Paper Tower
A 30-minute team build against a clock and a book
Twenty sheets, one meter of tape, twelve minutes — the tallest tower that survives the book test wins.
WorkshopSkill · Paper Tower — Slide Deck · CC BY 4.0When your project starts to lean —
does your team diagnose, or build faster?
WorkshopSkill · Paper Tower — Slide Deck · CC BY 4.0The build
- Twenty sheets, one meter of tape, twelve minutes. Hands only.
- Paper may be torn, folded, rolled, crushed — never cut.
- The tallest tower that holds a book for ten seconds wins.
The run of show
- Three minutes of silent planning first — paper and pens, no tape, no building.
- Twelve minutes of building. At minute ten, announce: “two minutes left.”
- The book test: on top, counted out loud to ten. Then teams self-score the judge card.
What the room records
- Who talks, who builds, who ends up holding tape.
- How much of the silent plan survived contact with the tape.
- What happens at the first wobble — diagnose, or build faster.
Three ways it fails, three rescues
- One engineer, four spectators → freeze at minute eight: everyone names one thing the tower needs.
- A column and a hope, no folds, no triangles → no rescue; the collapse is the debrief’s best exhibit.
- Silent planning skipped → enforce it gently: “planning is a round too.”
Three questions at the book test
1. What did the silent three minutes plan — and what survived the tape?
2. Whose hands were on the tower, whose voices were at the table — same people?
3. When it started to lean: did the team diagnose, or build faster?
WorkshopSkill · Paper Tower — Slide Deck · CC BY 4.0The measure
- Before teams form: six rows about how your real team works.
- After the debrief: the same six rows about this build.
- Report the delta per team — never rank individuals.
The tower is the transcript.
Point at it — do not describe it.
Keep every tower standing until the debrief is done.
WorkshopSkill · Paper Tower — Slide Deck · CC BY 4.0The one change
- Restart with one change — materials, roles, or plan: which single change?
- One change, one owner, one date. One change survives Monday.
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Print the cards · run the build · debrief beside the wreckage
The height is the scoreboard; the lean is the lesson.
WorkshopSkill · Paper Tower — Slide Deck · CC BY 4.0Take this folder with you
Scan for the digital edition — the printable kit, the live form and the agent file. Swap this href for your own QRCode-AI code or FormLM link.