The Orange
A 20-minute negotiation with one hidden fact per team
Both teams want the orange. Nobody asks what for — and that one missing question is the whole lesson.
WorkshopSkill · The Orange — Slide Deck · CC BY 4.0Your last real disagreement at work —
did anyone ask what the other side needed it FOR?
WorkshopSkill · The Orange — Slide Deck · CC BY 4.0The setup
- Two teams, one orange, two tables far enough apart to keep secrets.
- Each team gets a confidential brief — with only half the truth.
- Eight minutes to reach a WRITTEN agreement. No agreement: neither team gets anything.
What the briefs say (revealed later)
- Team A: fresh juice for the café — the peel is useless to them.
- Team B: orange peel for the cake — the flesh is useless to them.
- Neither card mentions the other side’s need. That is the design.
What usually happens
- Minute one, someone anchors on “half each.” Equality feels so tidy.
- The hidden facts surface only if someone asks a question about the OTHER side.
- At the reveal: the team that asked walks away whole. The team that split, split in half.
Three ways it fails, three rescues
- “Half each” anchored in minute one → no rescue live. The premature split is the debrief’s centerpiece.
- A team lies about its brief → legal in this game; note it, and trust becomes question five.
- Nobody opens at all → minute five, announce: “three minutes of questions that must be answered honestly.”
Three questions at the reveal
1. First two minutes: what did your team lead with — a demand, or a question?
2. Which team asked “what do you need it for”? What was that question worth?
3. Half felt fair right up until the reveal — what did it actually cost?
WorkshopSkill · The Orange — Slide Deck · CC BY 4.0The measure
- Before the briefs open: six rows about how you handle real disagreements.
- After the debrief: the same six rows about this negotiation.
- Three rows are reverse-scored — the anchor of “half” is one of them.
Information is the currency of agreement.
Half is equality. Not efficiency.
The orange proves they are different things.
WorkshopSkill · The Orange — Slide Deck · CC BY 4.0One question to install
- Before your next counter-offer: one question about what they need it for.
- Where is the hidden complement in your week — headcount, budget lines, one shared engineer?
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Print the briefs · run eight minutes · read both cards aloud
Position-takers split the orange. Interest-askers both walk away whole.
WorkshopSkill · The Orange — 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.