Timing: 1 minute prep, 2 minutes to run, 12+ minutes to debrief
Materials:
2 decks of playing cards

Instructions:
This is a very old magic trick, so channel your inner magician in your performance.

  1. Give a sealed envelope to someone in the room in which you have placed a single playing card from one of the decks (number cards work better than face cards).
  2. Tell the team that they are going to use their psychic powers, collaboratively, to figure out what card is in the envelope, using the full deck.
  3. Ask one person to choose, red or black.
  4. Ask the next person to choose a suit.
  5. Ask another to choose face or number cards.
  6. Greater than or less than 5?
  7. Odds or evens?
  8. Etc. until you narrow down to one card.
  9. Have the person holding the envelope open it… voila! A match.

The trick: Since you KNOW what the card is, if they choose black and it’s a red card, you say – okay, we’ll eliminate black. If they choose hearts and your card is a heart, you say we’ll keep hearts. etc…. except not quite so obviously. One or more of the engineers might tumble to what you’re doing as you do it, most won’t. But at the end, they’ll be dammed if they don’t focus and figure it out

Learning Points:
Debrief:
A. What did you observe?
B. How did you feel?
C. How does this apply to our workaday Sprint?

The lessons are many…. let the team find them and just record on a flip chart.
1. We manipulate our tasks and stories to get certain results,
2. We have control if we only use it better,
3. Our choices matter,
4. Knowing the acceptance criteria makes a difference, etc.

Thiagi uses this trick as one of his Jolts. See: http://thiagi.com

(I’ve also sadly seen an unscrupulous attorney use this same trick to successfully sway jury opinion.)Timing: 1 minute prep, 2 minutes to run, 12+ minutes to debrief
Materials:
2 decks of playing cards

Instructions:
This is a very old magic trick, so channel your inner magician in your performance.

  1. Give a sealed envelope to someone in the room in which you have placed a single playing card (number cards work better than face cards).
  2. Tell the team that they are going to use their psychic powers, collaboratively, to figure out what card is in the envelope.
  3. Ask one person to choose, red or black.
  4. Ask the next person to choose a suit.
  5. Ask another to choose face or number cards.
  6. Etc. until you narrow down to one card.
  7. Have the person holding the envelope open it… voila! A match.

The trick: Since you KNOW what the card is, if they choose black and it’s a red card, you say – okay, we’ll eliminate black. If they choose hearts and your card is a heart, you say we’ll keep hearts. etc…. except not quite so obviously. One or more of the engineers might tumble to what you’re doing as you do it, most won’t. But at the end, they’ll be dammed if they don’t focus and figure it out

Learning Points:
Debrief:
A. What did you observe?
B. How did you feel?
C. How does this apply to our workaday Sprint?

The lessons are many…. let the team find them and just record on a flip chart.
1. We manipulate our tasks and stories to get certain results,
2. We have control if we only use it better,
3. Our choices matter, etc.

Thiagi uses this trick as one of his Jolts. See: http://thiagi.com

(I’ve also sadly seen an unscrupulous attorney use this same trick to successfully sway jury opinion.)Timing: 1 minute prep, 2 minutes to run, 12+ minutes to debrief
Materials:
2 decks of playing cards

Instructions:
This is a very old magic trick, so channel your inner magician in your performance.

  1. Give a sealed envelope to someone in the room in which you have placed a single playing card (number cards work better than face cards).
  2. Tell the team that they are going to use their psychic powers, collaboratively, to figure out what card is in the envelope.
  3. Ask one person to choose, red or black.
  4. Ask the next person to choose a suit.
  5. Ask another to choose face or number cards.
  6. Etc. until you narrow down to one card.
  7. Have the person holding the envelope open it… voila! A match.

The trick: Since you KNOW what the card is, if they choose black and it’s a red card, you say – okay, we’ll eliminate black. If they choose hearts and your card is a heart, you say we’ll keep hearts. etc…. except not quite so obviously. One or more of the engineers might tumble to what you’re doing as you do it, most won’t. But at the end, they’ll be dammed if they don’t focus and figure it out

Learning Points:
Debrief:
A. What did you observe?
B. How did you feel?
C. How does this apply to our workaday Sprint?

The lessons are many…. let the team find them and just record on a flip chart.
1. We manipulate our tasks and stories to get certain results,
2. We have control if we only use it better,
3. Our choices matter, etc.

Thiagi uses this trick as one of his Jolts. See: http://thiagi.com

(I’ve also sadly seen an unscrupulous attorney use this same trick to successfully sway jury opinion.)Timing: 1 minute prep, 2 minutes to run, 12+ minutes to debrief
Materials:
2 decks of playing cards

Instructions:
This is a very old magic trick, so channel your inner magician in your performance.

  1. Give a sealed envelope to someone in the room in which you have placed a single playing card (number cards work better than face cards).
  2. Tell the team that they are going to use their psychic powers, collaboratively, to figure out what card is in the envelope.
  3. Ask one person to choose, red or black.
  4. Ask the next person to choose a suit.
  5. Ask another to choose face or number cards.
  6. Etc. until you narrow down to one card.
  7. Have the person holding the envelope open it… voila! A match.

The trick: Since you KNOW what the card is, if they choose black and it’s a red card, you say – okay, we’ll eliminate black. If they choose hearts and your card is a heart, you say we’ll keep hearts. etc…. except not quite so obviously. One or more of the engineers might tumble to what you’re doing as you do it, most won’t. But at the end, they’ll be dammed if they don’t focus and figure it out

Learning Points:
Debrief:
A. What did you observe?
B. How did you feel?
C. How does this apply to our workaday Sprint?

The lessons are many…. let the team find them and just record on a flip chart.
1. We manipulate our tasks and stories to get certain results,
2. We have control if we only use it better,
3. Our choices matter, etc.

Thiagi uses this trick as one of his Jolts. See: http://thiagi.com

(I’ve also sadly seen an unscrupulous attorney use this same trick to successfully sway jury opinion.)Timing: 1 minute prep, 2 minutes to run, 12+ minutes to debrief
Materials:
2 decks of playing cards

Instructions:
This is a very old magic trick, so channel your inner magician in your performance.

  1. Give a sealed envelope to someone in the room in which you have placed a single playing card (number cards work better than face cards).
  2. Tell the team that they are going to use their psychic powers, collaboratively, to figure out what card is in the envelope.
  3. Ask one person to choose, red or black.
  4. Ask the next person to choose a suit.
  5. Ask another to choose face or number cards.
  6. Etc. until you narrow down to one card.
  7. Have the person holding the envelope open it… voila! A match.

The trick: Since you KNOW what the card is, if they choose black and it’s a red card, you say – okay, we’ll eliminate black. If they choose hearts and your card is a heart, you say we’ll keep hearts. etc…. except not quite so obviously. One or more of the engineers might tumble to what you’re doing as you do it, most won’t. But at the end, they’ll be dammed if they don’t focus and figure it out

Learning Points:
Debrief:
A. What did you observe?
B. How did you feel?
C. How does this apply to our workaday Sprint?

The lessons are many…. let the team find them and just record on a flip chart.
1. We manipulate our tasks and stories to get certain results,
2. We have control if we only use it better,
3. Our choices matter, etc.

Thiagi uses this trick as one of his Jolts. See: http://thiagi.com

(I’ve also sadly seen an unscrupulous attorney use this same trick to successfully sway jury opinion.)