Stinky Fish
This activity is a way to raise up issues that we’re not talking about and help us talk about them.
“The Stinky Fish that thing that you carry around but don’t like to talk about; but the longer you hide it, the stinkier it gets. It’s a metaphor for a fear or anxiety; something that will only get worse if you don’t acknowledge and deal with it.”
Outcome
Identify the stinky fish/elephants in the room; explore and share our individual worries/concerns about the future as a way to start a conversation and begin to confront or overcome them. By not keeping them hidden, we continue building trust and candor between team members.
Method
- Explain the purpose of this exercise
- Each person write down (can do this in Miro or on a piece of paper so they can keep it confidential) their personal stinky fish for the context of the project.
- Invite each person to share their fish with the rest of the group, one stinky fish at a time, going around the “room” until everyone has shared.
- Affinity group these - are there commonalities to these stinky fish?
- In a new color, brainstorm ideas or mitigations for these stinky fish. Can people own these? List their name.