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Whether you're facilitating workshops, leading teams, or navigating complex decisions, here you'll find practical tools, frameworks, and lessons drawn from my real-world work with leadership teams and organizations.

I'm Jackie Colburn. Strategist, facilitator, human.
For nearly two decades, I've partnered with teams across industries to navigate complexity, unlock possibilities, and design a better way forward.

How to improve a mature product with a Design Sprint

How do you confidently improve and refine a mature product while mitigating risks and maintaining user trust? A Design Sprint may be just what you need. Learn why and how to run a Design Sprint for your mature product, with some tangible evaluation criteria to help you determine if a Design Sprint is right for your team.

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My secret for getting stakeholder buy-in during your Design Sprint

The outputs of a Design Sprint are most powerful when they’re supported by leaders in the organization. I designed a way to involve key decision makers in the process so that their presence feels constructive. Use my facilitator-approved approach to add manageable and productive stakeholder reviews to your sessions!

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5 reasons leaders should love Design Sprints (and use them!)

Design Sprints have the incredible ability to unlock the full potential of a team’s creativity and push innovation to new heights – that’s why they’re such a powerful leadership tool. After nearly eight years of facilitating Design Sprints, I can confidently say they’re just as effective now as they ever were. If you’re having a hard time getting over the commitment hump, here are 5 reasons why you really can’t afford not to Sprint with your team.

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Facilitation Resources, Design Sprints Jackie Colburn Facilitation Resources, Design Sprints Jackie Colburn

3 prototyping hacks you can steal for your next workshop

Today, I’m sharing my prototyping hacks to help your team create the best initial, simplified version of their design – one that’s ready to be tested, iterated on, and validated. See why getting it right is so important, and lift these activities to streamline the next session you facilitate for your team.

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Two experts dish on how to win at workshops whether you’re remote, in person, or hybrid

Should we default to in-person meetings as pandemic restrictions ease, or should virtual meeting spaces remain as ubiquitous for their ability to increase collaboration and accessibility? To answer that question, let’s look at the pluses and minuses of remote, in-person and hybrid workshops, according to Steph Cruchon and me.

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Facilitation Resources, Design Sprints Jackie Colburn Facilitation Resources, Design Sprints Jackie Colburn

Your secret superpower for facilitation

At the beginning of my facilitation career I felt vulnerable leading sessions because I thought I should know every answer, and I took it personally if things detoured from the original plan. Now I know that these are classic characteristics of a Performance Mindset and they often stand in the way of effective leadership and team success. Being able to unlock possibility requires a shift in your attitude across several dimensions.

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Win a seat at my next workshop

When each of us thrive, we all thrive, and from this spirit my Sprint For Good program was born. The program is a way to bring deserving organizations and missions a chance to meaningfully move their business, product and/or service forward. That includes the opportunity to participate in full-blown Design Sprints, Strategic Planning Sessions, and more.

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Design Sprints, Facilitation Resources Jackie Colburn Design Sprints, Facilitation Resources Jackie Colburn

How to prep your team for a Design Sprint

Use these approaches and navigational tools to help eliminate surprises, and align the team so everyone is on a similar page heading into the Design Sprint. Humans are creatures of habit, so taking some of the uncertainty out of this major schedule change help folks show up with positive attitudes ready to work toward an outcome.

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