What is it?
A practical, interactive session that helps teams explore how to accelerate progress by thinking laterally, learning faster, and leveraging existing systems and opportunities, based on insights from Smartcuts: The Breakthrough Power of Lateral Thinking by Shane Snow.
Why is it useful?
This workshop helps teams break free from conventional ways of working by identifying smarter, faster paths to results — without sacrificing quality — through experimentation, timing, and collaboration.
Target Audience
- Teams aiming to innovate or improve efficiency
- Leaders seeking new ways to solve complex challenges
- Project teams stuck in slow or traditional processes
- Organisations working in fast-changing environments
- Groups looking to build momentum and creative confidence
Objectives
- Learn how to “hack the ladder” by rethinking traditional paths to success
- Practise using rapid feedback to speed up learning and improvement
- Discover how to leverage existing systems and networks for impact
- Understand how to identify and “catch waves” of opportunity at the right time
- Explore how to simplify and amplify ideas through 10× thinking
Materials Needed
- Time: 90 minutes
- Number of people: 6–15
- Flip charts or whiteboards
- Markers
- Post-it notes
- Timer
- Handout: The Smartcuts Framework summary
Process
1. Introduction (10 minutes)
Goal: Challenge the idea that success only comes from hard work and time.
Activity:
- Ask participants: “What’s a goal your team has been working toward that feels slow or difficult?”
- Capture a few examples on a flip chart.
- Explain that Smartcuts is about working smarter, not cutting corners — finding faster, ethical and more effective routes to success.
- Introduce the five principles: Hack the Ladder, Rapid Feedback, Leverage Platforms, Catch Waves and 10× Thinking.
Debrief Question:
- When have you achieved something faster by rethinking the approach rather than working harder?
2. Hack the Ladder (15 minutes)
Goal: Identify smarter paths to progress by changing the rules or reframing the challenge.
Activity:
- Share the concept: Instead of climbing traditional ladders step by step, innovators often switch ladders — finding alternative routes that lead to the same or better results.
- Ask participants to think of a current goal or challenge.
- In pairs, brainstorm:
- What would happen if we didn’t follow the normal process?
- Is there a different route or partnership that could get us there faster?
- Share highlights with the group and list common “ladders” that could be hacked.
Debrief Question:
- What assumptions about “how things must be done” could we challenge?
3. Rapid Feedback (20 minutes)
Goal: Practise turning mistakes and uncertainty into accelerated learning.
Activity:
- Share that top performers move faster because they shorten feedback loops — they learn, adjust and try again quickly.
- Divide participants into small groups.
- Give them a simple creative challenge (e.g. design a new team ritual in 5 minutes).
- After the first round, get instant feedback from another group, then give them 3 minutes to improve their design.
- Reflect on how quick iteration improved outcomes.
Debrief Questions:
- How did feedback change your design?
- Where in our work could we create faster feedback loops?
4. Leverage Platforms (20 minutes)
Goal: Discover how to build on existing systems, tools or networks instead of starting from scratch.
Activity:
- Explain that successful teams often “stand on the shoulders of giants” — using what already exists to accelerate progress.
- In small groups, ask participants to list resources or systems already available (technology, data, partnerships, templates, routines).
- Challenge them to find one new way to repurpose or combine existing resources to solve a current challenge faster.
- Each group shares one “platform leverage” idea with the room.
Debrief Questions:
- What systems or tools could we use more effectively?
- How might collaboration or partnerships help us scale faster?
5. Catching Waves and 10× Thinking (20 minutes)
Goal: Explore how timing and bold thinking can create breakthrough results.
Activity:
- Present the idea of “catching waves”: recognising trends or moments of momentum and riding them instead of fighting against them.
- Introduce “10× Thinking”: aiming for radical improvement rather than small, incremental change.
- In pairs, ask participants to brainstorm:
- What trends or opportunities are building momentum around us right now?
- How could we use these waves to amplify our goals?
- If we aimed for a 10× result, what would we do differently?
- Groups share their ideas briefly.
Debrief Questions:
- Where are we missing potential waves we could ride?
- What small actions today could position us for a bigger breakthrough?
6. Reflection and Commitments (10 minutes)
Goal: Turn insights into clear actions for smarter progress.
Activity:
- Ask participants to write two statements on Post-it notes:
- “One Smartcut I will try this month is…”
- “One habit I’ll change to move faster is…”
- Post them on a shared board titled Our Smartcut Commitments.
Debrief Question:
- How can we make Smartcut thinking part of how we work every day?
Secret Sauce
- Keep the pace fast — model the Smartcuts mindset through quick, high-energy activities.
- Encourage creativity and boldness rather than perfection.
- Highlight real-world examples of people or teams who succeeded by rethinking the rules.
- Celebrate curiosity, risk-taking and collaboration.
- Remind participants that Smartcuts are about progress with integrity, not shortcuts without accountability.