Why this matters
Things change ultra-fast, stability and lack of risk are no longer possible. What is required of us is a collection of acts of courage from the small ones of raising an unconformable point to the major ones of attempting things that are new and unheard of. Constant challenge. Constant push.
A new paradigm where showing up and applying what we know is no longer sufficient, but where we are expected to show up and be wide open and ready to fail, learn and adapt every day.
Make this entire meeting about the importance of being really courageous and brave with each other and making it safe to do that in this team bubble.
How to run it
- 1
Facilitator asks everyone to post in advance of the session one image that represents their inspirational Courage Story, maybe of an idol, or an animal or a behaviour they’ve seen that inspired them from the point of view of bravery. For 5 minutes - Start the session with 2-3 people sharing their story in 1 minute for insta-inspiration.
- 2
Permission Slip Passing Exercise. For 15 minutes - Everyone passes a Permission Slip to the left on their screen or pre prepared ‘table’. First take a minute to think and then pass your permission slip one by one, which could be
- “You have permission to speak in every retro”
- “Here is permission that you swear”
- ”Have this permission to just tell us when something is bothering you.”
- 3
Vulnerability Pledge. For 15 minutes - To take this into action, everyone makes a pledge based on the Courage Stories and Permission Slips. For example:
- “I promise in the next month to speak up at least once.”
- “I will point it out if I see a mistake.”
- “I promise to tell you something that would otherwise be slightly embarrassing.”
- “I pledge that I will open up about a topic that I would otherwise have thought is personal or dangerous to me.”
- 4
Post your pledges to the Miro board and circle back to them in your next retro.
What next
Circle back to your permission slips and pledges in your next retro and do the extended version of the Courage Hackathon
Related resources
- Taking Courage from Empty Rhetorics to Actionable Wins (article)
- Courage Hackathons (video)