The concept behind the activity
CollaborationPuzzle is a team problem-solving task par excellence that raises key questions relating to our daily working lives, such as “How do we organize ourselves? How do we share information? How can we shape our strategy? How do we deal with mistakes? How do we stay focused on our goal?” The core aim of the learning project is to answer a very pragmatic question: How do we find out the correct height of 8 rods inserted in a wooden pedestal? What at first glance looks simple is, on closer inspection, a much bigger challenge, because the rods are of different lengths and the holes are of different depths. At the same time, only one player may work on the set at any one time without any contact with the rest of the team.
So what is the best approach for the team to take to complete the task?
Facilitating the activity
At the beginning, the group is faced with a puzzle. 6 of the 8 rods are not in the wooden pedestal and 2 are slotted in the set but are protruding at different heights. The aim is to get all of the rods into the correct position so that they have the same height. The team has a total budget of 100 work steps that it can use to find the solution. At the same time, the rules are very strict: Only one player is allowed to enter the working area where the pedestal is located and may only perform two work steps. He or she must then inform the team as precisely as possible of what he or she found out. What will be the best approach to take to reach the goal with the least work steps possible? The team will only succeed if all team members share information as precisely as possible and develop a suitable strategy together.
