Why are we offering a Liftoff Workshop / Masterclass?
The main reason is because a Liftoff is a one-off, high-stakes event.
Most other facilitated activities in the knowledge domain can be improved over time, incrementally. But less so for a Liftoff.
Why is it high stakes?
From my own experience, although most aspects of Liftoff are straightforward, we need to remember …
– It happens at the start of the project when every decision has the biggest influence over subsequent events.
– It usually takes a full day or two, not a quick hour people can shrug off if it belly-flops.
– It involves busy leadership who already have a hundred other things on their mind and two hundred other meeting invites.
– And ideally, you only do it once. We definitely don’t want to say “er, oh let’s try that again next week.”
So, the cost of getting it wrong is higher than with other ceremonies like a 1-to-1 or sprint review. But the cost of not doing a Liftoff for your team or project is even higher: lost time, rework and wheel-spinning in a quagmire of doubt or enthusiastic cluelessness.
So if something is high stakes, we need to somehow prepare.
The High-Stakes Dilemma
The term, Liftoff, coined by Diana Larsen and Ainsley Nies carries a metaphor of flight, humanity’s greatest aspiration to lift off into the skies and defy the laws of gravity and inertia. Within the metaphor, there’s a subtler hint about crossing into the unknown and still operating with confidence.
How do you build that confidence? How do you, for example, practice being in space before going into space?
I’m reminded of astronauts, especially those that do space walks, which is physically impossible to do beforehand. But the next best thing is to train underwater, where they can simulate weightlessness, and importantly, rehearse complex operations safely to build confidence.
So we’re aiming to apply the same theme with the Liftoff workshop.
To be confident running a real Liftoff, you need to practice in a realistic but safe environment.
Hence why this Liftoff Workshop is designed exactly for that. We’re going to:
→ Understand the problems we’re trying to solve and how to start
→ Learn the tools and techniques to facilitate a Liftoff
→ Practice solo with a team of five feisty AI personas
→ Then facilitate for real with co-participants in a live environment, guided by experts.
So that when it’s your turn to start a new team or project, you’ve already done it a few times! And you can blast off with confidence.
