No names yet. This fills as people pick this problem at the pick step.
If your group is seated and the list is still empty, tell the facilitator and keep going: the workshop does not wait on the site.
Diverge · problem · 0:22–0:42 · 20 minutes
Discover. Widen the problem. Talk first, then run one lens at a time and read the results aloud.
AI light
The facilitator calls the time. This page has no timer, no countdown, and it never advances on its own.
Converge · problem · 0:42–0:52 · 10 minutes
Define. Choose one problem statement, then put it through the four-lens gate.
AI active
The facilitator calls the time. This page has no timer, no countdown, and it never advances on its own.
Diverge · solution · 0:52–1:14 · 22 minutes
Develop. Widen the solution space. Provocations, not designs.
AI light
The facilitator calls the time. This page has no timer, no countdown, and it never advances on its own.
Converge · solution · 1:14–1:24 · 10 minutes
Deliver. Choose one direction, then put it through the four-lens gate.
AI active
The facilitator calls the time. This page has no timer, no countdown, and it never advances on its own.
Discover cards
Card 1 · Lead 1 of 2
THE SKEPTIC
Where does our framing break?
Discuss: What are we assuming that nobody at this table has actually checked? Who benefits from this problem staying unsolved? What would a well-informed critic say we are getting wrong?
Talk first. The prompt is behind the flip.
Flip to the prompt for card 1
The prompt · Card 1
You are The Skeptic at a workshop table. Our problem area: [STATION PROBLEM]. Our thinking so far: [TABLE NOTES]. Stress-test our framing. Give exactly five one-sentence provocations, each exposing a hidden assumption, a missing stakeholder, or a reason this problem persists. Every provocation ends with a question mark. Do not propose solutions. Make the five maximally different from each other. Reply as a numbered list of five lines, plain text only.
No confidential or proprietary data. If the tech fails, ask the question aloud: that is not a downgrade.
No notes against this card yet. Whatever you add lands here and in your group's notes.
No confidential or proprietary data. If the tech fails, ask the question aloud: that is not a downgrade.
Card 2 · Lead 2 of 2
THE SYSTEMS THINKER
Who's downstream of this?
Discuss: Who touches this problem but isn't in the room? What upstream force keeps feeding it? If we solved it tomorrow, where would the pain move?
Talk first. The prompt is behind the flip.
Flip to the prompt for card 2
The prompt · Card 2
You are The Systems Thinker at a workshop table. Our problem area: [STATION PROBLEM]. Our thinking so far: [TABLE NOTES]. Map the system around this problem. Give exactly five one-sentence questions: two naming stakeholders affected but not yet in our notes, two naming upstream forces or incentives that keep the problem in place, and one asking where the pain moves if we solve it. Every line ends with a question mark. Do not propose solutions. Make the five maximally different from each other. Reply as a numbered list of five lines, plain text only.
No confidential or proprietary data. If the tech fails, ask the question aloud: that is not a downgrade.
No notes against this card yet. Whatever you add lands here and in your group's notes.
No confidential or proprietary data. If the tech fails, ask the question aloud: that is not a downgrade.
Card 3 · Support
Support card, only if the table stalls or finishes early
THE FUTURIST
What does 2034 look like if nobody solves this?
Discuss: How does this problem compound if we all go home and do nothing? What trend is heading straight for it? Who feels it first?
Talk first. The prompt is behind the flip.
Flip to the prompt for card 3
The prompt · Card 3
You are The Futurist at a workshop table. Our problem area: [STATION PROBLEM]. Our thinking so far: [TABLE NOTES]. Push our time horizon. Give exactly five one-sentence questions about how this problem compounds, mutates, or collides with other trends by 2034 if nobody acts. At least one question must name a trend our notes ignore. Every line ends with a question mark. Do not propose solutions. Make the five maximally different from each other. Reply as a numbered list of five lines, plain text only.
No confidential or proprietary data. If the tech fails, ask the question aloud: that is not a downgrade.
No notes against this card yet. Whatever you add lands here and in your group's notes.
No confidential or proprietary data. If the tech fails, ask the question aloud: that is not a downgrade.
Card 4 · Support
Support card, only if the table stalls or finishes early
THE RESPONSIBLE INNOVATOR
Because we can frame it this way, should we?
Discuss: Who could be harmed by how we're defining this problem? Whose voice is missing from our notes? What could a well-meaning fix make worse?
Talk first. The prompt is behind the flip.
Flip to the prompt for card 4
The prompt · Card 4
You are The Responsible Innovator at a workshop table. Our problem area: [STATION PROBLEM]. Our thinking so far: [TABLE NOTES]. Probe the ethics of our framing. Give exactly five one-sentence questions: two on who could be harmed by defining the problem this way, two on whose voice is missing from our notes, and one asking what a well-meaning fix could make worse. Every line ends with a question mark. Do not propose solutions. Make the five maximally different from each other. Reply as a numbered list of five lines, plain text only.
No confidential or proprietary data. If the tech fails, ask the question aloud: that is not a downgrade.
No notes against this card yet. Whatever you add lands here and in your group's notes.
No confidential or proprietary data. If the tech fails, ask the question aloud: that is not a downgrade.
Define cards
Card 5 · Converge 1 of 2
CONSOLIDATE THE PROBLEM
AI-off fallback
Cluster your notes into three themes by hand. Write one sentence per theme, 30 words maximum. Test each against Specific (names who and what), Observable (visible or measurable today), Bounded (actionable in 12 months).
Talk first. The prompt is behind the flip.
Flip to the prompt for card 5
The prompt · Card 5
You are a neutral synthesizer for a workshop table. Our problem area: [STATION PROBLEM]. Everything on our table: [ALL TABLE NOTES]. Consolidate without inventing: using only what we gave you, cluster our notes into named themes, then draft three candidate problem statements of one sentence and at most 30 words each. Each statement must be Specific (names who and what), Observable (someone could see or measure it today), and Bounded (actionable within 12 months). After the statements, list in two lines where our notes disagree. If a note is held by only one person, keep it visible; do not average it away. Do not recommend a winner; the table decides. Plain text only.
No confidential or proprietary data. If the tech fails, ask the question aloud: that is not a downgrade.
No notes against this card yet. Whatever you add lands here and in your group's notes.
No confidential or proprietary data. If the tech fails, ask the question aloud: that is not a downgrade.
Card 6 · Converge 2 of 2 · The gate
THE FOUR-LENS GATE · PROBLEM
AI-off fallback
Assign one lens to each corner of the table, 60 seconds each, against your draft statement: Skeptic, where does this framing break? Systems Thinker, who's downstream that we missed? Futurist, is this still the problem in five years? Responsible Innovator, should we frame it this way at all?
Talk first. The prompt is behind the flip.
Flip to the prompt for card 6
The prompt · Card 6
You are four advisors at a workshop table: The Skeptic, The Systems Thinker, The Futurist, and The Responsible Innovator. Our draft problem statement: [DRAFT STATEMENT]. Each advisor asks exactly one hard question about this specific statement, one line each, labelled with their name: the Skeptic on hidden assumptions, the Systems Thinker on missed stakeholders or downstream effects, the Futurist on whether this is still the problem in five years, the Responsible Innovator on whether we should frame it this way at all. No answers, no rewrites, no verdict. Plain text only.
No confidential or proprietary data. If the tech fails, ask the question aloud: that is not a downgrade.
No notes against this card yet. Whatever you add lands here and in your group's notes.
No confidential or proprietary data. If the tech fails, ask the question aloud: that is not a downgrade.
Develop cards
Card 7 · Lead 1 of 2
THE FUTURIST
What if this worked at scale?
Discuss: What's the ten-times version of the ideas on this table? Who benefits that we haven't thought of? What would this look like as a national capability?
Talk first. The prompt is behind the flip.
Flip to the prompt for card 7
The prompt · Card 7
You are The Futurist at a workshop table. Our problem statement: [DRAFT STATEMENT]. Our solution ideas so far: [TABLE NOTES]. Stretch our ambition. Give exactly five one-sentence provocations, each beginning with 'What if', that push toward a ten-times version, national scale, or an unexpected beneficiary. Provoke, do not design: no features, no plans, no finished concepts. Every line ends with a question mark. Make the five maximally different from each other. Reply as a numbered list of five lines, plain text only.
No confidential or proprietary data. If the tech fails, ask the question aloud: that is not a downgrade.
No notes against this card yet. Whatever you add lands here and in your group's notes.
No confidential or proprietary data. If the tech fails, ask the question aloud: that is not a downgrade.
Card 8 · Lead 2 of 2
THE RESPONSIBLE INNOVATOR
Because we can, should we?
Discuss: What would the most trustworthy version of our direction look like? Who is most exposed if we get it wrong? Would we be proud of this on a front page?
Talk first. The prompt is behind the flip.
Flip to the prompt for card 8
The prompt · Card 8
You are The Responsible Innovator at a workshop table. Our problem statement: [DRAFT STATEMENT]. Our solution ideas so far: [TABLE NOTES]. Widen our solution space along the responsible axis. Give exactly five one-sentence provocations, each a question, opening directions we have not considered: versions that build trust first, share ownership or value, protect the most exposed stakeholder, or would survive front-page scrutiny. Provoke, do not design. Make the five maximally different from each other. Reply as a numbered list of five lines, plain text only.
No confidential or proprietary data. If the tech fails, ask the question aloud: that is not a downgrade.
No notes against this card yet. Whatever you add lands here and in your group's notes.
No confidential or proprietary data. If the tech fails, ask the question aloud: that is not a downgrade.
Card 9 · Support
Support card, only if the table stalls or finishes early
THE SKEPTIC
Where does this break?
Discuss: Which of our ideas dies first on contact with the real world, and why? Whose incentives fight it? Who has tried this and failed?
Talk first. The prompt is behind the flip.
Flip to the prompt for card 9
The prompt · Card 9
You are The Skeptic at a workshop table. Our problem statement: [DRAFT STATEMENT]. Our solution ideas so far: [TABLE NOTES]. Pressure-test the directions on our table. Give exactly five one-sentence questions, each naming a specific way one of our ideas could fail in the real world: adoption, incentives, funding, politics, or physics. Attack ideas, not people, and do not pick a winner. Every line ends with a question mark. Make the five maximally different from each other. Reply as a numbered list of five lines, plain text only.
No confidential or proprietary data. If the tech fails, ask the question aloud: that is not a downgrade.
No notes against this card yet. Whatever you add lands here and in your group's notes.
No confidential or proprietary data. If the tech fails, ask the question aloud: that is not a downgrade.
Card 10 · Support
Support card, only if the table stalls or finishes early
THE SYSTEMS THINKER
Who has solved a problem shaped like ours?
Discuss: What other industry, country, or era faced this same structure? What did they do that we could borrow? What did they get wrong that we should avoid?
Talk first. The prompt is behind the flip.
Flip to the prompt for card 10
The prompt · Card 10
You are The Systems Thinker at a workshop table. Our problem statement: [DRAFT STATEMENT]. Our solution ideas so far: [TABLE NOTES]. Bring us analogies, not answers. Give exactly five one-sentence questions, each pointing to a different industry, country, or era that faced a structurally similar problem and asking what we could borrow from how they handled it. Name the analogy inside the question. Do not design the solution for us. Make the five maximally different from each other. Reply as a numbered list of five lines, plain text only.
No confidential or proprietary data. If the tech fails, ask the question aloud: that is not a downgrade.
No notes against this card yet. Whatever you add lands here and in your group's notes.
No confidential or proprietary data. If the tech fails, ask the question aloud: that is not a downgrade.
Deliver cards
Card 11 · Converge 1 of 2
CONSOLIDATE THE SOLUTION
AI-off fallback
Cluster your ideas into two or three directions by hand and name each in five words or fewer. For each, name the industry-academia pair it implies and what a 12-month commitment would require. Then choose as a table.
Talk first. The prompt is behind the flip.
Flip to the prompt for card 11
The prompt · Card 11
You are a neutral synthesizer for a workshop table. Our problem statement: [DRAFT STATEMENT]. Our solution ideas: [ALL TABLE NOTES]. Consolidate without inventing: cluster our ideas into distinct directions and name each in five words or fewer. Under each direction, list in one line the industry partner and academic partner pairing our notes imply, and in one line what a 12-month commitment would require. Do not add ideas we did not raise, do not rank, do not recommend. If an idea comes from only one person, keep it visible; do not average it away. The table decides. Plain text only.
No confidential or proprietary data. If the tech fails, ask the question aloud: that is not a downgrade.
No notes against this card yet. Whatever you add lands here and in your group's notes.
No confidential or proprietary data. If the tech fails, ask the question aloud: that is not a downgrade.
Card 12 · Converge 2 of 2 · The gate
THE FOUR-LENS GATE · SOLUTION
AI-off fallback
One lens per corner, 60 seconds each, against your chosen solution: Skeptic, what fails in the first 90 days? Systems Thinker, which stakeholder or second-order effect did we miss? Futurist, what changes if this works at scale? Responsible Innovator, because we can, should we, and on whose terms? If any answer would embarrass you in 12 months, keep refining.
Talk first. The prompt is behind the flip.
Flip to the prompt for card 12
The prompt · Card 12
You are four advisors at a workshop table: The Skeptic, The Systems Thinker, The Futurist, and The Responsible Innovator. Our chosen solution: [DRAFT STATEMENT]. Each advisor asks exactly one hard question about this specific solution, one line each, labelled with their name: the Skeptic on the most likely failure in the first 90 days, the Systems Thinker on the stakeholder or second-order effect we missed, the Futurist on what changes if it works at scale, the Responsible Innovator on 'because we can, should we, and on whose terms'. No answers, no rewrites, no verdict. Plain text only.
No confidential or proprietary data. If the tech fails, ask the question aloud: that is not a downgrade.
No notes against this card yet. Whatever you add lands here and in your group's notes.
No confidential or proprietary data. If the tech fails, ask the question aloud: that is not a downgrade.
Your group's notes
Everything your group decides in Discover lands here, alongside
every note you take against a prompt in this block. Write what the group said, not an essay.
Specific, observable, bounded. One sentence, 30 words at most.
No notes yet for this block. Notes land here the moment anyone in the group adds one,
and everyone else sees them within about ten seconds.
These notes came off the cards in this block
The tag on each one names the card that produced it.
Commit
The dial is dark. Devices down. A pair, a price, a trigger: that part was always yours.
What a commitment looks like
When [situation], we will [what we will do], so that [who] can [outcome], by [date].
When the validation consortium signs its data agreements in November, we will fund a recurring AI-operations budget line, so that two more hospitals can run the tool without a champion, by August 2027.
Yours will not read like ours. The shape is what matters: a trigger, a named action, a person it serves, and a date.