Expedition Gamestorming!

As the year was winding down and I began to visualise what I wanted to see in my facilitation practice, one realisation came was that I wanted to invest in my own learning. I have been following some groups for a while and I decided to spend a certain percentage of my annual income on learning experiences that appealed to me. 

Two weeks down, 6 online sessions, a board full of stickies, a stack of learning notes (mostly drawings!) and 23+ global connections later I am so happy I chose to sign up for the online "expedition" on game storming. 

Why GS for me?

• I wanted to get more comfortable with a more complicated visual platform that offers a bigger canvas for collaborative working.  
• I wanted to get better at convergence. 
• I wanted to integrate more "methods"/ "games" more consciously into my process to offer a diverse set of ways for participants to explore, innovate, discuss, decide together in an engaging way. 
• I wanted to experience what it feels like to be a participant - starting with the enthusiasm and twinkly eyes, feeling overwhelmed once you get into the process, discovering what really matters/ how to navigate, rumble through with a team, figure out what questions I needed to ask to make the learning more complete for me, and ending with a feeling of accomplishment! 

Here is my experience and takeaways -

• GS is described as a set of co-creation tools used by innovators around the world - but I found it so much beyond just the tools. I loved the thinking behind the use of those tools, the preparation that is needed behind the scenes, by the nuances around how the facilitator holds space for participants to rumble through the journey, by the many life lessons that came along....

• Readiness - The facilitator shared that in a one day workshop typically he would spend the first half in helping people feel comfortable with the format - the drawing, the messiness and fuzziness of the process, orientation about the agenda etc. In an online setting, that meant also getting comfortable with the platform (Miro), setting up our work station at home (wall for stickies, devises' set up, cards, pens, colours etc), getting to know other participants etc. There were many exercises to get us in the "mood". I loved it when David kept saying "going slow to go fast" - I used to think games would be high paced/ superficial....but I was wrong. They can be deliberate, they can make you pause and notice and be a full head/ heart/ hand experience. 

• The "meta" structure - I loved the design modelled on "open, explore, close" - 50% of the time we spent in a "future thinking workshop" which was a real application of GS tools, 25% learning supportive skills (drawing, using frameworks, design...) and 25% on the backend (pre and post work, concepts behind the skills etc). This was shared with us on day 1 and it helped orient us to what was coming. The "workshop" part was actually harder for me but I think I stretched myself more there because we were actually doing something with the tools and walked away with different learnings than the "teaching" part where I feel I will be able to know only if I have learnt it once I start using them! Mid way, they took us back to our "questions/ expectations" and asked us to mark (fist to five) how far these were answered already. In the end we filled up a board with "I used to think, now I know". 

• The "session" structure - The design of each 2-hour session was - starting with HW review in groups = context setting = backend/ supportive skills = workshop part = reflecting on takeaways in a "here, there, everywhere" format (what did you learn, where will you use it, what is the principle behind this) individually and in groups = an extra office hour of 30-40 minutes where whoever wanted to stay on could ask questions. The balance of individual work, group work and large group was just right. I stayed for every office hour and asked so many questions keeping in mind how I planned to use these learnings in my upcoming work. I loved the use of the timer for everything - it helped keep everyone on track and move forward together. I guess the exact time for each step has been developed after many expeditions and realising what is the optimum time that allows some time to process the task and do it well but not stretch it so the "intuitive" nature of thinking gets lost. 

• Seamlessness - after every session we received a beautiful follow up email with its own consistent structure (a video/ podcast that delve deeper into some aspect that was talked about, a "facilitation insight", "homework task", "integration", "noticing"). I loved the integration - it was tips around how you could use the learning in every day like to have more empathy, to notice more, to visualise the world .... The homework assignments were very interesting - notice what you do not notice; work before covid/ work after covid using a visual framework; draw 10 things you thought were true 10 years and are not now/ what you think will be true in 10 years; take a photo from 3 angles of the same thing; use a visual framework to make your poster...all these made us engage with the various templates. 

• Learning from everyone - the whole space allowed for us to learn from each other. There were coaches, facilitators who were external and internal from across the world. The facilitator when posed a question would ask the whole group how they have handled it. The breakouts were great for us to hear each other more. I was lost a few times and my team just held me through it and made me realise what is important. Seeing everyone's homework on the boards also triggered own thoughts/ insights/ feelings. I learnt a lot from every group's presentation as each brought out a different aspect of visual appeal/ structure/ joy. 

• Balance of description/ instructions vs doing - The notes section had all the detailed instructions of any task we were doing and we could refer to it ourselves anytime. The actual instructions were brief and many times we just dove in. Things got shifted around in miro, people misunderstood sometimes. But at the end of it, we got more experience in using the platform and knowing what tool does what. We learnt to ask each other for help and work together. 

• Simplicity of the exercises - I now have a expanded toolbox of activities and the logic of where and how to use them. One that stayed with me was https://www.drawtoast.com/.

• Do what you teach - perhaps this was why I loved the course so much! Everything we were taught we witnessed/ experienced. The whole thing was a visual treat. Facilitators were role modelling through out. It felt authentic, real and doable. We were nudged to draw/ use visuals as much as possible. 

• Choice - we were told upfront that we did not have to keep our videos on all the time, as that also adds to the fatigue. We could take breaks when we needed. We could use the tablet or pen/ paper for drawing. So I was looking away from the screen for most of the individual work. I turned off my video when I wanted to stretch. I pretty much was munching/ sipping something through out:) 

At the end of it I think I felt relaxed. I felt it is ok to make mistakes, it is ok not to get it right the first time, it is ok to try again and its ok to admit and share you are lost. Because someone somewhere is feeling this too! 

I think I got a lot out of this because I spent time thinking about why I want to do, how I want to use it, creating my space to work through it, asking questions to connect the dots, took detailed notes in a way I can use them later, and taking a pause today to reflect on what all happened:) 

I am going to take my internal team of colleagues through this experience and actually run a similar workshop for our team. I am sure the learning will keep unveiling with every step! 

Thank you David, Codie for this wonderful journey together! 

A special thank you to my dear friend Marike in South Africa - the gamestorming book on your window shelf caught my attention and I am glad it it:)