The Turn the Tower Challenge
Turn the Tower is a fun and engaging problem-solving task that requires teamwork skills, sharp wits, and concentration. In essence, this exercise aims to inspire a collaborative spirit within each team.
Form into small teams of 2 people. Spill a large bag of wooden toy blocks onto the floor and ask each pair to grab 8 to 10 blocks.
Instruct each pair to stack the blocks on top of each other to build a tall tower. By way of demonstration, grab a handful of blocks yourself and stack them vertically on the floor to create a tall block tower.
Next, challenge each pair to discover the most successful method of flipping this tower upside-down, ie the block which starts on the top is on the bottom after the flip, without spilling the blocks. Encourage them to use as few touch-points as possible to ramp up the challenge.
Allow several minutes of practice and then challenge each pair to complete this task with the most number of blocks.
Continue for 10 to 15 minutes allowing ample time for your groups to experiment. Finally, celebrate the most ingenious flipping methods and/or the tallest tower to be flipped successfully.
Moment of Reflection
- What did you discover worked well for you and your partner?
- What were the most critical elements of your success?
- What didn’t work?
- How would you describe your process of collaboration?
- How to apply what you have learned today in your daily work?
The topics of this publication: interactions, strategy, energize, collaboration, teamwork, cooperation, lateral thinking
