Mike Tyson and the accidental punch

The other week I dropped a Mike Tyson quote into a session on adaptive leadership. Didn't think much of it - until it took on a life of its own.

You may know the quote: "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth."

I usually avoid the big names and their big quotes. But this one's a palette cleanser. A little sharpener between intro and the main work.

We'd been wrestling with the warm-up. We'd sensed the session needed something to ease people in, but couldn't land on what. Then we realised: why not just use the Tyson quote?

So we did. Incredibly simple. When did life punch you in the face? Share it with your neighbor. Two minutes. Go.

The room loosened up. People laughed. They leaned in.

Then things got weird.

During the live session, the quote became the whole arc. My son walked into frame mid-presentation. Punched in the face. Slide share crashed. Punched in the face. Some of the group got kicked out of their breakout rooms. Yeah, you guessed it.

It turned from palette cleanser to running joke to organizing principle. The session found its rhythm through this one throwaway line.

Here's where it gets interesting.

We've now reshaped the entire experience around it. The warm-up is called "Welcome to the Punch." The main scenario incorporates elements from Tyson's training regimen. We didn't plan this.

Sometimes the best design comes from watching what people grab onto. From noticing what connects with them. From using the smallest nugget to get to something bigger.

We came in with structure. The session punched back. And that made it better.