Order Out Of Chaos

Task: The group is blindfolded. Each member (total 12 persons) is assigned a number (the number could be negative and non-integer). Once the numbers are given out, the members must line up in proper numerical order without talking.

Rules: No talking is allowed, blindfolds should remain in place until the task is completed.



One of the solutions:

One of the members started clapping his hands continuously and walked to the center of the room gradually. He was trying to establish a center of communication by attracting members to gather around him through hearing the sound of clapping hands. He knew that the clapping hands would help people to find his location by the sense of hearing.

When people came near him and touched him, he had to find a way to reveal his number without making a noise. A quick solution he could think of was to grab the hand of the other member and wrote his number on other member’s palm. In return, the member got the idea of exchanging information through writing on each other’s palm. He wrote on the palms of those members that got near him and soon a small group of members began to line up according to the value of their own number without uttering a sound.

Then, another problem appeared. There were 2 other members imitating the hand clapping and also gathered a small group of people with them. Not knowing if these 2 members had the same idea and were communicating with other members the same way, so the first person who clapped his hands figured that he should do it persistently. By that the other 2 members might give up in clapping their hands. Then he could get the chance to attract all members coming around in one place. After clapping for few more minutes, the other 2 members finally gave up clapping their hands. Progressively, every member came along one by one. Then each member exchanged information by writing on other members palm and a line began to form.

Eventually, after a few more minutes, the whole group of members was able to form a line according to the ascending order of each member’s number value, from -2.02 to +6.5. The total time taken was around 20 minutes. It was quite amazing for a group of people who just got to know each other for no more than 2 days.

This Team Building game stipulated some interesting questions:

• What ways did you see to solve the problem?
• How did you try to communicate this solution?
• What examples can of not understanding what someone was trying to say?
• How did you deal with any frustration?
• What kind of leadership came out of the group?
• What did you like about how the group made decisions?