Learning Activity: Spoons

Purpose:
To provide a fast-paced review of a topic (such as Leadership or Project Management).

Materials:
One deck of cards for each small group (about one deck for up to six people)
Plastic spoons (one for every person in each small group, minus one spoon)

A deck of cards for each small group (about one deck of cards for each four or five people.)
One plastic spoon for each person in each group, minus one spoon. (For each group there is one less spoon than the number of people.)
Place the spoons in the center.
Deal six cards to each person
The person to the left of the dealer begins by drawing a card from the center. They either keep that card or discard it to the person on the left, or discard another card from their deckto the person on their left.
The object is to gather six cards in the same suite.
When you have six cards all in the same suite, grab a spoon.
Once a spoon has been grabbed, any one else can grab a spoon until there are no more spoons. This will leave one person without a spoon.
That person must now answer a question on the topic (Leadership, Project Management, Communication...) from a deck of question cards. If they answer the question correctly, they can continue to play. If they answer incorrectly, they retire from the game and one spoon is also retired (so that there is always one less spoon than the number of people playing.

Sample Leadership Questions:

Which is more powerful, transactional motivation (things that cost money) or internal motivation (things that make you feel good about yourself?)
Is leadership mostly about authority or is it about influence?
True or False: your personality type is who you are and how you must always be
Four core leadership strengths include clarity, courage, creativity, and ____________
In effective meetings, every agenda item must have a goal, and every agenda goal needs a ___________
To prioritize a workload, it helps to align your work with which of these: your mission, or, your boss's personality.

Comments

Fix The Problem

Fighting a problem does not require us to fight other people. We don't need to agitate when we can collaborate. Fix the problem (which is likely caused by flaws in the process, design, or environment) and the people will be fine. -- doug smith

To Be The Best

You could rely on luck. You could depend on inheritance. Maybe you could fake it until you make it. All of those courses of action are unreliable. As an old friend used to say about buying lottery tickets: "It's for people who think that the answer is outside of themselves." To be the best work harder than the rest. That's the only secret formula you need. -- doug smith

Build The Right Connections

Build the connections that strengthen your team and release the ones that tether your team to trouble. What we hold tight might not be what we need now. Deliberate connection just might take your full attention. -- doug smith

Keep your choices open

Have you ever felt like a prisoner to your own emotions? The feelings can be so strong that they flood your being with an almost paralysis. I have found myself wandering away from a situation because my emotions were pushing so hard, even though a better choice would have been to stay, get those emotions under control, breathe, and choose. Once a bad emotion has sent you its warning, it's best to send it on its way. Emotions can drive us, but don't need to. Feel it, pause, and step away. Keep all of your choices open. -- doug smith

To Be Noble...

Goals have the power to change us, to form us, to set us up for success -- or less. But, they should serve more than your own intentions. Great goals also serve others. Make sure that your goals are noble because they will direct your behavior. And, you do want to be considered noble, don't you? -- doug smith

It's About The Cause

The art of leadership is keeping the ego out of the play. It's not about you. It's never about you. As a leader, it's about the cause. -- doug smith

Misunderstood

It's frustrating to be misunderstood. It is well worth working on our communication skills in order to minimize misunderstandings because they lead to hardships and hard feelings. But, do you know some one who just seems to always misunderstand your message, or your intention? It's almost as if they are missing the point on purpose. They probably are not -- there's just some filter in the way. Some people will misunderstand you no matter how clearly you speak. Reframe, rephrase, re-try...it's not worth letting the misunderstanding stand. -- doug smith

No Crystal Ball

"My crystal ball is broken and all the snow has dried up..." says my friend Linda whenever someone expects her to read their mind or tell the future. The information is not available. We can spend a lot of time looking for shortcuts. What passes for an insight could be instead a slight. With all the tools and software we have available we still do not have workable crystal balls. My job might be easier if I had a crystal ball, but if I did have a crystal ball then I wouldn't be needed. Worth considering? Let's not fear the future. Let's do the work that's right in front of us while keeping sight of our mission. -- doug smith

Leveraging Shared Problems

As frustrating as it is, some people don't care about your problem until you make it their problem, too. But you don't have to manipulate them into it. Talk about it. Share your concerns. Find the connections and you'll also find their investment. Once they are in, collaboration is far more likely. -- doug smith

Gain That Personal Input

Do you like it when other people make decisions for you? Me, either -- and neither do the people on your team. That's all the more true about decisions that become, or feel like, rules. Our inner rebel will rise. A rule we didn't make seems much easier to break. If you want your team to keep certain rules, first find out how they feel about those rules. -- doug smith

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