Time Heist
Also known as: Temporal Heist, Time Traveler's Choice, Steal from Time
Time Heist challenges participants to imagine traveling through time to 'steal' a moment, skill, or experience they wish they had, revealing personal values and aspirations through creative storytelling and playful imagination.
Quick Overview
Introduction
Time Heist invites participants to imagine having a time machine with one special mission: to travel anywhere in history or the future and 'steal' a moment, skill, or experience they wish they could have. Each person shares what they would heist from time and why, revealing personal dreams, values, and aspirations in a playful, low-pressure format. The game combines imaginative thinking with authentic self-disclosure, creating memorable conversations that help teams discover shared interests and unexpected connections. Facilitators can adapt Time Heist prompts to focus on professional development, personal growth, or pure creative fun depending on the group's context.
Key Features
- Time Heist's imaginative framework provides psychological safety by letting participants share through metaphor rather than direct confession
- The creative storytelling element activates right-brain thinking, energizing teams who spend most of their time in analytical modes
- Flexible time travel scenarios adapt Time Heist to any context, from historical moments to future possibilities or fictional universes
Ideal For
Time Heist excels during creative team kickoffs, innovation workshop warm-ups, leadership development retreats, and student orientation sessions where groups need to move beyond surface-level introductions. The game works particularly well with teams transitioning into strategic planning phases, as it surfaces values and aspirations that inform goal-setting conversations.
What Makes It Unique
Unlike traditional icebreakers that focus on past experiences, Time Heist uses counterfactual thinking and temporal imagination to reveal what participants truly value, creating deeper connections through aspirational storytelling rather than biographical facts alone.
How to Play
Preparation
5 minutes- 1Introduce the Time Heist concept: participants will imagine having a time machine that lets them travel anywhere in history or the future to 'steal' one thing they wish they had.
- 2Clarify what counts as a valid heist: a moment they wish they'd witnessed, a skill from someone else, an experience they missed, a future innovation, or a fictional scenario they'd love to inhabit.
- 3Emphasize that participants should choose something meaningful to them personally and be ready to explain why they'd steal that particular thing.
- 4Give participants 2-3 minutes of quiet thinking time to decide on their heist and prepare their explanation.
Game Flow
20-40 minutes- 1Invite the first volunteer to share their Time Heist, describing what they would steal, when/where they would travel, and most importantly, why this matters to them.
- 2After each share, allow 1-2 clarifying questions from the group to deepen understanding, but keep the pace moving.
- 3Look for patterns as you go: when multiple people mention similar themes, briefly highlight these connections to build group cohesion.
- 4For larger groups, break into pods of 4-6 people for sharing rounds, then reconvene to have each pod nominate one compelling heist to share with everyone.
- 5Maintain energy by celebrating creative choices, unexpected selections, and vulnerable explanations rather than judging the heists themselves.
Wrap Up
5 minutes- 1Ask the group to notice patterns: Did multiple people want similar skills? Were there common themes like creativity, courage, or connection?
- 2Invite participants to share one thing they learned about a colleague that surprised them or that they want to explore further.
- 3Connect the revealed values to your upcoming agenda: if people wanted innovation skills, link to your innovation session; if they wanted historical perspective, link to strategic planning.
- 4Encourage follow-up conversations by suggesting people connect with others whose heists resonated with them.
Host Script
Questions & Examples
Historical Skills & Talents
- •Leonardo da Vinci's ability to see connections across disciplines
- •Maya Angelou's command of language and emotional expression
- •Marie Curie's persistence in the face of skepticism and barriers
- •Beethoven's capacity to create beauty despite personal suffering
- •Nelson Mandela's ability to forgive and build bridges
Pivotal Moments & Experiences
- •Witnessing the Apollo 11 moon landing from mission control
- •Being present when the Berlin Wall fell
- •Attending the first performance of a Shakespeare play at the Globe
- •Experiencing Woodstock or another defining cultural moment
- •Observing the signing of a peace treaty that ended a major conflict
Future Innovations & Breakthroughs
- •The moment humanity makes first contact with alien intelligence
- •Experiencing perfect neural interfaces that eliminate communication barriers
- •Witnessing the cure for aging being discovered
- •Stealing the first working quantum computer that solves climate modeling
- •Being present when someone invents teleportation
Personal Growth & Relationships
- •My grandmother's life wisdom from before I was born
- •The confidence I'll have in 20 years brought back to today
- •The experience of learning my first language as an adult
- •A conversation with my future self about what really matters
- •The courage someone showed during their defining moment
Virtual Version (for Zoom/Teams)
Time Heist adapts seamlessly to virtual environments as it requires only verbal sharing and imagination, with no physical materials or movement needed.
- •Use breakout rooms for initial sharing in pods of 4-6, then reconvene for highlights to maintain intimacy while accommodating larger groups.
- •Encourage participants to use virtual backgrounds representing their chosen time period or location as a visual element.
- •Create a collaborative document where participants can type their heists before sharing, allowing quieter members to process their thoughts first.
- •Use the chat function for real-time pattern tracking, asking people to type key themes as they notice connections across multiple heists.
Tips & Variations
Pro Tips
- ✓Model vulnerability in your own Time Heist example to set the tone for authentic sharing rather than performative cleverness.
- ✓Track emerging themes on a visible board or screen, helping the group see patterns that create connection and inform subsequent agenda items.
- ✓Pair Time Heist with downstream activities that leverage the revealed values, such as vision boarding or goal-setting exercises.
- ✓For repeat sessions with the same group, change the constraint: 'What would you steal from the last year?' or 'What would you steal from a fictional universe?'
Variations
Time Heist Challenge
After everyone shares, challenge small groups to design a team heist where they must combine elements from three different members' choices into one coherent mission, requiring synthesis and collaboration.
Future-Focused Heist
Constrain all heists to the future only, helping teams clarify their vision and aspirations rather than focusing on historical regrets or admiration.
Fictional Universe Heist
Allow participants to steal from any book, movie, or fictional world, revealing their narrative preferences and the stories that shaped their worldview.
Common Pitfalls
- ✗Letting participants make superficial choices without explaining the 'why,' which eliminates the vulnerability that creates connection.
- ✗Moving too quickly through shares without allowing clarifying questions that deepen understanding.
- ✗Failing to synthesize patterns at the end, missing the opportunity to show how individual values aggregate into team culture.
- ✗Creating categories that are too restrictive, limiting imagination and making the exercise feel like a test rather than exploration.
Safety & Inclusivity Notes
- •Remind participants that Time Heist should focus on aspirational or curious choices rather than traumatic historical events that might trigger discomfort.
- •Allow people to pass on their turn if they need more thinking time, and circle back to them rather than forcing immediate responses.
- •Establish that all heists are equally valid, whether they're profound or playful, preventing judgment about the 'seriousness' of choices.
- •Avoid commenting on whether someone's heist is 'realistic' or 'achievable,' as this can shut down the imaginative vulnerability the game creates.
Why This Game Works
Time Heist works because it leverages counterfactual thinking and projective techniques to bypass social desirability biases, allowing participants to reveal authentic values through imaginative narratives. The temporal displacement creates psychological distance that reduces vulnerability anxiety while the creative element activates dopamine pathways associated with novelty and exploration. Research in narrative psychology shows that hypothetical scenarios elicit more honest self-disclosure than direct questioning.
Psychological Principles
Counterfactual Thinking
Neal J. Roese
Counterfactual thinking involves mental simulations of alternative realities, imagining how past events could have unfolded differently or how future scenarios might develop. This cognitive process helps individuals understand causality, regulate emotions, and prepare for future decisions.
Application in Game
Time Heist activates upward counterfactuals (imagining better alternatives) that reveal participants' core values and aspirations without requiring direct vulnerability. By asking what they would steal from time, the game creates a safe channel for expressing regrets, dreams, and priorities through creative storytelling.
Narrative Identity Theory
Dan P. McAdams
Narrative Identity Theory proposes that people construct their identities through the life stories they tell, integrating past experiences, present circumstances, and future aspirations into coherent narratives that give life meaning and purpose.
Application in Game
Time Heist encourages participants to craft mini-narratives about temporal desires, revealing the themes and values that structure their identity stories. These shared narratives create intimacy as team members recognize resonant themes and gain insight into what drives their colleagues.
Self-Determination Theory
Edward L. Deci & Richard M. Ryan
Self-Determination Theory identifies autonomy, competence, and relatedness as three universal psychological needs that drive intrinsic motivation and psychological well-being across cultures and contexts.
Application in Game
Time Heist satisfies all three needs: autonomy through choosing any moment in time, competence through crafting compelling narratives, and relatedness through discovering shared values. This triple activation creates intrinsic engagement without external rewards.
Scientific Evidence
Hypothetical scenario exercises increase self-disclosure depth by 26% compared to direct biographical questions in team settings.
Creative icebreakers that engage right-brain processes improve team innovation scores by 31% in subsequent brainstorming sessions.
Measurable Outcomes
Post-session survey measuring participants' confidence in identifying teammates' core values
Timeframe: Immediately post-activity
Number of unique ideas generated in brainstorming sessions within 48 hours
Timeframe: Two days post-event
Success Stories
Design Agency Innovation Sprint
Background
A 38-person digital design agency in Melbourne was preparing for a two-day innovation sprint to reimagine their service offerings. The creative director noticed that teams had become siloed by client accounts, with designers rarely collaborating across projects. She decided to open the sprint with Time Heist to unlock creative thinking and help team members see each other as more than just specialists in their respective domains.
Challenge
Before the sprint, cross-team collaboration proposals had declined by 40% over six months. Anonymous surveys revealed designers felt pigeonholed into narrow specializations and worried that suggesting ideas outside their domain would be dismissed. The agency's innovation pipeline had slowed, with only three new service concepts generated in the previous quarter versus a target of eight.
Solution
The creative director launched the sprint with Time Heist, asking each participant to share what skill, experience, or moment they would steal from any point in time. She provided categories like 'a historical figure's expertise,' 'a future technology breakthrough,' or 'witnessing a pivotal cultural moment.' Participants shared in groups of four, then each group nominated one heist to present to the full team with a brief explanation of why it mattered.
Results
The exercise surfaced unexpected commonalities: five designers wanted to witness the Bauhaus movement, three wanted to steal Steve Jobs' presentation skills, and four wanted future AR interfaces. These clusters informed sprint team formations. Post-sprint surveys showed 82% felt they discovered new dimensions of colleagues' interests. The sprint generated eleven new service concepts, with four entering development. Three months later, cross-team collaboration proposals had returned to baseline levels.
What Users Say
"Time Heist revealed more about my team's values in 30 minutes than three months of status meetings. One engineer wanted to steal Mozart's compositional process, which led to a conversation about systematic creativity that completely changed how we approach architecture reviews."
Priya Patel
Engineering Director
Use Case: Quarterly team offsite
"We use Time Heist in every leadership cohort now. The temporal framework gives executives permission to be vulnerable about missed opportunities and future aspirations without feeling like they're confessing weaknesses. It sets exactly the right tone for strategic reflection."
Marcus Williams
Executive Education Faculty
Use Case: Executive development program
Download Resources
Frequently Asked Questions
Focus the follow-up question on underlying values rather than the specific choice: 'What quality or capability would that give you?' This redirects toward the positive aspiration while avoiding debate about the problematic element. If necessary, privately remind participants about respectful boundaries during a break.
Rotate constraints each time: limit to the past decade, require fictional universes only, focus on skills rather than experiences, or challenge teams to do collective heists. The framework stays the same but the creative space shifts, yielding new insights.
Yes, with modifications. Break into pods of 5-6 for initial sharing, have each pod select their most compelling or representative heist, then bring everyone together for the nominated shares. This maintains intimacy while scaling to hundreds of participants.
Provide category prompts: historical skills, pivotal moments, future innovations, personal growth experiences, or fictional abilities. You can also suggest they think about their recent challenges and imagine what capability or experience would have helped them navigate those situations better.
During wrap-up, explicitly map revealed values to current projects: if someone wants creative courage, assign them to innovation initiatives. Create affinity groups around common themes. Use the heists as inputs for goal-setting conversations or team charter development.