In this energizing team-building exercise, groups cooperate to develop Rube Goldberg-inspired tabletop contraptions. The concept is to construct absurdly complex devices to do basic things.
This exercise provides a humorous, entertaining challenge meant to develop creativity and collaboration. The notion of making things far more difficult than they need to be is an effective technique to demonstrate why simplicity is generally preferable.
A little background on the motivation for Chain Reaction: Rube Goldberg was a cartoonist, sculptor, author, engineer, and inventor who won the Pulitzer Prize. He was able to merge all of his abilities into a single genius-level ability. Goldberg would conceive and draw a succession of oddly complicated devices designed to do very basic functions.
Your group will engage in friendly competition as they design and construct their own “basic” devices after being separated into smaller teams. Each group develops, constructs, and tests a variety of basic devices. In the end, though, each of their particular innovations must also function as part of a larger whole. Due to the difficulty of the endeavor, teams must be strategic as they build a shared vision for bringing their bizarre creations to reality. Collaborating has never been more enjoyable.
Team size: 10 – 1000
Time needed: 2 – 4 hours
Space requirement
This is best suited for indoor use. You will require a large, private space with a long table for each team and four large rectangular tables at the front of the room. Chairs are not required. If your group is larger than 50 people, a microphone and speaker setup will also be required.
Ideal for
- Supporting strategic planning
- Friendly competition
- Improving time management
- Inspiring creativity and fun
Tailoring
TeamBonding is completely customizable. Would you like elements of your company’s brand, culture, or mission statement to be woven into your program? Just inform us of your intentions.