Yes, But...

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Surface hidden objections, perceived risks, and operational barriers to a proposed change before planning execution.

Use it when: Use when a team faces an upcoming project or policy change and needs to air reservations openly without defensive debate.

Skip it when: Skip when the decision is genuinely open-ended and no concrete proposal or direction exists yet.

Group arrangement: Individual drafting, small tables of 3 to 4, whole-room categorization, then 1 to 3 working squads for solutions.

Timing: Source recommends 30 to 45 minutes. UWT standard plan uses 45 minutes to support thorough categorization and solution drafting for up to 24 participants.

Materials and tools

• 1 whiteboard or flipchart stand
• 1 pack of dry-erase markers or flipchart markers
• 1 pad of sticky notes per group of 4
• 1 fine-point marker per participant for dot voting
• 1 pen per participant

Before participants arrive

1. Write the target proposal clearly across the top of the main board.
2. Draw three column headers on the board: Internal Barriers, External Factors, Misconceptions.
3. Place pads of sticky notes, pens, and fine-point markers on participant tables.

Say this to open

Today we test a proposal by asking: why shouldn't we do this? This is creative avoidance. It is not about shooting down good ideas. We want every barrier, objection, and worst-case assumption visible so we can address them directly.

How to run it

1. Frame proposal and prompt 5 minutes

   State the proposed action clearly, such as 'Migrate all documentation to a shared wiki.' Deliver the opening script. Write the central prompt on the board: 'Why shouldn't we do this?' Check that everyone understands the target change.

2. Draft avoidance reasons 8 minutes

   Participants write reasons to avoid the action on sticky notes, one reason per note. Encourage practical constraints and worst-case outcomes. People write silently for 3 minutes. Then tables of 3 or 4 spend 5 minutes grouping obvious duplicates within their table.

3. Post, categorize, and vote 15 minutes

   Invite one representative per table to place their grouped notes under the matching column: Internal Barriers, External Factors, or Misconceptions. As each representative posts, they state the central theme of their cluster in one sentence without reading every note. Once all clusters are posted, participants use fine-point markers to place three dots on the most critical barriers across the board.

4. Draft barrier mitigations 12 minutes

   Identify top barriers based on votes: pick 1 barrier if under 6 people, 2 if 6 to 8 people, and 3 if 9 or more. Form a matching number of working squads (1 to 3 squads total) of 3 to 8 participants each, combining tables as needed. Assign one chosen barrier to each squad. Squads spend 7 minutes drafting 2 concrete mitigation steps on sticky notes. For the remaining 5 minutes, each squad spokesperson shares solutions in under 90 seconds.

5. Debrief and close 5 minutes

   Lead a brief whole-room reflection using the debrief questions. Take comments from 2 or 3 volunteers. Confirm which mitigations will be added to the project plan.

Debrief questions

• Which posted barriers represented operational realities rather than simple discomfort with change?
• Did any objection point out a flaw that requires changing the proposal before launch?
• What is one preventive action we can carry out immediately?

Finished output: A categorized board of identified obstacles and written mitigation steps for the highest-voted barriers.

Remote

Set up a shared digital board with three labeled columns. Post the proposal clearly at the top. Participants draft notes silently and post them into the columns. The facilitator clusters duplicate cards while highlighting key themes. Each person votes using 3 digital markers. Breakout rooms form 1 to 3 squads to write mitigation cards for top items, then paste them into the main workspace.

Hybrid

Run categorization on a shared digital board visible on a main room screen. In-person participants write physical sticky notes that a designated tech helper duplicates digitally. For solution drafting, the facilitator assigns remote participants to dedicated video breakout squads while in-person participants form table squads. All squads write solutions onto the digital board, and one designated spokesperson per squad presents to the whole room.

Access and participation choices

• Participants may submit notes anonymously without verbal reading.
• Anyone may choose to observe silently during small-group solution drafting.
• Written contributions and verbal sharing are equally weighted.

If the session gets stuck

Participants hold back critical concerns out of politeness or fear of sounding unsupportive.

Ask for exaggerated worst-case scenarios first to reduce tension, then steer the room back to realistic day-to-day friction.

Step 3 posting runs slow because groups try to read dozens of individual notes aloud.

Remind representatives to post notes silently or state only the headline theme of each cluster in five seconds or less.

Terms used here

• Creative Avoidance: Deliberately listing every reason not to take an action to discover genuine risks, constraints, and unstated concerns.