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Teambuilding Icebreaker:
"A Penny for your Thoughts"
This is a quick and easy one from Kevin Eikenberry of the Discian Group
(http://www.discian.com), which I saw
performed at the 2003 conference of the North American Simulation and Gaming
Association (NASAGA).
Purpose: To challenge people's assumptions about productivity.
Set Up: A number of ordinary eyedroppers, cups of water, and a collection of pennies.
Process: Divide people into groups of three and distribute one eyedropper and one
penny to each team. Ask the trios to decide, as a group, how many drops of water they think
they can put on the head of a penny (using the eye-dropper provided). Write each trio's
guess on a white board or easel chart. Then allow the teams to actually try it out at their
tables, for one minute. At the end of the round, write the actual number of drops for each
team next to their original guesses. Continue in the same manner for two more one-minute rounds.
Discussion Questions: Did you achieve more or less drops than you expected, or was it
just about what you had guessed? Did your success increase or decrease during the progressive
rounds? What skills did you need to perform this activity?
The Point: In many (if not most) aspects of our lives, we have a tendency to underestimate our
abilities. How many times have you heard someone say, "Oh, I can't do that," only to discover
they could do far more than they imagined? In this fun and easy activity, participants explore
their assumptions about what is possible and what is truly impossible. The average team guesses
10-15 drops to the penny initially. With patience, however, a group can often achieve 20-30
drops per penny, and sometimes even more. (The best I've heard is 36 drops!) The number-one
block for people in regards to productivity is failing to accurately assess their own potential.
Dr. Clue is the premier designer of corporate teambuilding treasure hunts, nationwide. We start
with the cool, historical neighborhood of your choice, near your office or conference locale. We
then scout the area to find its fascinating, hidden treasures; we write fun and challenging
puzzle-based clues to get you to each mystery location; and we bring it all alive as a half-day,
interactive, "living board game" with an emphasis on teambuilding in business. To read about our
hunt packages, click here. To see a list of our current
treasure hunt locations, click here.
Feature Article:
"T/F" or not "T/F"? That is the Team Question
By Dave Blum
(The following letter is from a reader of the Dr. Clue Teambuilding Newsletter. Enjoy! --DB)
Dear Dr. Clue,
I was eating lunch in a café recently and couldn't help overhearing the conversation of a pair
of women sitting next to me. The discussion was about the problems one of them was facing in
her workplace.
It seems that the woman with the workplace issues (call her Anne) is employed in a supervisorial
capacity at a non-profit organization that helps AIDS patients in some way. (As you may have read,
San Francisco's federal funding for AIDS-assistance organizations has been reduced by 12% this year;
they had expected only a 5% reduction. I imagine life has gotten pretty stressful for workers
there as a result.)
Apparently, one of the organization's well-respected managers is stepping down. This manager had
a reputation for being both an excellent supervisor to his employees as well as someone who could
connect compassionately with the organization's clients. His replacement, a quite different person,
has recently taken the helm as Interim (perhaps permanent) Manager. At a staff meeting this past
week, the Interim Manager made some statements about how certain policies, and the direction of the
group, ought to be decided. Feeling strongly about some of these statements, Anne brought up her
discomfort with the same. The meeting was thrown into some confusion, and no decisions were made.
Later, the interim manager angrily told Anne that she had "stopped the conversation" about the
policies by bringing up her feelings about the Interim Manager's statements.
With some exasperation, Anne related to her lunch partner that she could not understand how the Interim
Manager would *not* want her employees to express their concerns about such important issues. She,
herself, had never before felt so strongly about the organization's direction, and said she felt compelled
to speak out in the meeting. The last thing she expected was to be blamed for the meeting's outcome (i.e.,
a postponed decision), rather than receiving credit and acknowledgment for her concerns.
Anne went on to express disbelief that the Interim Manager had told her, in no uncertain terms, that she
expected her policy decisions to be abided by (even going so far as to use the expression "it's my way or
the highway"!). Anne was seriously considering quitting this job (that she says she loves) because she
could not see herself working for a manager who won't listen to her.
What do you think was really going on here?
---A Café Eavesdropper
Dear Eavesdropper,
It seems to me that this sort of thing comes up all the time in work teams, and the cause is different
personality styles. In this situation, a "Thinker"* (T) manager failed to consider the fact that her
employees have feelings about their work/workplace, and is charging ahead without allowing feedback.
Meanwhile, her "Feeler" (F) employees (and to be sure, not all employees are F's and not all managers
are T's, although T managers are particularly common) are upset and confused by their T manager's
domineering behavior, unable to comprehend why she is "so mean", "such a control freak", etc. It's
not uncommon for F's to leave jobs they are good at and which they enjoy because their relations with
their manager are strained.
The problem here is that these types of T managers, left to their own devices, can cause decreased
production as F employees find themselves distracted by their lack of workplace harmony and upset
by the obstacles to good interaction with their managers. This can lead the organization to lose
good employees, incurring hiring and training costs and experiencing reduced productivity until
replacements get up to speed. In addition, T managers who don't allow honest debate about workplace
decisions wind up with problems down the line - ie. employees who are less committed to a team's
direction because they have been told what to do rather than asked for buy-in, and suboptimal
procedures, ineffective policies, etc., that go unchallenged - and hence unimproved -by employee
input. For both reasons, their team is likely to be less efficient and effective than it could be.
Doing work on communication in teams is vital to improving an organization's productivity. Even
though it takes a bit of time away from the office, teambuilding that focuses on an understanding
of personality styles and preferences can really improve an organization's bottom line.
--Dr. Clue
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Editor's Note: The terms "Thinkers" and "Feelers" come from the popular Myers-Briggs Type Indicator,
developed by the mother and daughter team of Katharine Cook Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers, respectively.
Generally speaking, Thinkers make their decisions by reason and logic. At their best, they work
independently, take charge, like control, and get results. At their worst, Thinkers put results
ahead of feelings, are in too much of a hurry, keep their reasons to themselves and overemphasize
competition. Feelers, on the other hand, tend to make decisions based on personal relationships.
At their best, they listen actively, work cohesively with others, consider others' feelings, and
have good counseling skills. At their worst, Feelers have their loyalty taken advantage of, won't
push for what they want, and are afraid to change what is comfortable. (From Baron and Wagele's
Are You My Type, Am I Yours (1995, Harper Collins, pg. 160)).
Puzzle
Answer to Last Month's Puzzle
In our last newsletter, you were faced with a jumble of mixed-up font types. Your first step should have been to group together all the similar-typefaced letters. Each grouping would have delivered you an anagram to unscramble. Using the blanks below the puzzle, you could then have produced the following line from that bright thinker, Thomas Edison:
"If I could solve all the problems myself, I would."
Congratulations to our font-astic puzzle solvers! The five fastest were:
David Libby
Ernest Mares
Alexandra Dixon
Max Chen
Sandi Johnson
(Can you crack the top five next week?!!)
This Month's Puzzle Challenge
My first is in rat but not in bite.
My second is in seeing, but not in sight.
My third is in sled, but not in toboggan.
My fourth is in head, but not in your noggin.
My fifth is in box but not in fight.
My first is in days, but not in week.
My second is in hunt, but not in seek.
My third is in drip, but not in leak.
My first is in spire, but not in tower.
My second is in law, but not in power.
My third is in fajita, and also in steak.
My fourth is in fry but not in bake.
(Hint: What you should allow yourself to do when taking part in a teambuilding program.)
(Answer next month.)
What does a typical treasure hunt clue look like? Click here to play along with one.
