Minefield
A 20-minute trust crossing for pairs
One crosses blind, one navigates by voice — and “stop” works instantly, always. Trust gets built one direction at a time.
WorkshopSkill · Minefield — Slide Deck · CC BY 4.0When was the last time you moved
on someone’s word alone?
WorkshopSkill · Minefield — Slide Deck · CC BY 4.0The crossing
- A 4×4 field scattered with soft obstacles: cups, boxes, cushions. Nothing hard, nothing sharp.
- The walker is blindfolded (or eyes closed); the navigator stands outside and uses voice only.
- Round A, then swap roles on a fresh course. Twenty minutes, both directions.
The safety card — read aloud, every session
- 1. The walker says “stop” — everything stops. Instantly, mid-word.
- 2. The navigator never touches the walker. Voice only.
- 3. Obstacles are soft by design. 4. The blindfold is optional — eyes closed is legal.
What the field makes visible
- Instructions whose quality is life-or-death obvious — clarity under responsibility.
- The half-second after “stop”: the trust system working, or not.
- Being trusted turns out to be harder than trusting. Nearly every pair says so.
Three ways it fails, three rescues
- The navigator narrates scenery → coach mid-round: “give the next step, not the map.”
- The walker peeks → offer the eyes-closed variant, no accusation. It is debrief data, not cheating.
- Laughter drowns the voice → stagger the starts: one pair walks while the next resets.
Three questions after round B
1. Walker: what did you need to hear before your first step — and what did you actually hear?
2. Navigator: when the walker wobbled — did your instructions get clearer, or faster?
3. Which direction was harder: trusting the voice, or being the voice?
WorkshopSkill · Minefield — Slide Deck · CC BY 4.0The measure
- Before pairing: six rows about how you work with real colleagues.
- After the debrief: the same six rows about this crossing.
- Pair-level deltas only — this measures the loop, never a person.
Clarity is a form of care.
The stop word is the trust.
The near-miss is the richest artifact in the room.
WorkshopSkill · Minefield — Slide Deck · CC BY 4.0One habit to install
- Where do you guide someone who cannot see what you see — onboarding, delegation, handovers?
- Name one instruction habit to change, with a day it starts.
.
Set the field · read the safety card · cross both directions
Trust is built one direction at a time — and both directions get debriefed.
WorkshopSkill · Minefield — Slide Deck · CC BY 4.0Take this folder with you
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