Why we often start with feelings?
Before asking people to understand the bigger picture, we sometimes need to understand the experience they are already bringing into the room.
Collaborative Problem Solving Lab · 4 min read · 15 Aug 2026 · Anja Cimerman
I noticed this while comparing two workshops. In one, we were choosing a theme for a musical. In another, I wanted to show and discuss changes in the labour market with young people.
The musical workshop was great. The labour market workshop wasn’t.
When I compared the two, I realised the entry points were very different. With the musical, we had a clear shared goal. Everyone knows what a musical is, and participants could immediately imagine what we were working towards. There was excitement and motivation to create something together.
The career workshop started elsewhere. Young people entering the labour market are already dealing with confusion, uncertainty, and rapid change. Some came in with fear and personal questions, while I was trying to move them towards a broader understanding of labour market shifts.
That shift was difficult before they felt heard and had space to express their experience.
What we observed
- The same workshop can feel very different depending on where participants enter the topic, especially in experiential problem-solving workshops where personal experience is part of the learning process.
- In the musical workshop, participants shared a clear goal, excitement, and motivation.
- In the career workshop, participants were already emotionally connected through uncertainty and lived experience.
- When a topic is personal, it is hard to move straight into abstract concepts and wider trends.
- Empathy and a user-centred approach are difficult if people do not first feel heard.
- Participants need safety to share their experiences before building on others’ perspectives.
- Once experiences are shared, patterns often emerge (e.g. “It is difficult for me to find a job.”)
What we learned
- Emotional connection to a topic cannot be ignored.
- Understanding a complex topic often requires understanding the context people bring into it.
- We need to meet people where they are. If a topic triggers emotion, we should start there and make space for it.
- This is not about staying in emotion, but about using it as a bridge to the bigger picture.
- Personal experience is often a valid entry point into complex problems.
- This also applies to topics like AI. A question like “which tasks can AI take over?” may sound technical, but for someone worried about job loss, it is already about security and the future.
- Emotional and experiential starting points are part of learning, not separate from it.
What we are trying next
We want to pay closer attention to the relationship participants already have with a topic. When a topic is emotionally loaded, we will first create space for people to share their experiences before moving to the bigger picture.
The goal is not to analyse or solve the experience immediately, but to make it visible, hear different perspectives, and recognise what is already present in the room. We are testing the idea that experiential learning does not begin with an activity. It begins with the learner’s existing emotional connection to a real-world tension.
About this Lab
The Collaborative Problem Solving Lab explores how diverse people can come together to understand complex challenges, ask better questions, co-create ideas, and test human-centred solutions.
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