The carpet of connection
In the book Expedition Agility, you’ll find numerous exercises designed to tackle the shift toward agility in a playful and lighthearted way. Each blog article highlights one of these exercises to inspire you and encourage experimentation. This time, we’re diving into the exercise called “The Carpet of Connection.”
Barriers and Obstacles
In many teams, barriers and obstacles sneak in unnoticed, preventing members from responding effectively. This exercise helps you address these barriers, enabling you, your team, and your organization to become more agile.
Barriers and obstacles are often accepted as “just the way things are” and fade into the background. No one mentions them anymore, and sometimes they seem to be swept under the proverbial carpet. This pattern can create a culture of stagnation, where the discomfort of change seems greater than the benefits of progress.
However, this situation offers an excellent opportunity to dig deeper into some critical questions. Why don’t we talk about these obstacles? What underlying fears or unspoken concerns are holding us back? By initiating these conversations, teams can not only identify barriers but also begin actively working to remove them.
Using the exercise “The Carpet,” you can explore the unspoken obstacles in your team in a playful and visual way. Together, you’ll make visible what often remains unsaid and take steps toward meaningful change.
Exercise: The Carpet
Organize a team session with a group that has started adopting an agile way of working. Ensure you have an actual carpet for the session. Don’t have a carpet? A bath mat will do!
- Identify barriers. Ask the team to identify barriers or obstacles that are currently preventing the quick delivery of value. Write each one on a separate sheet of paper (A4) and slide these under the carpet.
- Discuss what’s hidden. Talk about what lies under the carpet: which barriers or obstacles have been known for a while but keep getting swept under the rug?
- Choose one to address. Decide as a group which sheet of paper you’ll pull out from under the carpet to address the “unspoken” conversation. You don’t have to tackle everything at once; it’s already a win if you bring one issue to light and take action on it.
- Ensure a safe environment. Agree that the unspoken conversation will take place in a safe space. Only what the group agrees to share will be communicated outside the room.
- Reflect on the reasons. Ask the following questions as a group:
- Why was this barrier swept under the carpet?
- Why is it painful to bring it to light?
- Who or what has been protected by keeping it hidden?
- What sustains this situation? In other words, why is it easier to leave things as they are?
- Share personal reflections. Invite team members to reflect on which answers impacted them the most. Share these insights with the group.
- Return to the original issue. Bring the insights back to the original problem. Are you willing to truly solve this issue?
- Take action. Solve what can be solved, using questions like:
- What could we do more or less of?
- What should we stop doing?
- What should we start doing to address or resolve this barrier?
A Shift Beneath the Carpet
When teams find the courage to look beneath the carpet, something extraordinary happens. Barriers that once seemed invisible take shape and become topics of discussion. More importantly, the team reflects on the deeper causes: why were these obstacles hidden for so long?
By consciously engaging in this process, not only does the team’s agility grow, but a culture emerges where members are open about barriers and actively work on solutions. This approach creates space for genuine progress, where everyone contributes to an environment where obstacles are no longer swept away but are instead tackled head-on.
The carpet no longer symbolizes something that conceals but rather something that connects and opens up possibilities.
Source: Expedition Agility

Recente berichten
- Focus on delivering value 12 February 2025
- New Agile Champion Program starting in May! 2 February 2025
- Expedition agility: Listen to our podcast and get inspired! 24 January 2025
- Invitation Agile Connect event 30 Januari 24 January 2025
- The carpet of connection 24 January 2025
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