Paper Plate Challenge
The Paper Plate Challenge is a campaign-planning exercise in which each person lays a path of paper plates across the floor, with every plate naming one concrete outcome on the way from today to the campaign goal. It was created by Daniel Hunter of Training for Change with James Whelan and Sam LaRocca of The Change Agency. Small groups challenge each other's stepping stones, and a debrief part-way through introduces what makes an objective usable.
Facilitation script
- 1
Form groups of four to five, place the vision object in the centre and explain the task with one worked example of a concrete stepping stone.
10 min - 2
Individuals write and lay their plates, testing outcomes and order with their small group. Coach towards specifics.
20 min - 3
Interrupt for a check-in. List the qualities of good outcomes from what people have produced and introduce SMART as a measuring stick.
10 min - 4
People revise and finish their paths, then read the paths of others.
15 min - 5
Short debrief on usefulness. One or two volunteers walk the group through their path step by step.
10 min
Tips
The exercise works on a campaign with a clear scope; if the vision is as wide as a whole cause, narrow it first or people will write slogans on the plates.
Most plates should be outcomes the organisation can bring about, but allow a few external events that would help.
Time the interruption carefully: late enough that people have real plates to compare, early enough that they still have the energy to rewrite them.
Welcome disagreement inside the small groups, since that is where the learning happens.
Common pitfalls
Accepting activities instead of outcomes on the plates, such as 'hold meetings'; the path then describes being busy and cannot be checked
Leaving the vision too broad, so every plate is another large aspiration and no sequence appears
Holding the mid-way debrief only after people have finished; they feel done and do not rewrite weak plates
Treating the finished path as fixed; the sequence is a working assumption that has to be revisited when conditions change
Letting people work alone and silent despite the groups, which removes the challenge that makes the outcomes sharper
Variations
If the whole group works on the same campaign, have each small group or the full group build one shared path instead of individual ones. Note that the source spells SMART as Sequential, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-specific; many teams know the first letter as Specific, so say which reading you are using. Outside campaigning, the same setup can be used to break any long-term goal into ordered milestones. Online, replace plates with a row of cards per person on a shared whiteboard, which keeps the sequencing but loses the walking.
Where it fits
When to use it
A group has a campaign goal but talks about it in broad terms and cannot say what has to happen first
Participants need practice in writing objectives that can be checked, and a lecture on objectives has not landed
People in the room hold different unstated ideas about how change comes about and you want those to become visible
A planning session has been seated and abstract for too long and needs a physical task
Several campaigns are represented and each person should leave with an outline for their own
When not to use it
The goal itself is still undefined or as wide as a whole cause; do visioning work first, then return to this
You need a detailed plan with owners and dates; this produces an outline of stages, so follow it with proper action planning
The group needs to analyse who supports and opposes them before it can sequence anything; start with Spectrum of Allies or Power Mapping
The room has no free floor space or participants cannot move around and bend down comfortably; run the sequencing with cards on a wall or use Backcasting at tables
Related methods
Frequently asked questions
What is Paper Plate Challenge?▾
It is a planning exercise from Training for Change and The Change Agency in which each participant writes concrete outcomes on paper plates and lays them on the floor as stepping stones towards a campaign goal. Small groups question each other's steps and their order. The result is an outline of the stages a campaign has to pass through to win.
How long does the Paper Plate Challenge take?▾
The source does not give a duration. With setup, a working phase, the mid-way debrief, revision time and a closing round, plan 45 to 90 minutes depending on group size. Placing a break after the revision phase gives people time to read each other's paths.
Why interrupt the groups before they have finished?▾
People learn what a good objective looks like most easily while they are struggling to write one. Stopping in the middle lets the group compare real examples and then apply the criteria to plates they are still willing to change.
Does it work when everyone is on the same campaign?▾
Yes. The source suggests adapting it so people create the plates together. Building one shared path brings out disagreements about sequence and priorities, which is useful material for the debrief.
How is it different from Backcasting?▾
Both break a future goal into steps. Backcasting works backwards from the goal, usually on a wall or timeline, while the Paper Plate Challenge has individuals build a physical path forwards and adds a teaching moment on objectives. It is closer to a training exercise that also produces a first campaign outline.
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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 Daniel Hunter (Training for Change) with James Whelan and Sam LaRocca (The Change Agency).