Decision Making- Using Playing cards as Tool to Debrief

[Anonymous]

One of my favorite facilitation “debrief” GURU’s is Roger Greenaway. He specializes in OUTDOOR/WILDERNESS leadership and he often shares simple tools to help create team conversations that are easy and powerful. PLAYING CARDS-TO ALLOW FOR TEAMS TO DEBRIEF ONCE DECISIONS ARE MADE-

You will need these five cards;
Ace of Diamonds (or any Diamond)= FACTS
Two of Hearts (or any hear)= FEELINGS
Three of Spades (or any spade)= FINDINGS
Four of Clubs (or any club)=FUTURES
The Joker (wild card)= ANYTHING

The team coach arranges the cards in the above order with the Ace of Diamonds on top of the stack of 5 cards. While the diamond is showing the team says something about what happened during the decision making process.

When ready to move on- the diamond goes to the bottom of the pile leaving the heart card on view. While the heart card is showing everyone says something about what the experienced or felt during the decision making process.

When ready to move on the heart goes to the bottom of the stack revealing the spade card- used for digging deeper. This is the cue for everyone to provide explanations about why things happened the way they did or why people felt the way they did. At this stage the team is exploring the “hows” and “whys” which should lead to new findings.

When ready to move on the spade goes to the bottom of the stack revealing the club card- which leads to a future focus discussion that is connected to any statements arising from the previous three cards.

When ready to move on the Joker comes into view, which is the signal for a free-for-all. this in not an invitation for chaos or rudeness- it is an invitation for a free flowing discussion arising from the review so far. The only rule at this stage is that the cards should not “follow” the conversation. For example- if people are expressing feelings , the heart should be in view, if people are sharing future hopes or dreams or intentions- the club card should be on view.

The cards can initially introduced by the team coach- then used independently moving forward as a great way to debrief decision-making. These cards also provide the TEAM COACH with a great way to debrief any experiential exercise as well. ENJOY!

[Nancy]

This looks really interesting, Maryellen. Have you used this before?

I’m a bit confused about one thing: “The only rule at this stage is that the cards should not “follow” the conversation. For example- if people are expressing feelings , the heart should be in view” – could you say more about this?

Thanks!

[Author]

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