Published October 2019
Years ago, I had the pleasure of co-facilitating some advanced experiential teambuilding training. The gist of the exercise was for a team to use a map and compass to “capture” as many markers of varying value as possible within a set time. The markers were scattered about the rugged terrain of the 1100-acre Clover Woods Camp and Retreat Center.
The lessons associated with experiential learning burn deep into the mind. Several lessons personally experienced, both as a participant and later as a facilitator, are still clear for me decades later.
I was following a sub-group that identified a valuable marker on a distant hill as their primary objective. Heads down they charged, as fast as the rough landscape would allow. Finally, after an arduous and serpentine climb up the targeted hill, they found…nothing!
A few mild oaths may have been uttered. Then Dave, typically one of the more perceptive members of the group asked the golden question, “How did we get here?”
A quick process review by the team revealed that they had gotten so caught up in their objective that they failed to regularly confirm assumptions with the map regarding their current location and the target location. They had in fact charged right by the correct (and less steep) ridge. Valuable time had been lost and needless energy burned.
Does your organization have a defined, regularly-scheduled process to:
If not, you and your team may be merely wandering in the woods.
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