GET 40% OFF with code BF2024 30-DAY RISK FREE TRIAL

Sticky Steps

Sticky Steps

What is a Sticky Steps workshop?

This workshop is great for giving you a clear plan for achieving your goal. By working backwards, step by step, from the goal itself, you can turn seemingly unachievable goals into a tangible reality, with a step-by-step pathway to get you there.

Prior to this tactic, ensure you have a clear goal by running Sailboat or Newspaper Headline. Afterwards, try Who, What, When to get clear steps on how the plan is going to be actioned.


Sticky Steps Miro Template


How to run a Sticky Steps workshop

1. Start by writing the goal as far right as your drawing surface allows. The goal is you or your team’s desired end-state.

2. Ask the following question to the group: “What would have to happen just before this for us to succeed?

3. Put the answer on a sticky note to the left of the goal.

4. Ask the same question again for the sticky note you've just placed: “What would have to happen just before this for us to succeed?

5. Repeat this process until you have stepped all the way back to today.

6. Make a plan for how you can start on the first thing you need to do.

Tip: as you step backwards through your plan, you might find certain steps that need to happen simultaneously. This may cause your plan to split and branch out to two paths running side by side.

This is fine, but at all times try to consider if each step is absolutely necessary to achieving the desired end-state. The more linear your path, the easier it will be to achieve your goal.

Origin: Eddie Obeng.

Not sure if this is the right approach for your team at the moment? Try a different goal-setting tactic. Or, when you are happy with the goal(s) you have set, move on to workshops designed to help you better understand the obstacles and challenges ahead.

You might like these Workshop Tactics

← Back to Workshop Tactics

Get Workshop Tactics®

Sticky Steps is one of 54 workshop recipe cards inside the Workshop Tactics card deck.

Confidently lead your product team and design better products, together.