For the holidays, here is one of our favorite exercises and one that we get the most amount of benefit from.

Generally speaking, here is what it is:

• You are going to observe a single person, for an extended amount of time, in order to figure out:
  • Where they have come from
  • Where they “are”
  • Where they are going
• You will do this through a process of deep observation and analysis, but before you answer those questions, you are going to collect as much data and facts about the person (through observation). The observations come BEFORE you make any judgments, assessments or decisions about them.

Here is what you need:

• A coffee shop that is fairly busy
• An hour to an hour-and-a-half of time so that you aren’t rushed and can do this exercise to completion.

The Setup Before Going:

• On a sheet of paper:
  • Draw a line down the middle of the page from top to bottom
  • Draw a second line from left to right about two-thirds of the way down the page
  • This will create four boxes, with the top two boxes being bigger than the bottom two boxes.
• Label:
  • The top left box “Uncontrolled Behavior”
  • The top right box “Chosen Behavior”
  • The bottom left box “Where they are coming from”
  • The bottom right box “Where they are going”
• Here is a screen shot of the form that I use on my iPad.

On-Scene Setup:

• Go to a coffee shop, get yourself a drink and take a seat at a table where you can observe a person inconspicuously.
• Ideally you are able to position yourself where the person you are observing is directly in front of you so that your observations are a little less noticeable by being able to simply glance up from your notebook instead of turning your head and making it clear that you are looking at the person.
• If possible, find a table where you can observe a person who is alone and who is doing work on their computer as they are often less aware of their surroundings and going to be in the coffee shop for a longer period of time than the person who is just there to meet someone else or just there to eat or drink.

Step 1: Observe Uncontrollable Behavior

• Starting with the box on the top left, begin by observing their body language deeply from the ground up. Be as descriptive as you can be about what you are observing.
• The end state for this step is to assign them to one of the four clusters of individual behavior ONCE YOU HAVE listed at least 10 or so total observations.
• Note: You can move through this stage fairly quickly, because you will be able to expand on it as you move forward, but make sure the assessment and assignment to a cluster is based on the observations you make and not before.

Step #2: Observe The Choices They Have Made

• When that first step is complete, move to the box on the top right of the page.
• Here, you will list out every single choice that person made before coming to this coffee shop. For example:
  • What are they wearing? Be descriptive.
  • What grooming choices did they make? Be descriptive.
  • What objects do they have with them? Be descriptive.
  • Where have they placed those objects? Be descriptive.
• The end state for this step is to have a list of 25 to 30 different observations about what a person did before coming here (clothing and grooming) and what they did upon arrival (what they took out and where they put everything).
• Note #1: Don’t worry about doing any analysis at this stage of the process, because you don’t want to slow yourself down or begin making determinations before you have enough facts about the person. Your only goal is to collect the dots that you will later connect. Where possible, be overly descriptive. It isn’t just that they are wearing shoes, but what style are they, what is the brand, what is the condition of them, how much did they cost? Dig in.
• Note #2: Throughout this step, you will also notice many more of their uncontrolled behaviors as well. Before moving on, strive for a list of 20 or so of these behaviors as well to ensure that you aren’t limiting yourself to the easy observable or immediately noticeable behaviors, but continuously adding depth to it as well.

Step #3: Analyze Your Information and Determine Where They Are Going

• Once I have around 30 chosen behaviors and 20 uncontrolled behaviors, I move into the bottom right box, of the sheet, which is where I focus on their intentions.
• What I am trying to figure out is, what are they going to do next?
• Task 1: Identify two possible choices for what the person will do once they are done with whatever thing they are working on.
• Task 2: Once those two options are written down, determine which of those is their most likely next action and which of those two is their least likely next action. Write out your justification for your prediction using the observations you made in the first two steps.
• Task 3: For the most likely next action, list out the things that you will have to see to prove that your assessment about what they are going to do next is correct. For example, if you believe they are going to leave, you may list out they will first close their computer, then put it in their backpack, then standup, then put their backpack on, etc. Be as descriptive as they can be.
• Task 4: For the option that you believe is the least likely next step, list out the steps they would have to follow to do that as well to ensure you are also considering the behaviors that would prove your most likely assessment as being incorrect.
• Note: This step is incredibly important to do before shifting to the fourth and final step of the exercise because if at any point, if the person’s behavior changes, you have already anticipated what those shifts might mean and you will have an early warning about what they are likely to do next.

Step #4: Analyzing Your Information and Determining Where the Person Came From

• Once the other three boxes are filled in, your final step is to begin thinking about where the person is coming from. It could be literal, where were they right before they came here? Or it could be a bit earlier in their life as you ask, what is this person’s background?
• What led them to be able to be here, right now, doing what they are doing?
• What is their profession? What is their (likely) economic status? What do they value? What is their motivation?
• Note: For many people (to include us), this is the hardest step in the process, especially when trying it for the first time. As Sherlock Holmes notes in his short stories, it is much easier for many people to take something they see and project that out into the future than it is to see something in the present and figure out what led them to this moment. Thinking forwards and thinking backwards are two essential skills to be developed.

In the next few weeks, we will add a few more pieces to this exercise, with an in-depth explanation about why we do this, how to self-assess your own performance and how it fits into our baselining process. But in the meantime, get your first repetition of this exercise under your belt so that you have a point of reference and personal experience for the time when that additional information comes out.