Wiki Metaphors

We did three great activities before climbing on Tuesday. I often feel high challenge activities are a bit of a let down after good processing from group initiatives. It was a good progression though. The whole time we were drawing connections back to the work we will do going forward during the conference.
First we did the helium hoop. We struggled with this one, our facilitator asked folks who had done it before to be less active. I'm really glad that I did because although it was hard for us it was great to see new solutions and ideas come out. Ultimately we couldn't do it although we made progress.

Here's the amazing part, after talking it through we tried it again and totally did it! I've never seen a short conversation lead to such quick action in this initiative. The essence of the conversation was quite simple - that we should let go, trust our teammates and let the hoop come to us. It doesn't make much sense to hear me write it. Take away: Ideas have power, shifting focus can lead to results.

Next we piled on a platform, our task to sail our boat to the other shore. At first it seemed impossible as we tried to look beneath our own feet to see what we had to work with. Slowly a solution emerged, or rather a half dozen small independent solutions that evolved with out direct leadership. Take away: Figure out what you have to work with, take many small steps forward, eventually you reach the shore.

Next: artificial caving. This was the only activity today that was completely new to me. We climbed through a series of transport containers with obstacles inside, all while collecting clues that would give us the pass code to unlock the door at the far side. We had one faint blinking LED type light. We rushed ahead to the end of the first container, no way to continue! What did we do wrong? Turns out we had to retrace our steps back on a higher level, then go up again and at last move forward to the next 'cave.' Take away: Going backwards isn't necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes its the way forward.

Finally we climbed the ropes course. There were two sections, either a three part self belayed traverse of a hanging net, a burma type bridge and then an hanging platform. For me this was the least group engaged I felt all day. I think though, this was a better metaphor of how we will work together going forward, disjointed, disconnected and self directed. I belayed, went to the bathroom, climbed, chatted, climbed again. Take away: Filling different roles at different times is OK. Stepping up and stepping back are good for the whole process to move forward.