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January 2009
Dr. Clue Teambuilding Newsletter, Volume VII, Issue 1
The Dr. Clue Newsletter is sent only to subscribers. We do not share names with anyone else. To receive your free subscription or to unsubscribe, email to drclue@drclue.com Dr. Clue: Solving the Puzzles of Teamwork
 Welcome again to the Dr. Clue Teambuilding Newsletter I hope you had a fantastic holiday season! So something unexpected has happened; I've become a blogger. Blogging sort of creeps up on you. At first, you're only writing once every couple of weeks...when a brainstorm hits you. And then, before you know it, you're lying in bed EVERY NIGHT, composing tomorrow's daily entry! I must admit that I'm enjoying the discipline of everyday writing -- to my surprise, when it comes to my favorite topics, there really is always something interesting to write about: teambuilding, facilitation, puzzles, clues, scavenger hunts, treasure hunts, etc.. Please do come check out my blog at http://blog.drclue.com. And if the mood strikes you, leave a comment; I'll certainly respond! In this quarter's Dr. Clue Teambuilding Newsletter, look for an icebreaker that is picture perfect, an article to help you understand team dynamics, a puzzle that's sure to triple your confusion, another sighting of our fine, featherless mascot, and an important announcement about SIX NEW DR. CLUE OFFERINGS, including the Dr. Clue Bar Crawl. Enjoy! Dave Blum
If you ask a group of any size to close their eyes and visualize a tree, how many people do you think would actually create a picture in their heads of the word "tree"? Probably no one. Our minds think primarily in pictures, not words! Here's a fun closer that uses this phenomenon of the mind to great effect. SET UP: Paper, pencils, and something hard to write on. PROCESS: Ask participants to take a sheet of paper, turn it lengthwise, and draw three vertical lines, dividing the page into thirds. In each "panel" they are to draw a picture of the most memorable moment from the training. (Alternately, their pictures can be of their 3 best ideas from the day, their most surprising occurrences, or their funniest encounters.) They have 5 minutes to complete their three drawings. When everyone is finished, ask them to find a partner and share their creations, at first silently. Each pair must take turns guessing as to what their partner's pictures are referring. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: What came up for you while creating your drawings? How did it feel to show your artwork to someone? How did your feelings about your partner evolve during this exercise? What changed about your memories of the training session? THE POINT: For those with art backgrounds, drawing is a familiar means of self-expression. For the rest of us, who never advanced beyond stick figures, drawing can be a somewhat uncomfortable process, requiring us to demonstrate an embarrassing lack of competence. The vulnerability required by this exercise often leads to increased trust and mutual affection between people. What's more, as we "draw out" our memories of a training, the pictures help us remember the main events of the day, aiding our retention of the key learning points and strengthening the program's overall impact. Click here to find our archive of terrific icebreakers.
 The phrase -- "There's no 'we' in team, but there's a 'me'" -- really stuck with me after I first heard it. Successful teamwork is difficult for many. That's why there are so many books and articles about team development, team building, team dynamics, team conflict management and team strategy. From the classic writings by Bruce Tuckman on stages of team development to a novel definition of teams from Beatrice Schultz in her book, Communicating in the Small Group: Theory and Practice, we all have our favorite authors. In fact, if each of us created a top 10 list of "best" books on the subject, there would be little-to-no agreement. So what does this mean for creating effective training programs for teams? I've learned to look at groups in different ways, and the best way I have found is through the lens of "me". The "me" lens suggests that teams are made up of individuals, a bunch of "me's," all bringing their issues, egos and personalities along. So where is the team? It's found in acknowledging and bringing together the individuals. SEEING THE SEPARATENESS A model I tend to use both for coaching and working with groups is: "Safety + Acceptance/Belonging + Recognition" = Strong Teams Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is a basis for this model, because every one of us deals with safety, acceptance/belonging, and recognition issues. Sometimes the issues are transparent, but most often they are subconscious and can influence our daily behaviors. In a team of 10 people, there are always 10 "me's," each with issues in these areas. Using this model with many groups and individuals, I've gotten insight into ways to create effective and lasting teams and to enhance existing team building programs. Let's look at each aspect: SAFETY Safety issues can surface at any time for reasons such as:
As team members, we tend to forget the impact we have on others and tend to concentrate on our own "me" issues. Training programs that create safe places - free of criticism, fear, and resistance - are programs that get team members communicating effectively. Instruments such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator or models such as Crucial Conversations are examples of useful tools for creating a safe environment for team members to become aware of their own styles and skills, learn about one another in nonthreatening ways, and begin to work respectfully through differences. This is step one in successful, long-term team building. ACCEPTANCE/BELONGING I can't say it any better than the American Express commercials: "Membership has its privileges!" How accurate this statement is for groups! When individuals feel they are members of the team, a team is a positive thing. But when they feel like outsiders, not part of the group, a team can be devastating. It becomes a "them" versus "me" situation. The issues we bring to groups around acceptance and belonging began in our childhood. From the start, we wanted to feel accepted and to belong - why should it be any different at work? To build strong teams, it's not good enough to assign people to a team, give the team one goal and praise their success. It doesn't happen that way at work - so why do it in a team-building program? Instead, choose activities to help the group explore who is accepted (or not accepted) and why. The essence of an effective team is understanding how everyone belongs in the group. Trainers and facilitators need to be skilled at debriefing and gently helping team members to communicate their feelings and perspectives. Without this, it may feel like a great team-building day, but when the training is over, you may have created only stronger cliques and more pronounced outsiders instead of a team in which everyone is accepted. RECOGNITION The first two components above help show the "me" mentality of team members, but this component brings it home. When we are driven by recognition - and we all are at some level - we do and say things that can be perceived as hurtful or intimidating. When recognition drives our actions, we tend to care only about ourselves and draw lines that create grudges, possibly for decades. Giving someone else recognition can be difficult; having someone else take credit for your contribution can be devastating. Trainers and facilitators need to plan and deal with recognition issues as groups complete activities and share their experiences. Develop ways to reward growth and participation without coming across as phony or contrived. Develop your own skills in observation, and you will begin to see exactly what kind of recognition will be most powerful - and meaningful - for each participant. BEGIN TO PLAN YOUR SUCCESSFUL TEAM-BUILDING EXPERIENCE. Safety, acceptance/belonging, and recognition can be a guide to creating meaningful team experiences and effective training programs. Using the model means taking into account how to provide for the group's safety, create opportunities to disband cliques, and facilitate processes and tools that provide recognition for everyone. (This article originally appeared in the September 3, 2008 issue of Training Time (www.trainingtime.com).) About the Author: Dave Piltz leads the corporate office for The Learning Key, Inc. (www.thelearningkey.com) and has been creating and delivering training programs in leadership, organizational and educational change, communication, teamwork, customer service, and personal and professional effectiveness for more than 14 years.
What does a teambuilding treasure hunt look, feel and sound like?
Dr. Clue Honor Roll: For this issue's challenge, look at the puzzle to the right. For each line, think of a word that can be combined with all three. For example, if you had "pine", "crab" and "sauce", the common word would be "apple". Once you have all of the words indicated, take the first letter of each one and combine them to form your message. As always, we'll put the names of all clue solvers in a hat and draw three for a choice of Dr. Clue-brand items (hats, shirts and mouse pads)! Email your answers to drclue@drclue.com to take part in the drawing. Our three winners will appear in next issue's Dr. Clue Honor Roll. Click here to see some sample treasure hunt clues.
 Last issue, we invited you to caption a photo of our Dr. Clue mascot, the friendly inspector Elliot Nest, as he lifted off over Manhattan. The winning caption was: "New York, having been saved from cluelessness by the intrepid Inspector Nest, settles back gratefully into its place by the river as Elliot heads off into the wild blue yonder." Congratulations to Jennifer van Stelle for her prize-winning caption! This month, Elliot is at home in San Francisco, in what seems to be a whale of a squawking match. Captions are due by January 9. The most creative one earns your choice of a Dr. Clue t-shirt, cap or Magic Eightball. Send all entries to: Click here to see some sample treasure hunt clues.
Wondering how a typical treasure hunt CLUE works? We've got TWO sample clues up on our website!
It's official: Dr. Clue has expanded our offerings! Along with our 100 signature pre-scouted, ready-to-go treasure hunts worldwide, we now have 6 EXCITING, NEW, PUZZLE-BASED PROGRAMS for you to choose from, both facilitated and not: TEAMBUILDING (facilitated programs): *Team Efficiency Workshop: Our high-action, facilitated, indoor program is a great follow-up to your treasure hunt, or excellent as a stand-alone as well. Fun games, stimulating puzzles, great learning, with a focus on about team efficiency and decision-making. *Help-a-School Treasure Hunt: This one is philanthropic team building with a treasure hunt twist. Dr. Clue teaches students how to create clues; you then play their hunt, visit the students at their school, share your experiences and make a charitable contribution to the institution. Giving back to the community, with great teambuilding along the way. *Virtual Treasure Hunt: Teambuilding with no extra travel cost! Solve puzzles from virtual locations, then meet up in cyberspace to work it all out together. Teambuilding meets distance learning, courtesy of the latest webinar and tele-conferencing technology. INFORMAL NETWORKING (Do-it-yourself kits) *Puzzling Networking Game: Meet people, solve clues together -- all at the informal networking setting of your choice. *Puzzle-based Scavenger Hunt: Solve challenging puzzles, then jump in your car and hit the streets, performing fun photo challenges all around your home city. *Treasure Hunt Bar Crawl: Follow the clues from pub to pub, with surprising challenges along the way. Call 888-88drclue for more info! ~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~ Dr. Clue was on TV this last month. Check it out at http://www.fox40.com/pages/tracy_excellent_adventures Make sure to click on the 12/26 video segment; it's less than 3 minutes long and really conveys the feeling of our scavenger hunts in Old Sacramento. ~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~ Some hunt highlights from the last few months include: USA --Northeast: Acambis & Human Genome Sciences at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC; the American Urological Association at the Maryland Science Museum, Baltimore; France Telecom in Greenwich Village, NY --South: Novo Nordisk in downtown Raleigh, NC --Midwest: Protec in the Columbus, OH Arena District; Baxa in Denver, CO --West: FSG, Gilead, and Wandisco in San Francisco; Genentech in Sacramento --Virtual: Kema (virtual treasure hunt) in 18 offices simultaneously, across the US and Latin America Click here to see all of our teambuilding offerings!
Our clients, from Oracle to Yahoo, Price Waterhouse Coopers, Apple, and Wells Fargo all agree that Dr. Clue is cutting-edge teambuilding with a twist. 
On October 15th, Dr. Clue presented its Puzzling Networking Game to the annual conference of the North American Simulation and Gaming Association (NASAGA). Over 60 participants solved puzzles with rotating teammates, with each puzzle delivering a pithy quote about games, simulations and activities.
"It was great fun - I love mental stuff like that. It was also good for me to do things like that in collaboration with others - I'm too inclined to sit in a darkened room on my own and need to be kicked out of it every now and then. I'm a rubbish conversationalist initially so it helped grease the wheels of introduction. It was an informal setting to come across people I had heard of but never met - didn't need big introductions to just get talking."
"I was not going to stay that long, but ended up staying MUCH longer than I anticipated because I had started some really interesting conversations. It really was a great way to meet people."
"I am not a big game player generally, so it introduced me to an easy game and to a small group of peers. From the game we moved on to discuss other topics and to exchange business cards." To learn more about our puzzling networking game, click here.
Please let us know how we can improve this newsletter!! We welcome puzzles, icebreakers, real-life teambuilding success stories -- anything you'd like to contribute. Dr. Clue's E-BOOK, "Solving the Puzzles of Teamwork," is ready for download...and it's free! A compilation of past newsletter articles, it offers great essays about teamwork, roles & relationships, communication, motivation, leadership, and much more. Download it right to your screen by clicking here and choosing the e-book option. Enjoy! For more articles and team building ideas, don't miss our blog: http://blog.drclue.com. Watch for the next edition of the Dr. Clue Teambuilding Newsletter in March 2009
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Dr. Clue Treasure Hunts
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Congratulations to last issue's great puzzle solvers:
