This exercise was co-created as part of a collaboration day between myself and Paul Goddard and was inspired by Neil Mullarkey

Timing:

15 minutes

Materials:

None

Instructions:

  1. Arrange the group so one person is at the front of the group with a number of other participants sitting facing him/her
  2. The objective is for person 1 to tell a story…with a twist
  3. Every now and then the storyteller will pause, stumble or hesitate towards the end of a sentence and someone from the group will finish the sentence for them. For example, “I was walking down the street this morning when I saw…ummm…ummm” “AN ELEPHANT”
  4. The storyteller will gladly accept the offer from the group and incorporate the suggestion into the story (“Yes, I saw an elephant…”

Learning Points: 

  • The idea that stories can be built by a collaborative group
  • The concept of “yes, and”
  • The value of “offers” in team collaboration
  • The analogy of this to user stories and how they evolve in unexpected yet creative and interesting ways with collaboration