Farmers Challenge

Summary

This is a team puzzle that introduces a few constraints to emphasise the need to cooperate, to collaborate and most importantly to listen. It can be used to assess a team's dynamic, to identify current or potential leaders and to simply build culture within a team.

Materials

Board or Flipchart and pens
Post it notes
Timer
TV or Projector or handout of the solution

Preparation

Print and cut out the game cards

Safety

Stress: This game is highly valuable and educational, but to achieve this it creates an environment of stress, frustration and conflict. Be sure that is it safe for your team to experience these emotions and take the to follow this game with a team building exercise.

HOW TO PLAY

SETUP

Get everyone into circle
Hand out all of the game cards as evenly as possible

RULES

You must hold on to your own cards. No sharing them or putting them down.
You may not use pens, paper or electronic devices to help you

GOAL

Solve the puzzle as quickly as possible.

FACILITATION

Set the scene: “Expressed in the 30 cards that I’ve given you, is a puzzle. The objective of this game is to solve that puzzle.”
Read out the rules
Begin the game and the timer

15 mins in

By this point the team should have worked out that there are 5 of each element (farmer, house, location, fruit, animal and vehicle).
They should also have worked out that having 5 people play the roles of each farmer, and standing in the their relative locations it useful
Give clues if necessary

30 mins in

If the team has yet to solve the puzzle remove both rules from the game
They are now able to use the board, pens etc to help

45 mins in

Warn the team that there is only 5 mins remaining.

50 mins

stop the game, reveal the solution and ask everyone to have a seat.

Celebrate either way

REFLECTION

How the game make you feel? Why?
What could you have done to make the game easier?
What antipatterns did you notice?
Did any of you disengage? Why?
Was anyone leading? How did it go?

TAKEAWAYS

Visualization is powerful

CARDS