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Benefit
#7
One
can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a
year of conversation. —Plato
When we enter
the world of play, only the present matters — history and future
vanish. Our inhibitions fade as well, and we become caught up in
the moment. The more we focus on the fun task at hand, the more
comfortable we become with ourselves and others. In this state,
we are more open to new ideas and information and more willing to
generate new ideas. We also feel more comfortable expressing ourselves;
this allows unspoken concerns or issues that may be hindering job
efficiency to be brought up.
A Northwest-based
high-tech computer company hired me to work with them on team building.
They had been developing a computer chip for more than two years,
but had yet to present a product to the marketplace. This delay
was causing tension and negativity between the marketing and engineering
teams. The engineering team did not want to roll out an inferior
product too early. The marketing team needed a product to present
to their potential clients. As we worked on team building, we designed
an activity that would help facilitate communication between these
two teams.
Each team was
asked to find an object that started with every letter of the alphabet
and to write it down. The marketing group finished long before the
engineering group. Upon further examination of the techniques used,
the members of the marketing group had brainstormed as a team and
had randomly decided on words. In contrast, the engineering group
leader had divided the alphabet and assigned each person a series
of letters — the first person had A through E, the second person
had F through J, and so on. If someone in this group presented an
item that was not part of their assigned letters, the group leader
(who was also the chief operating officer) rejected it. In discussing
this activity, the leader began to realize that he was much too
controlling and had not let his team members use their creativity.
He also verbalized that he controls the office environment similar
to this and that he may be causing some of the difficulties between
the two teams. By observing his own behavior while “having
fun,” the leader gained insight into his management style.
Fun is a disarming way to learn. One month after this training session,
the engineering and marketing departments made their first joint
decision on the time line for a product introduction.
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