Designing the Experiences Only You Can Lead

Recently I designed and led three short retreats in three days. None of them were for a client. None of them were for work at all.

I have spent more than twenty years designing workshops and retreats for organizations. Somewhere along the way, the skill stopped staying inside my career. It started showing up in my life, with the people I care about most.

Day one: a Zoom retreat for a few people who had attended a conference that touched on synchronicity. The content was thought provoking, but it needed formal reflection and human connection. So we made space to find, share, and really listen to our own stories.

Day two: a nature retreat in the UW Arboretum for a friend's two high school sons (and some dads), built around one theme, wandering for inspiration. Wisdom from yourselves, wisdom from nature. Hopefully the boys and dads gained something they will remember. I know I did.

Day three: a smaller version of that same retreat in the woods with my daughters, at a totem pole that has always meant something to us. Simple, short, and one of my favorite memories of that whole stretch.

None of these were complicated. The same building blocks showed up in all three:

Purpose. Fill a real gap and seize a deeper opportunity.

People. Who is in the room (virtually or in nature), and what would actually matter to them.

Place. Even a Zoom room can be designed to feel like somewhere.

A few activities you trust. Not fifty. A handful you can lead well.

Here is why it matters now. Generic is free and infinite. Anyone can ask AI for a workshop outline and get a reasonable, forgettable answer in seconds. (These tools are helping me shape my own reflections, insights, and stories into the post you are reading.) But the more available the generic becomes, the more valuable the specific becomes. A gathering built around your people, your purpose, and your place is the one thing no model can hand you. That judgment is yours. That part is the craft.

This is a learnable skill, not a personality trait. Once you see the building blocks, you start using them everywhere. A team offsite. A family milestone. A goodbye. A fresh start.

Start with one question: who are these people, and what would make this memorable for them? Then find the intersection with what you are sensing, and design backward from there.

Reflection: What is a gathering you would love to design for the people in your life?

Design the workshop or retreat only you can lead.Read the full article on InnovationTraining.org. Design your own experience with our innovative workshop design and facilitation coaching or our innovative facilitator design thinking certificate program.Best,Darin Eich, Ph.D.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/darineich/