Summary
The Stinky Fish is a facilitation exercise that brings a team’s unspoken worries into the open, and with them transparency and trust. The original format comes from Hyper Island. The version I run draws on ideas from my Hyper Island friend Peter Powell and on my own sessions: everyone sorts their concerns privately before sharing, so the group spends its time on what it can act on. When I took over a design team, it gave me their trust and a frame for the months that followed.
Why this exercise
Communication shapes how a team works, and the concerns underneath are the hardest part to raise. Teams often know what is wrong long before anyone says it. The Stinky Fish gives people a structured, low-risk way to say it.
The original format
Hyper Island’s Stinky Fish has four steps.
- Introduce the purpose. The facilitator explains that the group will share individual concerns or worries related to the workshop theme, and hands out Stinky Fish templates to capture them.
- Capture your fish. Everyone gets time to write down their own Stinky Fish: the fears or anxieties they carry into this context.
- Share. One person at a time reads theirs to the group. The setting is supportive and nobody replies with a fix.
- Close. The facilitator thanks people for their openness and normalises sharing concerns. Addressing them is part of getting through change and uncertainty.
It is widely used, and it works. It builds trust and makes difficult conversations normal. A team that has said the hard thing can move on with a shared understanding.
The adapted format
Peter Powell’s ideas shift the weight to individual reflection and to sorting concerns before anyone shares. I added changes of my own from running it with different teams.
Opening. The facilitator says four things first:
- Psychological safety and trust matter here. Set ground rules for a safe, supportive space.
- Trust the process. It may feel uncomfortable, and that is expected. It is designed to help the team grow.
- Be yourself. Leave egos at the door.
- Give it your all. The more people put in, the more the group gets out.
The session. It takes about 30 minutes:
- 15 minutes. Everyone writes down every fear and anxiety about working in the new team. Getting it out of your head is the point.
- 5 minutes. Everyone sorts their notes into three piles: not to be shared, to be shared with no action needed, and needs the group to act.
- 10 minutes. Everyone shares the second pile, the things they need to get off their chest. There is no problem-solving and no discussion.
- Then. Everyone shares the third pile, the things that need to be addressed. The group prioritises them and agrees actions.
Why the adapted version works better
Writing everything down. Writing down even what you will not share lets the team deal with the unspoken. Research on expressive writing points to benefits for mental health and well-being.
Sorting and prioritising. Three piles keep people from feeling overwhelmed and keep the discussion on what the team can act on.
Reading the room. Psychological safety is a critical factor in team effectiveness. If many notes stay unshared, it is probably low in this team, and that is a finding in itself. Follow up with each person afterwards to build trust.
Leading by example. If the facilitator is the team leader, sharing something hard, such as tough feedback, builds trust and invites openness.
What happened when I ran it
I ran it when I took over a design team. Everything had been going well, so nobody understood why they needed a boss. I listened and accepted what I heard. That built trust, and the team learned that I could take tough feedback.
It also let me set a frame. I told them I would ask again in six months whether they still did not see why I was there or why they needed a boss. If they still did not, I would act on that. Six months later I asked again. The question had gone.