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Jim Krichbaum, King's Daughters Medical Center
The Giant Mississippi Lizard's Egg
What: An initiative problem developed by Sam Sikes and included in his book Feeding the Zircon Gorilla And Other Team Building Activities under the title "The Giant Texas Lizard Egg." Sam knew of or had developed an activity using every other type of ball imaginable and was wondering what he could do with his old bowling ball. The following is the result of his musings ...
Group Size: 6-18
Props Required: 1 bowling ball, one 3 to 5 foot rope per participant, a milk crate or bowling ball carrying bag
Objective: To move the bowling ball across a space and into the crate (bag).
Activity Instructions: Sam's imaginative scenario is priceless, so I quote:
"You have found yourselves in the middle of a crisis. An egg from a giant Texas [insert 'Mississippi' here - no geographical bias on our part!] lizard has rolled from its nest and needs to be replaced before the mother returns. Unfortunately, the shell of the lizard egg has properties of the adult lizard's tail: it emits a sweet odor but is highly toxic. Fortunately for you, a game warden has left some specially treated ropes nearby for just such an incident. The ropes have been treated with radiation to eliminate the possibility of a premature hatching. The radiation is at tolerable levels; however, over-exposure causes instant and terrible side-effects such as blindness, muteness or confusion. I once saw several team members develop a 'death grip' on each of their ropes when they were over-exposed. Over-exposure occurs when a person touches his own rope with more than one hand. Somehow you must discover a way to move the egg, without breaking it, back into its nest before the mother returns. Be sure not to contact the egg with anything but the treated ropes. Don't over-expose yourselves ... and don't even try moving that nest. Giant Texas [Mississippi] lizards are especially sensitive to movement of their nests. I understand the mother lizards grow to 300 pounds and can strike faster than a snake when they are protecting their young. Good luck!"
Facilitator Notes:
- As facilitator, you will have several choices to make based upon your group's level of skill/development and your learning objectives, to whit:
- Distance from the "egg" to the "nest": further is obviously more (sometimes exponentially more) difficult.
- When is a dropped egg a "cracked egg" or failure? From what height? Most groups will drop the egg once or twice as they develop their system, but it may only be from an inch or so from the ground. I'm not suggesting you have a particular height in mind, just that you will need to be nearby and ready to respond to the looks of "now what" when it happens.
- How closely will you monitor "over-exposure?" Will you ask the group to monitor themselves and inform you, or will you watch like a hawk?
- What is the penalty for "over-exposure?" I usually give the scenario as listed above almost verbatim because it leaves me, the facilitator, with the option to adjust the penalty to meet the group's needs, e.g., if the "offender" is the most outspoken person in the group (often happens), an appropriate consequence might be muteness or a sudden attack of the "Little Caesar's Disease" (he has to repeat every word he says - get get the the point point?)
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