Square Wheels to Round Wheels

A visual learning tool for employees for organizational improvement and idea generation
Available In-Person

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Loved By The Teams of

We’ve helped the teams of Coca-Cola, MS Agarwal, Crompton, Siegwerk go from…

Blaming people → to fixing the systems
Accepting inefficiencies → to questioning the status quo
Top-down thinking → to inclusive problem-solving from every level
Repeating old processes → to innovating with what they already have

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SimuRise Impact

A leading Energy solutions company increased their revenues by 100 crores and reduced the cost by 4.5 crores.

A leading pharmaceutical company’s sales team’s revenues grew almost double.

A leading FMCG company’s teams were sensitized to grow from 10% year on year growth to 25% year on year growth.

A leading ink manufacturer’s teams committed to double the revenues in the next 5 years.

Have questions about the simulation?

We often hear from organizations

“People play it safe and don’t speak up.”
“We talk about change, but nothing moves.”
“Discussions stay surface-level. No real action.”
“There’s no shared way to spot what’s not working.”
“Our teams have ideas but no space to share them.”
“We push the wagon, but no one questions the wheels.”

Square Wheels to Round Wheels is a learning tool for employees that creates a safe, engaging space to challenge the status quo, share fresh ideas, and co-create better ways of working – visually, collaboratively, and without fear of judgment.

Turning Workplace Challenges into Conversations

Square Wheels to Round Wheels is a visual learning tool for employees that includes a set of highly engaging cartoons and illustrations that are used for facilitating learning. The illustrations are meant to help teams see what’s not working (square wheels) and co-create better ways forward (round wheels).

Using simple cartoon illustrations, it sparks safe, open conversations around real workplace challenges.

Ideal for leaders, managers, and cross-functional teams, it drives clarity, engagement, and practical problem-solving without blame or complexity.

What Our Clients Say

We used the concept of Square Wheels whenever there was a bottleneck to grow, scale, and reduce costs. And simultaneously, Round Wheels for all the possible solutions and the accelerators to grow. Within a few months, with this visual learning tool for employees everyone in the organization started using the terminology of Square Wheels and Round Wheels.

The impact was so significant that we received appreciation from the CEO for the transformation journey the teams began, converting the existing Square Wheels into Round Wheels.

What Our Clients Take Home

Organizations that experience Square Wheels to Round Wheels often say: “We knew things weren’t smooth, but now we know where to start.” The workshop doesn’t just talk about improvement. It shows what’s broken and invites the team to fix it together.

Square Wheels helps teams:

See What’s Stuck: A shared language to talk about inefficiencies, without blame.
Speak Without Fear: Psychological safety to raise issues and share solutions.
Think in Visuals: Big-picture clarity through simple, powerful illustrations.
Own the Ideas: Real buy-in from the people who generate the solutions.
Act on What Matters: Clear next steps, prioritized through team-driven voting.
Fix the Wheels, Together: Alignment on what’s broken and what to do about it.

Try it Yourself: Download Square Wheels® One for Free and Spark Fresh Team Conversations

By now, you’ve seen how Square Wheels to Round Wheels helps teams spot what’s not working and co-create better solutions. To get you started on this journey of creative problem-solving, we’re giving you free access to Square Wheels® One.

This simple visual tool makes it easy to spark fresh conversations in your team. Try it in your next meeting and watch new possibilities roll out.

Download Square Wheels® One

When you’re ready to take the experience further with your whole team, contact us to experience the insightful workshop!

What You Experience During the Workshop

It starts with a simple, powerful illustration that stops you in your tracks. You’re looking at a wagon with square wheels that are clunky, inefficient, and clearly problematic. Yet the people pushing it seem oblivious to the pile of round wheels sitting right there in the wagon and beside the path. The facilitator places this line-art illustration in front of your team and asks a deceptively simple question:

“What do you see?”

“What do you see?”

What follows is magic!

The room erupts with recognition, laughter, and knowing nods as participants immediately connect the image to their own workplace realities. The cartoon becomes a mirror, reflecting the frustrations everyone has felt but rarely voiced openly.

Throughout this visual learning tool for employees, you’ll encounter a series of brilliantly crafted illustrations – each one a black-and-white line drawing that captures universal organizational truths with startling clarity. There’s the image of workers pushing harder instead of working smarter, leaders who can’t see the obvious solutions right in front of them, and teams stuck in “that’s how we’ve always done it” thinking.

The beauty lies in how these simple drawings bypass defensiveness and political correctness. Because they’re cartoons, they feel safe to discuss. Because they’re universally recognizable, they spark immediate engagement.

Your team will find themselves

Calling out the “square wheels” they see in their own organization with surprising candor
Laughing together at shared frustrations they’ve never been able to articulate before
Generating practical “round wheel” solutions through energetic collaboration
Prioritizing improvements through interactive dot-voting exercises
Volunteering to champion changes they’re genuinely excited to implement

By the end, you won’t just have identified problems.

Program Flow

You’ll have created a shared language for continuous improvement and a concrete action plan that everyone helped build.

Square Wheels overview
Discussion on “Square Wheels” model.
Dot voting
Identification of Organizational Square Wheels.
Dot voting
Conversion of Square Wheels into (best possible solutions) Round wheels for the Organization
Identification of “Round Wheels” champion
Creation of ecosystem to implement the “Round Wheels” in the organization
Action planning and Group Coaching

You’ll have created a shared language for continuous improvement and a concrete action plan that everyone helped build.

Square Wheels overview
Discussion on “Square Wheels” model.
Dot voting
Identification of Organizational Square Wheels.
Dot voting
Conversion of Square Wheels into (best possible solutions) Round wheels for the Organization
Identification of “Round Wheels” champion
Creation of ecosystem to implement the “Round Wheels” in the organization
Action planning and Group Coaching

Key takeaways of Square Wheels to Round Wheels Workshop

Generate participative involvement and motivation focused on workplace improvement
Thinking out-of-the-box
Becoming an effective Leader
Identifying areas for improvement
Generate a shared sense of creativity and continuous improvement
Improving productivity
Commitment to results

Don’t Just Keep Dragging. Let’s Talk

FAQs

What is Square Wheels to Round Wheels?

Square Wheels to Round Wheels is a visual, facilitator-led workshop that helps teams identify what’s not working and co-create better ways forward

Who is the Square Wheels to Round Wheels for?

Square Wheels to Round Wheels is ideal for leaders, managers, and cross-functional teams looking to improve communication, collaboration, and workplace systems.

How long does a session of Square Wheels to Round Wheels take?

The full workshop of Square Wheels to Round Wheels typically runs for 3 to 4 hours, including discussion and action planning.

What makes Square Wheels to Round Wheels different from other workshops?

Square Wheels to Round Wheels uses simple illustrations to start deep conversations, helping people speak up, share ideas, and take ownership without fear.

Post the workshop, we create a comprehensive report detailing the Square Wheels of the organization, the Round Wheels for those Square Wheels and the execution/ Implementation plan teams have committed to. We deploy a 4-6 month group coaching session for the teams to ensure smooth implementation of the Round Wheels.

What are the key takeaways of Square Wheels to Round Wheels?

After Square Wheels to Round Wheels, teams walk away with clear insights, prioritized solutions, and a practical plan to improve how they work together, improve their systems and process to impact the goal of the organization.

What is the difference between Organization Alignment and Personal Alignment?

Organization alignment refers to working with leaders and managers of the organization to identify the Square Wheels stopping them from achieving their goals and convert those Square Wheels into Round Wheels.

Personal Alignment focuses on each individuals helping them identify the Square Wheels that are stopping them from becoming a better version of themselves and then converting those Square Wheels into Round Wheels.

Why don’t employees speak up at work?

Many employees stay silent because they fear blame or think nothing will change. Square Wheels to Round Wheels creates a safe, visual space where people can call out issues openly. The workshop builds psychological safety and turns silence into constructive conversations.

How to fix broken workplace systems?

Often organizations blame people instead of addressing poor processes. Square Wheels to Round Wheels uses simple cartoons to reveal inefficiencies clearly. Teams then co-create practical fixes that improve the system instead of pointing fingers.

How to get employees to share new ideas?

Most employees have ideas but don’t feel invited to share them. Square Wheels to Round Wheels uses visual prompts to spark creativity and collaborative problem-solving. It helps organizations tap into hidden insights and generate actionable solutions.

How do you align teams on improvements?

Alignment breaks when people see problems differently. Square Wheels to Round Wheels introduces a shared language — square wheels for inefficiencies, round wheels for solutions. This gives teams a common lens to prioritize improvements and act together.

How do you turn workplace complaints into solutions?

Organizations often hear recurring complaints but fail to act on them. Square Wheels to Round Wheels transforms complaints into constructive dialogue by helping teams name the “square wheels” and design “round wheel” fixes. This shifts energy from frustration to solution-focused action.

Let’s Design Your Mindset Journey

If your team needs to shift from stuck thinking to forward momentum, this is where to start.

Book a Call to Co-Design Your Journey