Tools for L&D

The Intentional Collaboration Game takes players on a journey from working alone to true co-creation — exploring the full spectrum from Isolation to Cooperation to genuine Collaboration. This one-of-a-kind, LEGO-based learning experience unfolds in three engaging rounds:

Round 1 – Isolation: Each player works independently, building "something useful" using only their own set of single-colored LEGO bricks, hidden behind a paper divider.

Round 2 – Cooperation: Players invite a partner to offer suggestions — and even share their own uniquely colored pieces — to enhance and improve each other's creations. This simulates both the pros of focused, undistracted work, and the cons of limited resources and ideas. Each still works on their own project, but now they share ideas and resources.

Round 3 – Collaboration: Groups of three (or more) now move into true co-creation, sharing ideas and combining all of the LEGOs into a unified, shared vision.

By the end, what began as three separate, single-hued builds evolves into a vibrant, multi-colored expression of collective creativity. Each team member can literally see what they contributed to the collaborative creation!

WHAT MAKES IT POWERFUL?

Throughout the exercise, participants experience a full range of reactions — focus, admiration, inspiration, confusion, disappointment, excitement, frustration, and more. Along the way, they'll discover firsthand the pros and cons of each engagement style:

• Isolation: Team members enjoy full autonomy, "flow," and freedom of expression — but quickly encounter the limits of working with only their own resources, perspective, and ideas.
• Cooperation: Team members experience resource sharing, synergy, and flexibility emerge as real benefits of working together— as well as the challenges of communication, conflicting ideas, and compromise.
• Collaboration: Unexpected innovation and shared ownership become possible — alongside the complexities of joint decision-making, personality differences, and group dynamics.

KEY TAKE-AWAYS

This experience gives groups a compelling, hands-on way to explore:

• Balancing quiet focus and “flow” with dynamics of input and feedback – when are each necessary
• Ownership of ideas – independent and/or shared
• Differences in style (who likes/dislikes working alone)
• Differentiating “Cooperation” from “Collaboration.”
• Unequal allocation of resources — and what that means for equity and fairness
  
• Negotiating for additional resources
• Competition vs. Collaboration – is sharing resources hard?
• Leadership / Communication dynamics (who speaks a lot/little)
• Dismantling work you’ve already done to accommodate others
• Group decision making
• Team identity: Me vs. the Team
• Time Management
• Evaluating Multiple Options and Visions
  
• Being intentional about independence vs. collaboration

WHAT'S INCLUDED

Everything you need for three participants:

• 1 Set of Facilitator Notes (available 5/20/2026)
• 3 Participant Workbooks
• 3 Bags of LEGO pieces (each a different single color — one per player; NOTE: color packs will be selected randomly from 7 different options –red/purple, yellow/green, blue, white, brown, black))
• 4 LEGO minifigures (distributed to one player only)
• 4–6 LEGO wheel sets (distributed to one player only)
• 3 Paper Dividers (for privacy during Round 1)

Developer, John Riordan, Explains the Experience

Note: Players do not receive identical sets of bricks — and that's intentional. Differences in piece type, quantity, and shape naturally spark conversations about resource scarcity, inequity, and fairness.

Some of the best conversations start with a simple question. This deck of 60 cards gives your team 10+ ready-to-run activities designed to get people talking — not just about where things are, but about where they're going.

No prep. No facilitator required. Just questions that actually go somewhere.

• Open up new thinking — prompts designed to surface ideas and perspectives you didn't know you were missing
• Get everyone on the same page — activities that help teams align around shared goals and what it'll take to reach them
• Move from talk to action — questions built to close the gap between vision and next steps

3 COLOR-CODED QUESTION CARDS:

• 20 Possibility Questions (purple cards) — Big-picture prompts that dig into purpose, values, and vision. The kind of questions that make you think differently about what's actually possible.
• 20 Process Questions (blue cards) — Questions about how things get done: the habits, methods, and systems that turn good intentions into real progress.
• 20 Practical Questions (green cards) — Action-first prompts that take ideas off the whiteboard and into the real world.

What's on the Flip Side? One word. Creatively illustrated. Designed to spark reflection and make every conversation feel like it was made for you.

WHY We Connect Cards?

Provide a fast-paced, fun way to move beyond ice breaking to real connections:

• Offer a suite of activities to cross-pollinate different departments across your company
• Arm employees and management with a set of questions to break down communication barriers and management hierarchies
• Give employees permission to have fun and be excited about work

AUDIENCE

Leaders, connectors, facilitators, trainers, teachers, event organizers, project directors, program directors, and anyone who wants to foster meaningful, future-focused conversations.

FEATURES

• 1 deck of 60 durable cards
• 10+ activity descriptions anyone can setup and run
• Box is 3"x3"

How to use We Connect Cards 

Watch the videos below to see how you can use the cards to reinvision your future.

You don't have to believe in Tarot to use it — and neither do your participants. Set aside the fortune-telling and what you're left with is 78 cards of rich, evocative imagery — images that have sparked stories and meaning since the first cave paintings.

That's the whole idea. People look at a card, say what they notice, and use it to reflect on a challenge, a decision, or how they're showing up. There are no right or wrong interpretations. The cards aren't the lesson — they're the catalyst. Because it's so different from training-as-usual, Tarot naturally captures attention and gets people seeing familiar problems through a fresh lens.

The Tarot for Training Facilitation Set includes:

• Tarot Deck with beautiful, evocative imagery, plus an "Easy Tarot" guidebook. The guidebook isn't necessary for the activities, but it's an interesting resource for anyone who's curious. The full 78-card deck consists of 22 big-theme cards (The Tower, The Star, Strength) plus four elemental suits covering energy, relationships, thinking, and results.
• Facilitation Notes — a 6-page guide that includes:
  • Tips for introducing the use of Tarot in your training
  • A handful of ready-to-run activities, discussion prompts, and card-selection tips
  • Delivered as both a printed booklet and an instant download, so you can start designing before your deck ships

Put the cards to work to:

For 3 to 30 participants, try one of these activities:

• Open with a check-in — "Pick a card that reflects how you're showing up today"
• Debrief a session, project, or retrospective
• Weigh a choice with a two-card pull — the path taken vs. not taken
• Explore past/present/future with a three-card spread
• Deepen coaching and one-on-one conversations

Why Tarot for Training?

When people think differently, they learn differently. And when they think in images, they remember more.