Define Your Challenges
Define Your Challenges is a fast prioritisation exercise in which each person writes ten challenges facing the team or company and then discards the least important ones under time pressure until only one or two remain. The survivors are posted and clustered into a group picture of the most pressing challenges. The exercise is described by Mischief Makers in their Facilipedia collection and relies on quick, intuitive choices instead of analysis.
Facilitation script
- 1
Explain the exercise and have everyone write ten challenges, one per sticky note, laid out in front of them.
5 min - 2
Run the discard rounds: 10 to 30 seconds per round to throw away the one or two least important notes, repeated until each person holds one or two.
5 min - 3
Each person posts their remaining notes, reads them aloud and places them next to similar ones.
6 min - 4
Review the clusters as a heat map and discuss the patterns until the group names the most pressing challenge.
7 min - 5
Agree what happens next with the chosen challenge and whether the second-largest cluster needs an owner too.
2 min
Tips
Keep the discard rounds brisk and count down aloud; the short time limit is what stops people from negotiating with themselves.
Say beforehand that a discarded note is not unimportant, only less urgent than the rest, otherwise some participants refuse to let go.
When notes are posted, cluster as you go so the pattern is visible by the time the last person has spoken.
Common pitfalls
Giving a minute or more per discard round: people start weighing arguments, the exercise takes twice as long and the intuitive ranking it is meant to produce is lost
Vague notes such as 'communication' or 'resources': they cluster into one large pile that tells the group nothing it can act on
Treating the biggest cluster as a decision without discussion: frequency shows what many people feel, not necessarily what matters most to the business
Leaving the discarded notes in the bin for good: issues that several people wrote and then dropped can be worth a second look, and nobody knows they existed
Running it with a manager who speaks first during posting: later participants place their notes near the manager's and the heat map reflects hierarchy
Variations
Online, give each person a private area on a shared whiteboard for their ten notes and a marked 'bin' area to drag discarded notes into, or simply have them delete notes. For a group of more than about 20, let each person keep only one note so that the posting round stays short. If people struggle to reach ten challenges, lower the starting number to seven and remove one per round. The same elimination mechanic is used for personal values in Explore your Values.
Where it fits
When to use it
A session needs a focus topic and the group has many competing problems but only 15 to 30 minutes to choose
Earlier prioritisation attempts got stuck in debate about criteria and scoring
You want every person's individual view of the biggest challenge before group discussion influences it
A team is opening a strategy or problem-solving workshop and you need a quick read of where the pain is
The challenges are familiar to everyone, so writing ten of them takes a few minutes and not a research phase
When not to use it
The decision needs to be defensible with explicit criteria, such as budget allocation: use an Impact/Effort Matrix or a scoring method such as RICE or ICE
The list of issues already exists on the wall and only needs ranking by the group: Dot Voting does that directly
Challenges are poorly understood and need exploration before anyone can judge their importance: run a Problem Definition exercise first
The group contains a single expert whose rarely shared concern would be discarded by everyone else: collect all notes and cluster them with an Affinity Map so minority signals stay visible
Related methods
Frequently asked questions
What is Define Your Challenges?▾
Define Your Challenges is a 15 to 30 minute prioritisation exercise described by Mischief Makers. Each participant writes ten challenges on sticky notes and discards the least important ones in timed rounds until one or two are left. The remaining notes are posted and clustered so that the group can see and agree on its most pressing challenge.
Why are the discard rounds so short?▾
The limit of 10 to 30 seconds forces a gut decision. With more time people construct reasons to keep everything, and the choice starts to reflect what is easiest to justify. Short rounds also keep the energy up and the whole exercise within half an hour.
How many people can take part?▾
The source does not state a group size. In practice it works from about four people up to around twenty; the limit is the posting round, where each person reads their notes aloud. For larger groups, have people keep a single note or post in small groups first.
How is it different from dot voting?▾
Dot voting ranks a list the group already shares, and everyone sees how others vote. Here each person starts from their own list and narrows it privately, so the first view of the group's priorities appears only when the surviving notes are posted. That makes it better for discovering what the challenges are, and dot voting better for choosing among known options.
Does it work remotely?▾
Yes. Give each participant a private space on an online whiteboard for their ten notes and a 'bin' area to move discarded notes into, or let them delete notes outright. Run the timer on screen, then have people drag their remaining notes into a shared area and cluster them together.
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Try it freeMethod descriptions on Workshop Weaver are original content written by our team, based on established facilitation practices. This method was inspired by work from Mischief Makers.