Personal and professional happiness are both fueled by meaningful connection with other people. In our increasingly isolated and polarized world, Make Believe Works is committed to designing new ways to connect people in a purposeful way. This joyful and engaging workshop cultivates a culture of empathy and community by building meaningful bridges between people in a fun, unexpected way. The heart of our workshop is “Super Secret,” a playful yet powerful twist on the pen-pal relationship, designed to sidestep some of the subtle biases we all bring to our workplaces and communities, and build a new relationship founded on character rather than characteristics. The activity is anchored in psychological research and human-centered design and we will share some of the nuances that make all the difference between exchanging information and building connection.

Typically, when we interact with people, our brains are wired to take in the whole picture and make assumptions from it. Sometimes that’s incredibly useful, sometimes it’s incredibly…not.

This applies whether you already know each other or are meeting for the first time. Those mental shortcuts can very much inform the way we show up with new people, while over-familiarity can blind us to aspects of people we already know well. Super Secret is designed to short circuit those assumptions, stereotypes, and projections, and help us accelerate meaningful connections by building relationships from the inside out. This will be an experience both for our own mental health and experience as individuals as well as another tool in your toolkit that you can take back to your own workspaces.

Here are three key benefits you can expect from taking part in this workshop:

1. Refueled Emotional Skills: You'll learn how Make Believe Works frames the world more inclusively, allowing participants to develop deeper connections with people from diverse backgrounds.

2. Experience Safe Vulnerability: We'll provide you with guidelines on how to help others open up and get vulnerable without feeling threatened. This will enable you to build strong and supportive relationships that will have a lasting impact.

3. Professional Development: This workshop is perfect for HR professionals, managers, team leads, senior leaders, and DEI professionals. You'll experience how to build trust, collaboration, and psychological safety in your team, creating a more innovative and effective working environment.

Please Note: There Will Be Breakout Rooms

We’re all used to multitasking while on webinars.

We do that ourselves all the time. It’s usually fine.

But not for this one.

Super Secret isn’t a passive workshop.

Because it’s about connecting with other people, we ask that everyone be willing to actively participate the whole time. After all, if you want to connect, you’ve got to be present.

But don’t worry - it will be easy. It will be fun. And it will be worthwhile. 

This event is a collaboration between the BIPOC chapter, the Tampa Bay chapter, and the Boston chapter.

Limited spots are available for our upcoming workshop.