Context
The idea was solid.
Project teams are often expected to function as if they are already aligned. But in reality, most start fragmented. They speak different work languages, have no shared history, no mutual expectations, and not enough trust to perform well under pressure.
On the other side, teams that went through a hard project often receive nothing more than a shallow retrospective. There is no space to decompress, no processing of what happened, and no sense of closure.
So I designed a different approach, a retreat format.
- Day one: something light, social, and fun — maybe with an educational twist. A visit to a cheese farm, a creative challenge, a relaxed evening with food and drinks.
- Day two: the real work. A workshop to define a project goal or look back on a delivery experience.
- Trust first, then tools.
The Drag
The need was real. People were interested. The concept made intuitive sense, but the business model broke down under pressure.
Small companies required convincing. That meant high marketing effort. They also couldn’t afford to lose a full team for two or three days. The potential revenue was low, and they were unlikely to become repeat clients.
Medium companies were a better fit. But they were cautious, and many were only willing to consider a one-day version.
Large companies had their own blockers. Internal HR departments wanted a say. Legal frameworks made outside engagements difficult. Procurement processes dragged things down or stripped them of quality.
The Insight
The problem we were solving was real, but we underestimated the system it lived inside.
The constraints were not about value. They were structural, political, and operational.
We had done solution thinking, but we had not done enough constraint mapping.
The Outcome
The project was shelved. Not because it lacked value, but because the obstacles to consistent delivery were bigger than the market could carry.
Still, it was worth doing. We learned what works, what doesn’t, and who you can count on when things stretch thin.