Build a Tower, Build a Team

A635.4.3.RB

·        Do you agree with Tom Wujec's analysis of why kindergartners perform better on the Spaghetti Challenge than MBA students?

·        Can you think of any other reasons why kids might perform better?

·        In your view, why do CEOs with an executive assistant perform better than a group of CEOs alone?

·        If you were asked to facilitate a process intervention workshop, how could you relate the video to process intervention skills?

·        What can you take away from this exercise to immediately use in your career?

Tom Wujec’s marshmallow exercise provides a valuable example of getting to the root of collaboration by identifying “hidden assumptions” (5:40). In other words, everyone works within certain boundaries and assumptions that when presented with a simple task with others, these boundaries and assumptions rise to the surface. Thus, Mr. Wujec’s analysis of why kindergartners perform better than MBA students made perfect sense in that children have not undergone the level of conditioning as the majority of adults which directly shape boundaries and hidden assumptions. Indeed, a child’s free spirit and creativity remain intact as they collaborate freely using prototypes (see, do learning), while through the course of life experience, culture, social environments, and education, adult MBA students have developed both boundaries and hidden assumptions. According to Tom Wujec (2010), “Business students are trained to find the single right plan and then they execute on it” (2:35).

Another important point Mr. Wujec notes is that groups of CEOs do well in general with this exercise, yet when there is an executive admin on the team, the group of CEOs perform much better. Mr. Wujec concludes that this because, “They have special skills of facilitation, they manage the process” (4:07). Wujec (2010) continues, “Any team who manages and pays close attention to work will significantly improve the team’s performance” (4:14). Having been in positions where I relied heavily on an assistant, I completely agree with Mr. Wujec’s observation that those with the ability to facilitate and understand processes, they provide a valuable resource to focus and guide progress exponentially.

If I were to lead a process intervention workshop, I believe using this video would be a great tool to discuss many of the points Mr. Wujec highlighted like:

· Barriers & assumptions: How they are formed and affect our ability to collaborate.

· Jockeying for position: As demonstrated in the video, kindergartners did not waste their time on this, instead they focused on collaboration, design, and learned from prototypes which provided instant feedback.

· Building trust: In a team environment, each member plays an important role. Support and encourage each other by embracing the process.

· Communication: Collaboration requires constant communications and feedback, progress is the key.

I believe this exercise has reinforced what I have learned from my background in social science and military service. That supporting each other and providing constructive communication and feedback is essential for a team to produce extraordinary results. That depending on the team, the environment, and constraints, we must adapt our approach to collaboration to ensure the team has the best opportunity to succeed.

References

Wujec, T. (2010). Build a tower, build a team. Ted2010. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/tom_wujec_build_a_tower#t-242718.