The Workshopper Playbook

by Jonathan Courtney

Genres: Design, Business, Nonfiction, Management, Leadership, Productivity

96 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2020

Reviews

[Jonathan Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok, I’ll admit I wrote this book and I might be slightly biased 😄

Hope you all enjoy it!

[Harmesh Chauhan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I just received the book in the post and I’m afraid to say that the quality of both the content and printed book (more akin to a short story) to be very poor and to be at novice level at best. The whole purpose of the 'book' seems like a cynical means to capture your email address to market and up-sell you their expensive teaching courses.

I’d recommend reading ‘Meeting Design’ by Kevin Hoffman and ‘Gamestorming’ by Dave Gray to learn from credible practitioners.

[Awais Munawar · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wouldn't recommend getting the book, even though its 'free' - it will cost approx £10 for delivery and the content was so thin i read it in half hour. The content itself is nothing new and can be found online.
I got this book because of Jonathan Courtney and all the content he makes available on his youtube channel for free, for that thank you.

[Katrīna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not a book, it’s more of a booklet and promotion material for AJ&Smart’s other products. A lot of blank space and some empty pages as well.
It provides a simple framework, which is nice, but overall would make up an article, not a “book”. If you want to know more about different types of workshops and how to run them, keep looking. Or maybe go back to reading Sprint.

[Robin Pokorny · Rating 1 out of 5]

After purchasing this ‘free’ (shipping was about €10) ‘book’, I received 26 (yes, twenty-six) follow-up marketing e-mails trying to upsell me to a paid course. Total disgrace.

The content of the book would make a great blogpost, yet it is too short for a book.

Do not read the book, do not buy the book. Support people that value you instead.

[Rachel Hughes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book!
It has a great, structured approach to workshops that gave me more clarity on what different exercises can be used for. Plus any book I can read in 1.5 hours is a plus for me!

[Calum · Rating 5 out of 5]

My thoughts on this incredibly useful resource can best be summed up better through Bonnie Tyler's 'Holding Out For A Hero". I've replaced 'Hero' with 'Workshopper' to really hammer my point home!

...

"I need a Workshopper,
I'm holding out for a Workshopper'til the end of the night
They've gotta be strong, and they've gotta be fast
And they've gotta be fresh from the Sprint
I need a Workshopper
I'm holding out for a Workshopper'til the morning light
They've gotta be sure, and it's gotta be soon
And they've gotta be larger than life"

Get this book!

[Jeff Romi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book pretty much sums up what Jonathan says, being a great facilitator is not about giving grea advice or consulting companies, its about guiding a team to do what they are great at doing.

It’s about removing obstacles and noise so you can work on your magic.

Highly recommended!!!! Really enjoyed reading it 🙏🙏

[Ruben · Rating 1 out of 5]

Worst non-fiction book I have ever read. I wouldn't even call it a book. The is nothing new, insightful or interesting about any of the methods described or in how they are applied. It features some of the most basic exercises that exist in workshops: individual-group brainstorming, affinity mapping, what if/how might we framing and dot voting. I hoped for at least 1 novel idea but it was sadly disappointing. Not worth the shipping costs.

[Sashko Valyus · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m happy that I haven’t bought this pamphlet but borrowed it. This blog post shaped in book won’t bring you anything new if you have read “Sprint”.
I hope you wouldn’t consider to use the “recipe” written in the book and go to your next workshop with the decent preparation and plan.

[Dilan Kilic · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book because it's clear, practical, and inspiring. It gives a bright perspective on workshops and how running them can dramatically change your career. The framework he provides can be used as a powerful tool in solving both very small and complicated problems. If you still aren't running workshops or have no idea how they can improve your career, definitely give this book a try!

[Bruna Silva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a helpful book, so handy and very easy to read. Workshops changed my teams productivity... for the best! Def recommend to read it if you want to get better workshopping skills, if you are a beginner or a pro.

[Elizabeth Arostegui · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a pretty interesting book that helps to start a journey as a Workshop facilitator. The formula is simple and can be applied in different situations. Awesome reference book.

[Orit Zetouni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally a book about the future of work. This workshop book provides all of the exercises one needs to mix and match for any workshop that involves solving problems, designing product and services, or innovation.

[Max · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Workshopper Playbook is a concise and interesting book for anyone who is interested in learning a tried and tested formula for creating and facilitating workshops. As a long time fan of AJ & Smart it was not groundbreaking but it will be massively handy when I create and facilitate workshops and meeting in the future. 10 000 sticks!

[Andres Campo · Rating 5 out of 5]

At first I thought what can be inside this book? 🤔 but then I understood the value of it. It’s short, to the point and gives a clear framework to follow to run effective workshops. It also encourages you to be creative when applying the framework.

If you need a way to move forward when making decisions or you want to accelerate work, following the framework and specifically the Lighting Decision Jam Workshop you will move forward!

[Jonny Fraser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Content might be thin, but the book describes very succinctly a useful workshop tool which I look forward to using soon. I’d recommend this book as a reference for the aforementioned workshop, and if you are interested in hearing a successful start up story this is the very fellow. Thank you for your work Jonathan, your podcast keeps away my Monday blues... 5 sticks.

[Dimitri Hadjichristou · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is perfect for someone who is totally new to the world of workshops and decision making, especially if they haven't read sprint already. It's super clear and concise and explains everything in layman terminology.

I think where I was a little disappointed was as a designer I was hoping for a little more in terms of exercises, I understand the workshop encyclopedia is for that but it would've been good to see a few more exercises as a taster build-up to the encyclopedia. It's an awful lot of money, even at its discounted rate (which I have spent to buy it) to drop without knowing much about what's in it.

A good, useful book, a little too short, could be better but good 😏

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the most practical books I've ever read. I really appreciated how Jonathan cut out a lot of the fluff and delivered clear actionable steps.

[SMK UK · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clear, simple and completely practical. Easy to digest and start using immediately. The ability to plan, manage and deliver great group work and workshops is becoming increasingly valuable to get ahead, stay ahead and do valuable work.

It gives you a framework to plan workshops which is different to a lot of the free content the company provides free on youtube - and a good complement to their Lightening Decision Jam.

It's short, concise, to the point and definitely not a tome. But that's the point right? No busy work and fluff just straight to the point. A priceless read that's free except for shipping. Easy to give it 5 stars.

[Bogdan Giubernea · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book shows its true value to those new to the Design Sprint who needed more convincing to go all-in in becoming a facilitator. It's very concise and clearly written, and it offers a high-level perspective of the framework with some example exercises. Probably for the experienced facilitators, the book will not bring anything new to the table, while for the newbies it could turn into a nugget of gold.

[Alejandro Sanoja · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great and short read for anyone who wants to learn how to improve their problem-solving and decision-making skills.

Flow: 5/5, can be read in a day.

Actionability: 4/5, lots of specific steps that can be implemented right after reading the book.

Mindset: 3/5, will help you learn strategies on how to conduct workshops.


Some Of My Highlights:

"When you work 'together, alone', you're not being influenced by your colleagues. In turn, this leaves you with the time and space to work through a solution."

[Raluca · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a book which is easy to read, summarizing information you can read on AJ&Smart websit and/or in their videos. Did not learn much from it, but I think that for beginners it is a good starting point.

[Albert van der Meer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found it fairly useful, but expected more from the book.
I'm glad I bought it for 9.97 euro's and not for 25 euros.

[Gabriel Yakub · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gotta be honest, I followed Jonathan and his company, AJ&Smart, for a while. I like the content AJ&Smart and Jonathan provide for free on the internet and the general framework shared in this book.

However, this is way too shallow to be a book. I expected more in depth examples on different cases. I paid $40 for a course they upsell-ed that's supposed to be a companion to this book and yet it's just reiterating what's already inside the book and doesn't provide more value. I believe this is just a way for them to upsell their more premium courses

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very light, too much preamble and far too self-congratulatory. Jonathan may well be a talented facilitator and workshopper, no dispersions cast there, but it’s not that useful as part of a guide to others. What I expected was a tight set of guides, tools and practical exercise ideas. I feel it’s more suited as a recipe to follow. The “four c’s” is fine as yet another acronym and model to follow. Though I’d rather step back to more fundamental steps, like ‘diverge, converge’. Or expand to include (but adapt, improve, explain) models out there that are known (MoSCoW had a place here). I felt that to get the most from this, I had to become a member of a club. I did have some takeaways and it did only take an hour to read, so that’s good. I note a HUGE variance of responses here on GoodReads, and believe that speaks to the ‘recipe’ v ‘tools’ mindsets — so for people reading this, please read all the good reviews too. Jonathan, a word in your ear please: if I get hammered by marketing emails, I will block you and all your associates for good on all media. Let’s keep it real and open, I hope that when I publish, you will be a great and useful critic.

[Mickeymouse1986 · Rating 1 out of 5]

'The Workshopper Playbook' by Jonathan Courtney is a useless book which gave me only one take-away. It is full of self-congratulatory bullshit and it doesn't go into depth. I would recomment the book he mentioned which changed his life. It would have been better if statements like 'You can do any workshop technique' would have been exchanged to some real echniques to use. Instead there is a link to the free training and the invitation to join his training.

How the book was sold was rather interesting. Instead of a advertisement in a bookshop it was sold over Instagram, at least that's how I got to know the existance of this book. And there are several formatting issues which I also would have expected to be out of it.

[Lina Nona Staškevičiūtė · Rating 3 out of 5]

I downloaded it as a free e-book and read in one short sitting. I have made a nice infographic page in my notebook out of it that I will use it later when planning on facilitating workshops. It's likely that won't need to look back at the book itself.

Definitely, not a book I would buy as It could fit in a blog post. On the other hand, it's format is also a reason why I have actually read it. Get the free e-book version and enjoy!

Rating it having in mind it was free, and that it did feel like marketing material.

[Chris · Rating 1 out of 5]

As others mention, not worth the shipping cost. I like AJ&Smart and enjoy their content, but this book is content marketing 101 and nothing more. The book has little substance and a lot of filler lines like "Keep reading!" and "Alright, back to the workshop!" after Jonathan goes on brief tangents which are irrelevant or generic and seem to only serve the purpose of trying to add heft to the book.

All in all, the book is a disappointment and didn't provide any deep value or new ideas. Save your time and money and just spend a few minutes googling.

[Jochen Deferme · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not sure what to make of this as a long time facilitator (or workshopper as Jonathan likes to call it): The information in the book is correct, and interesting, and the 4C's is a good framework to structure the book around. Yet, instead of going really in depth we just get one example of each 'C'. It is a pity because there is so much more to say about this topic, but it seems that instead of writing a real book with all the information present, he wrote a teaser (actual read time less than 1 hour) to try to upsell you to his trainings.
That's a shame, really.