# Why It Won't Work

Participants review a posted proposal and write color-coded sticky notes to identify fatal flaws, cautionary questions, and strong elements. They attach the notes directly onto the relevant parts of the plan to guide revisions.

**Time:** 15 minutes. Source suggests 5 to 15 minutes; 15 minutes allows individual writing, posting, and group debrief.
**People:** 4 to 24. Individual writing followed by whole-room gallery review

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Identify risks, gaps, and strong points in a proposed plan before implementation begins.
**Use it when:** Use during project planning when a proposal is drafted and needs critical feedback from the room.
**Skip it when:** Skip if the team has not yet formulated a concrete proposal or if the group is still in early open-ended ideation.

## Materials and tools

- Pads of red sticky notes (3 to 5 sheets per person)
- Pads of yellow sticky notes (optional, 3 to 5 sheets per person)
- Pads of green sticky notes (optional, 3 to 5 sheets per person)
- Fine-tip markers or pens (1 per person)
- Displayed proposal sheets or posters mounted on walls or tables

## Before participants arrive

1. Post the draft proposals or plan outlines on wall space or tables with enough room for people to walk around and read them.
2. Distribute sticky notes (red required; yellow and green optional) and pens to every seat.

## Say this to open

Take a look at the proposed plan on the wall. Our goal is to strengthen this work by spotting failure points early. Write your feedback on sticky notes using our color code: red for direct problems or reasons this might fail, yellow for cautions or things to consider, and green for elements that work well and must stay. Sign your name or initials on your notes so the author can follow up with you.

## How to run it

### 1. Introduce color codes and rules (3 minutes)

Explain the color coding: Red means fatal flaw or reason it will not work; Yellow means caution or question; Green means strong element that should remain. State that signing notes is encouraged for easy follow-up. For an example, a red note might read: 'Server capacity cannot handle 500 simultaneous logins.' Yellow might read: 'Have we checked data privacy rules?' Green might read: 'Self-serve password reset is clear.'

### 2. Write notes silently (4 minutes)

Participants work individually. Each person writes at least one red note identifying a risk or failure point. Yellow and green notes are optional. Participants write legibly and add their name or initials.

### 3. Post feedback on the proposal (4 minutes)

Participants walk up to the displayed proposal and stick their notes directly next to the specific section, step, or feature being critiqued. If a note applies to the whole concept, they place it along the bottom border.

### 4. Review clusters and debrief (4 minutes)

Gather the room around the posted proposal. Ask the proposal owner or the room to observe where red notes clustered. Take two or three brief observations on the most critical blockers identified.


## Debrief questions

- Where did the red notes cluster, and what pattern does that show?
- Which caution or blocker needs to be solved before any other work begins?
- What green elements must we make sure not to break while fixing the red issues?

**Finished output:** A proposal board annotated with signed, color-coded notes highlighting critical blockers, cautions, and elements to preserve.

## Remote

Create an online whiteboard with the proposal text in the center. Set up digital sticky notes in red, yellow, and green. Give participants 4 minutes to type their notes, include their name in brackets, and drag them directly beside the proposal items. Spend the remaining time reviewing the red clusters as a group via audio.

## Hybrid

Ensure the proposal is mirrored on a digital board. In-person participants write physical notes, which a designated scribe duplicates onto the digital canvas, or remote participants add their colored notes directly to the digital board displayed on the room's main screen. Read remote notes aloud during the review step.

## Access and participation choices

- Participants may write short keywords or bullet points instead of full sentences.
- Writing green praise or yellow caution notes is optional; participants may focus solely on red risks if preferred.
- Anyone may pass on contributing a note or decline whole-group verbal comments without explanation.

## If the session gets stuck

**Participants only write vague critiques like 'This is too slow.'**

Remind the group to name the specific cause or failure condition on the note, such as 'Database query times out on large batches.'

**People feel defensive when their proposal receives many red notes.**

Remind the group that finding blockers now prevents failure later. Highlight that green notes identify what to preserve while adjusting the red items.


## Terms used here

- Red note: A sticky note marking a direct risk, critical blocker, or reason an idea might fail.
- Yellow note: An optional sticky note expressing a caution, question, or consideration.
- Green note: An optional sticky note highlighting praise, support, or a feature that must be kept.

## Sources and adaptation

Observed in Relationship Makers Handbook, pages 474-475. Original author unknown.

Retained the core mechanic from the Relationship Makers Handbook: using red sticky notes for reasons the plan will not work, optional yellow for cautions, and optional green for praise, with names signed on notes. UWT structured the sequence into timed steps (introduction, silent writing, posting, and clustered debrief), added explicit examples, and created remote and hybrid accommodations.

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/why-it-won-t-work/