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A bench of models and thinking tools

What happens if
you change this?

THE THINKING BENCH

Play with a system.
Find another way into a problem.
Make an unfamiliar idea concrete.

17 active experiments · 7 earlier prototypes.

17 experiments

M01 · MODEL5–10 min

The commitment spiral ↗

Can a team promise its way into losing the ability to deliver?

First move Run the surge, then move the intervention earlier.
M02 · MODEL5–10 min

How teams fit the work ↗

Move capabilities across team boundaries. Watch the work find a different route.

First move Bring two specialists together. Replay the same workload.
M04 · MODEL5–10 min

Where flexibility gets trapped ↗

Make battery commitments before you know what comes next.

First move Accept an early offer. Watch the options it removes.
M05 · MODEL3–10 min

Steering through delay ↗

Keep a system steady while your instrument reports what happened earlier.

First move Move the inflow lever. Wait for the reading to catch up.
M06 · MODEL · NEW5–15 min

How exceptions accumulate ↗

Accept a useful exception. Follow what it asks of the system later.

First move Keep one request tailored, then play through six quarters.
M07 · MODEL · NEW5–15 min

Specialists and shared knowledge ↗

Move a coaching period before or after a specialist becomes unavailable.

First move Pin the plan, then slide coaching along the timeline.
M09 · MODEL · NEW5–15 min

When predictions change behaviour ↗

A shared forecast changes the behaviour that produces its target.

First move Remove noise, compare sharing, then add noise back.
M10 · MODEL · NEW5–15 min

Accurate enough for which decision? ↗

Keep the headline forecast accuracy. Change the decisions it produces.

First move Swap two error tiles across the decision threshold.
M11 · MODEL5–10 min

Almost reliable parts ↗

Build a dependency map. Discover what a backup really protects you from.

First move Add a backup, then give both routes a shared dependency.
M12 · MODEL · NEW5–15 min

Crossing the adoption gap ↗

A change may be useful only once enough other people use it.

First move Add one person to the pilot. Step through the next choices.
S01 · SCAFFOLD5–15 min

Reframing workbench ↗

Describe the same problem differently. Notice what you would do next.

First move Connect a question to the frame it opens or challenges.
S02 · SCAFFOLD3–15 min

Possibility mixer ↗

Combine ingredients, map your concepts, and investigate spaces you have not explored.

First move Keep a combination, then move it on the coverage map and review its fit.
S03 · SCAFFOLD5–15 min

Constraint playground ↗

Change a limit in your imagination. Bring the useful part back to reality.

First move Drop a constraint into Reverse. See what becomes possible.
S04 · SCAFFOLD5–15 min

Analogy workshop ↗

Borrow a mechanism from somewhere else. Find where the comparison stops working.

First move Match a source role to your situation, then challenge the fit.
S05 · SCAFFOLD · NEW5–15 min

Intervention workbench ↗

Which causal relationship would you change, and what would you expect to observe?

First move Connect a cause to an effect, then compare two ways to change the relationship.
S07 · SCAFFOLD · NEW5–15 min

Alternatives workbench ↗

Start with an idea, an objection or a disagreement. Compare different ways to make it work.

First move Branch an approach, borrow a benefit, then compare the mechanisms.
S09 · SCAFFOLD · NEW5–15 min

Scene-first invention ↗

Invent for a person at a particular moment, with partial information.

First move Move an intervention to another moment. Revisit its fit.