When training isn’t enough…
and the work actually needs to move.

A 90-minute, virtual experience that impacts 25–75 people and helps teams make sense of real work—together—and move it forward.

The Moment You’re In

You don’t reach for something like this when everything is working.

You reach for it when:

• The plan and strategy exist—but aren’t quite landing

• The training is defined—but doesn’t feel like the answer

• Many decks and files—but something underneath it isn’t clicking

You could run the workshop.
You could assign the e-learning module.
You could wait for the next quarter.

But you already know:

That won’t touch what’s actually going on.

A Simple Truth

Most L&D solutions add more:

• More content

• More frameworks

• More compliance

• More training

But the problem isn’t a lack of information.

It’s this:

Smart and capable people are working inside unclear, unspoken, or misaligned realities.

And until that shifts, nothing else sticks.

What PopUpThinkTank Actually Is

Not a workshop.
Not an offsite.
Not another training.

PopUpThinkTank is a 90-minute, group experience (30–75+ people) designed for real work—not hypothetical scenarios.

What gets presented?

A real tension—something unresolved, relevant, and already in motion—is brought into the room.

Or present a real training topic and skillset. Use your content or ours.

Not as a case study.
Not as a presentation.

But as something people can step into, explore, and build on together.

Because when people are working on something that actually matters:

They don’t just learn.
They engage, contribute, and move it forward.

Most Training Delivers Content.

PopUpThinkTank Activates People.

Instead of asking:

“What should we teach them?”

We design for:

“What do people need to see, say, and do together for this work to move?”

That shift changes everything.

Why It Works—Without the Jargon

Adults don’t learn best by consuming slide content.

They learn by:

• Making sense of real work situations

• Seeing and hearing how others think

• Testing new ideas in context

• Then adjusting in real time

PopUpThinkTank is built for that.

• Peer-to-peer, not top-down

• Connected to actual work, not removed from it

• Structured enough to create momentum

• Open enough to allow real discovery and even some serendipity

And yes—skills still develop. Compliance training, too. 

But they emerge from shared experience and permission to experiment, not isolated, one-way instruction.

What Changes After

You won’t get an instruction manual.

You’ll see shifts like:

• A team that was spinning on ambiguity → moving on shared meaning

• In meetings, people start to name what’s real instead of avoiding it

• Leaders stop defaulting to “more training” → and start engaging how work actually moves

• Teams stop waiting for clarity → and start moving within complexity

And something subtle—but critical:

People begin to pick up language, behaviors, and ways of thinking from each other.

In real time.
Inside real work.

Where Does This Fit? 

PopUpThinkTank doesn’t replace your L&D strategy or team. It fits exactly where traditional approaches struggle:

From Training → Capability Building
Not just skills—shared ways of thinking and working

From Content → Experience
Learning happens through interaction, not top-down instruction

From L&D-Owned → Business-Owned
Built around real team tensions (and opportunities)

From Generic → Contextual
Designed for your actual work—not a template

Content, Your Way

This isn’t a fixed program.

Yes, we can:

• Use your existing content, training, or slide deck 

• Work with a real challenge already in motion

• Activate inside an initiative that isn’t quite landing

• Or bring a focused perspective that fits your moment

Either way:

The first 20% about delivering some content to set context and level set. 

The rest is about activating it—inside the work that already matters.

What We’ve Lost 

In many organizations—especially remote and hybrid—we’ve lost something:

The in-between moments where:

• ideas collide

• perspectives shift

• connections form naturally

PopUpThinkTank is designed to bring back:

The right amount of structure—and the right amount of serendipity.

Not random.
Not chaos.
Not over-engineered.

Just enough to let real thinking emerge.

A Real Example: GAP Inc.

A cross-functional operations team at GAP Stores was preparing to roll out an e-learning RACI training.

It stalled.

Instead, they ran a PopUpThinkTank session.

In 90 minutes:

• Leaders developed a shared language for ownership and roles

• Real tensions surfaced—without forcing artificial alignment

• Momentum emerged—without another “program”

As one Sr. Director shared: “Among the team, the consistent takeaway is that the session made people think differently.”

That thinking didn’t end in the room.
It showed up the following week—in how people worked.

Read the GAP Inc. case study in a new tab >

About AI—Without More Hype

As AI accelerates access to information…

The advantage shifts to something else:

• How quickly teams make sense of complexity

• How well people think together across difference

• How effectively organizations turn insight into movement

PopUpThinkTank strengthens exactly that.

Not by “teaching” AI.

But by developing the human capabilities that make AI useful.

Start Small. See What Happens.

You don’t need a full program.

Start with a single session.

90 minutes.
30–75 people.
A real challenge.

And see what changes when people don’t just learn…

…but step into the work—together.