A couple of weeks ago, we conducted a three-day intensive training workshop in Malaysia.
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Three full eight-hour days many seem a stretch, however the feedback was sensational with many participants scoring the workshop 10 out of 10.
The topic was innovation (of course) and the "commercialisation of technology".
Attendees were split into teams (simulated companies) and asked to explore various questions and problem solve.
The aim was to show how different people view the same problem from different perspectives.
THE EXERCISE
Consider a race between two people where there are two laps of an athletics track to be completed.
On the first lap they will both walk, on the second lap they will both run.
In this case, one person wins - let us say by 10 seconds.
Assume in the exercise that nobody gets tired, no matter which order the laps are conducted.
Attendees were split into teams (simulated companies) and asked to explore various questions and problem solve. The aim was to show how different people view the same problem from different perspectives.
THE QUESTION
If we now reverse the order of the legs - so that on the first lap they run then on the second lap they walk - will the winning distance between the first and second place be different.
The teams were not simply asked to answer the question, there being only two possible answers - "same" or different".
They were also asked to prove their answer using a real experiment in the conference room as we all watched.
As expected the participants were split with their answers, but the exercise was a huge hit with everybody involved and looking on during the simulation; and as it happened, cheering when their correct answer emerged.
A great and entertaining exercise in thinking.