Worksheets and Worksheets

I still get a small wave of embarrassment when we bring out the worksheets.

Not because they're poorly designed - we put real care into both the visuals and the pedagogy. But there's something about printed cards and boards that feels... goofy. Like I'm running a team-building exercise from 2003.

My inner voice says: digital would be sleeker. More sophisticated. But here's the thing: when you're running an in-person workshop, people don’t need hours more screen time. They're drowning in it already. Getting them to draw, to write by hand, to physically move cards around - that creates a different kind of thinking. It gets them unstuck.

So we've made peace with the physical format. Sort of.

The trick is treating it like theater.

Not just the packaging - though we do deliver materials in manila envelopes with gate-folding and ceremony. Documents that look like internal memos.

It’s also characters who send voice notes. Worlds with stakes and backstory.

Some scenarios play out with cards on tables, others through digital interfaces, most blending both.

The rule we've landed on is simple.

Digital gets the stuff that gains from being digital: AI coaches, character audio, data dashboards.

Physical gets what works better when you can touch it, shuffle it, spread it across a table.

What matters isn't the medium. It's whether people feel the tension, make real choices, and walk away different.

Rethinking how your teams practice before it counts? Let's talk formats - screens, card stock, or both.