A630.8.4.RB - Build a Tower, Build a Team

Watching the video on building the Marshmallow tower I was reminded of a similar project I was a part of at the ERAU Worldwide conference back in August.  We were put on random teams and the project was to build a tower using construction paper, tape and a plastic cup filled a quarter of the way with M&Ms.  The M&Ms had to be on top and the goal was to make the largest tower.  My group was a mix of faulty and directors from different campuses and the first thing that happened was we had to discuss our plan.  It was sketched out on a piece of paper and then two people decided who would do the building and then we got to do it.  Well I should say they got to it.  Two of the members took over and did most of the work.  I found it interesting how the dynamics played out with the team.

 We had a ‘CEO of M&M Towers’ and his way was the only way to do it.  Two of us tried to make suggestions but they were so involved in the process they really didn’t listen.  Looking around I saw other groups who were working together as a team to make their tower work.  I noticed a few tables had already taped their cup to the top and were working on building their structure on that.  In the video I can see why the kindergarteners performed better because they jumped in and worked around the marshmallow and continued to build on it instead of waiting until the end to see if it would work.

I think the kindergarteners performed better because they weren’t trying to fight for power.  They started building with the marshmallow on top and adjusted as they were going.  This is how they figured what was working and what was not working because they were getting instant feedback on what was working and what was not and they could adjust from there.  As the video went on Tom talked about how CEOs with executive assistants performed better than CEOs who did it alone.  I thought it was interesting and it made sense because the executive assistants tend to have to more specialized skills in facilitation, managing processes, and an eye for attention to detail.  This allows for the team to work together closely, to collaborate on the project so there is a greater chance for success.

If I were to facilitate a process intervention workshop I would keep the video in mind and watch how the teams worked together or didn’t work together.  We have a retreat coming up and I have suggested to the person putting together the different team building activities that we do the Marshmallow challenge as I think this would help us to figure how we work together, how we can improve on our communication skills and see where we are falling short in working as a team.  I can take away several things from this exercise and that is that I can’t always be the leader, I need to be able to follow so I can continue to learn.  Working on teams can be hard at times but it is important to keep in mind open communication has to be a major part of the success of any team.