It’s too late by now to help the OP, but a few points need mentioning:
If you self-describe as “running” the group, you have taken on some responsibility for preparing ahead of time; no advice any of us gives the OP is going to change that, or change that they are to some extent delinquent.
Just how much responsibility depends primarily on the expectations you have set up among participants; are they in fact expecting you to have a rehearsed, structured activity to offer them at the meeting ?
If expectations are low, pulling this kind of trick isn’t so bad; it can help place the group in a reflective frame of mind, and at the very least pave the way for discussions of how “meta” it’s rational to go.
Irrespective of expectations, the above can be much more than a “trick”—the book Software for Your Head that I mentioned elsewhere arose from several iterations of essentially the above exercise. However, careful preparation, well ahead of time, would still be valuable if you picked that option.
It’s too late by now to help the OP, but a few points need mentioning:
If you self-describe as “running” the group, you have taken on some responsibility for preparing ahead of time; no advice any of us gives the OP is going to change that, or change that they are to some extent delinquent.
Just how much responsibility depends primarily on the expectations you have set up among participants; are they in fact expecting you to have a rehearsed, structured activity to offer them at the meeting ?
If expectations are low, pulling this kind of trick isn’t so bad; it can help place the group in a reflective frame of mind, and at the very least pave the way for discussions of how “meta” it’s rational to go.
Irrespective of expectations, the above can be much more than a “trick”—the book Software for Your Head that I mentioned elsewhere arose from several iterations of essentially the above exercise. However, careful preparation, well ahead of time, would still be valuable if you picked that option.