ‘they’ (that is, the organisation) need to do.

5 to 15 minutesTIME
Pairs, Small group (4-8)GROUP SIZE
ActiveENERGY
In person, RemoteSETTING
High 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. Consider an issue within the organisation where improvement is needed. This should relate to the training that you are running.
  2. Ask participants to brainstorm some of the issues facing the business that relate to this topic. They should write on the flipchart what needs to be done in the business to improve on that subject.
  3. Point out to the group this is a list of things that ‘they’ (that is, the organisation) need to do. Ask which of these areas can actually be influenced at a local level by individuals. (What areas can you influence?)
  4. Highlight the areas that the participants point out by underlining them on the flipchart.
  5. Ask participants to individually write down examples of things they can do individually (no matter how small) to help improve the problem that they are discussing. Give them 5 minutes to do this.
  6. Discuss the participants ideas as a wider group.
  7. Ask participants to write down some actions that they will commit to taking to help overcome the issues raised and to improve the situation in future.​
Live facilitator

Run this exercise live

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Prompts to use +

Ask participants to brainstorm some of the issues facing the business that relate to this topic. They should write on the flipchart what needs to be done in the business to improve on that subject.

Point out to the group this is a list of things that ‘they’ (that is, the organisation) need to do. Ask which of these areas can actually be influenced at a local level by individuals. (What areas can you influence?)

Ask participants to individually write down examples of things they can do individually (no matter how small) to help improve the problem that they are discussing. Give them 5 minutes to do this.

Discuss the participants ideas as a wider group.

Ask participants to write down some actions that they will commit to taking to help overcome the issues raised and to improve the situation in future.​

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: What Can I Do? - Free Energiser. Readiness: Publishable Draft. Core moves: Ask participants to brainstorm some of the issues facing the business that relate to this topic. They should write on the flipchart what needs to be done in the business to improve on that subject.; Point out to the group this is a list of things that ‘they’ (that is, the organisation) need to do. Ask which of these areas can actually be influenced at a local level by individuals. (What areas can you influence?); Ask participants to individually write down examples of things they can do individually (no matter how small) to help improve the problem that they are discussing. Give them 5 minutes to do this.; Discuss the participants ideas as a wider group.. Return a concise facilitator script with timing, wording, safety notes, and remote/in-person adjustments.

Origin unverified

  • Where we observed it: The current corpus has one observed source organization: TrainerBubble. (1 source observed, including TrainerBubble.)
  • 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