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

Fun In Learning

Problems are not usually fun. It may sound funny to say that they could be. But, what if they could be fun? I don't know how to solve every problem but there is fun in the learning. Don't ask me why, just give it a try... -- doug smith

Connection

Where does communication start? Before any meaningful message can be shared, before any agreement can be reached, communication starts with connection. Finding a way to share something in common with someone else. Turning toward someone and taking the chance of seeing, hearing, feeling who they are in this moment of time. Communication starts with connection. Connect, and the possibilities are limitless. -- doug smith

About That Goal

It's easy to set a goal and then start working on it before figuring out why. It does make sense to start working on a goal. Great ideas without action are meaningless. It's also worth checking to make sure that the massive effort you're about to make is worth it. It is worth asking if a goal is good for you, good for others, and good for some higher cause. If it's yes to all three, it's a goal worth working hard on. -- doug smith

Constructive Feedback

Wouldn't it be nice if the only feedback we got was all positive? Our self-esteem would be so happy. Our confidence would be flying high. Work would be wonderful! The problem is, the mistakes we make, the opportunities we miss, the offenses we offer would go unchecked leading to - gulp - worse performance. Yes, we love the positive feedback. I can run a week on one "good job!" We also really need the constructive comments. Ready or not, we can always improve. Asking only for positive feedback sounds comforting but it's wrong. We need to ask for feedback and handle it, positive or not. If we do not receive any constructive feedback, as high performance leaders we owe it to ourselves and our teams to ask for it. It's also true when it comes to delivering feedback. Our constructive feedback for others may make them uncomfortable. Our observations of behavior may run counter to their self-evaluation. As leaders, we owe it to people to help them improve, to lead them t

Jumping to Solutions

What is it like to jump to solutions? It's deciding before evaluating. It's picking the first thing that sounds right. It's doing anything to cut the tension of dealing with a problem. It may not be your best choice. It's easier to make a problem worse than it is to solve it so evaluate your solution carefully. Will it make things better? Will it prevent harm? Will it please the people effected? Jump to solutions? Not so fast. Breathe. Evaluate. Select. -- doug smith

Work On Noble Goals

Why do people pursue goals that cause pain? When one person's ambition causes another person's anguish that is not a noble goal. It is not sheepishness or lack of courage that cautions us to take care of other people and their needs -- it is basic human decency. High performance leaders do not need to create harm. We make important decisions. We can balance our goals with the consequences and chose those that create only value. That does not rule out competition. Sometimes we DO need to compete. When we need to compete (hey, I like a good contest as much as anyone) we do it fairly, within the rules, with no intention of harming anyone. I can block your shot without breaking your arm. You can tackle me without causing a concussion. It is possible to assertively work for a win without creates debilitating loss. Seek good goals. Work on noble goals. A goal is no good if it results in harm. -- doug smith

Fill Your Goal With Love

It's a weird question, true, but worth asking: is your goal filled with love? Do you love the outcome your goal will bring about? More importantly, is your goal formed with love for something other than yourself? Will the completion of your goal bring about joy? Will achieving your goal bring something positive to the world? It's mostly a "note to self" kind of question because, for me, simply achieving a goal is not enough. The goal needs to matter, and nothing matters more than love. Fill your goal with love and the outcome will improve. Fill your goal with love and you will love the result. -- doug smith

Evaluate Carefully

It's easier to make a problem worse than it is to solve it, so evaluate your solution carefully. -- doug smith

Work Out The Details

Leadership is a combination of big-picture thinking and attention to detail. One without the other will leave you lacking. Big picture thinking is the inspiration, the invitation, the appeal to all of your senses for some noble cause. Attention to detail gets it all done. Everything will work out when you work out the details. Work out the details. -- doug smith

Find the Possibility

That problem might be one possibility away from being solved -- but it might take many possibilities to find that one. -- doug smith

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