Spectrogram
Read a provocation aloud and ask people to stand on an imaginary line between strongly agree and strongly disagree. No hovering in the middle. Then ask a few people, from different points on the line, why they are standing where they are.
Use to surface the real range of views in a room before a group writes a rule everyone will have to live with.
Solves: Written policy gets nodded through in the room and quietly ignored afterwards, because nobody said what they actually thought.
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Step 1: Mark two ends of a line in the room: strongly agree, strongly disagree (2 min).
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Step 2: Read one provocation. People move and stand. Insist nobody stands exactly in the middle (3 min).
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Step 3: Ask two or three people at different points why they stand there. Listen; do not debate (5 min).
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Step 4: Invite anyone who moved because of what they heard to say what moved them. Repeat for the next provocation.
- Write provocations that a reasonable person could genuinely disagree with. Bland statements produce a huddle at one end.
- The facilitator does not take a position and does not correct anyone.
- Online, use a slider poll or a named grid — but ask people to say why, or you lose the whole point.