Exercise: How do *You* Explore a System?

Published on January 15, 2025
Exercise: How do *You* Explore a System?

 5 mins to build, 10 mins to debrief

Don't make this general: make it as personal as you can.

Build – 5 mins, partly private

  • Consider: How do You Explore a System?
  • Make your own list away from the board, on your own. Fast and short is good. If you immediately think of a long list, prefer variety over completeness or innovation or impressiveness.
  • Add those items to the board, introducing them to your partners

Debrief – 10 mins, mostly public

  • In groups or individually: if you see stuff which goes together, draw and label a circle for that grouping, and put them in
  • If something you want for a circle has moved to another, duplicate it and put it where you want it. Draw a line between if you like.
  • Let the groupings and their contents talk to you. If something's missing from a grouping, add it.

When activity subsides, we'll gather as a whole and talk.

Stuck? I've got a short and general list of ways. If you're using one of the BlackBox Puzzles as a thing to think about, you'll find a more-focused list in Exploring the BlackBox Puzzles.

Variants – think about how you explore what a system does, then how you explore what it is. Or let the group reveal those differences (and others) for itself.