Build a Tower, Build a Team

Tom Wujec
April 2010
TED Conferences LLC 2010

Video

Rating

9 Applicability
7 Innovation
9 Style

Focus
Leadership & Management
Strategy
Sales & Marketing

Take-Aways
Creative groups can learn a lot from how children collaborate: They dont worry about
whos in charge; they just start experimenting and adapt their prototypes as they go.

The marshmallow challenge in which teams must build towers from marshmallows
and uncooked spaghetti helps uncover hidden assumptions about teamwork and
design that can hold teams back.

Kindergartners outperform business school graduates and lawyers in this challenge.

Architects and engineers build the tallest spaghetti towers, and groups with facilitators
tend to be strong contenders.

When teams competed for a $10,000 prize, the success rate dropped. But in a repeat

contest, the same participants excelled because they had learned from their experience.

Finance
Human Resources
IT, Production & Logistics
Career & Self-Development
Small Business
Economics & Politics
Industries
Global Business
Concepts & Trends

In collaboration with

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This summary is restricted to the personal use of C. Manjunatha Reddy (macreddy@in.ibm.com)

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Recommendation

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Imagine you have some raw spaghetti, tape, string and a marshmallow: Could you build a marshmallow-topped
structure taller than those of your competitors? Thats the marshmallow challenge, a team-building exercise Tom
Wujec, a business visualization expert, discusses in this brief TED Talk. His presentation is fun, and his lessons about
teams, learning and performance are strikingly vivid. getAbstract recommends this presentation for teams in need
of motivation and designers in need of inspiration.

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Summary

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The challenge
provides a shared
experience, a common
language, a common
stance to build the right
prototype.
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Specialized skills and
facilitation skills are the
combination that leads
to strong success.
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Every project has its
own marshmallow.
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Consider this team-building design challenge : Teams of four had to build the tallest
freestanding structure using 20 strands of raw spaghetti, a yard each of tape and string,
and a marshmallow. This marshmallow challenge (so called because the marshmallow
has to be on top) demands high-speed collaboration. Business visualization consultant Tom
Wujec has used it globally in about 70 design workshops involving participants as diverse
as executives and grade school students. This high-pressure, low-stakes exercise teaches
valuable lessons about collaboration.
Most teams start by orienting themselves to the task . They discuss it, establish a pecking
order, make sketches, and so on. Much of their time goes into constructing a single spaghetti
structure. Then, at the very end, someone puts the marshmallow on top. They step back to
admire their work, but suddenly the marshmallow collapses the tower. Such design failures
are most common among business school grads , followed by lawyers. Kindergartners
structures are often taller and more interesting than those of other groups. These kids dont
waste time jockeying for power or following the business school method of finding the
single best plan before prototyping. Instead, they start with structures already topped by
marshmallows, then adapt and fix them while learning from ongoing, instant feedback.
Though children generally build tall towers, engineers and architects perform best. They use
geometric shapes and patterns to add strength and support. Teams with natural facilitators
also do well. When teams pay attention to and manage the work, their performance
improves. In one version of the experiment that involved 10 teams , introducing incentives
decreased success across the board. When competing for a $10,000 prize, not one team
produced a standing structure. But in a repeat contest, those same teams excelled: They had
learned about their hidden assumptions and the value of prototyping.
Irrespective of what you are designing, you and your collaborators will encounter a
metaphorical marshmallow. This challenge will prepare you by establishing a common
language and shared understanding of facilitation and prototyping. Design is a contact
sport; it requires you to use all your senses and sharp thinking .

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About the Speaker

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Tom Wujec researches how people process and share information. He is a fellow at Autodesk, which produces
design and engineering software.
Build a Tower, Build a Team getAbstract 2013

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This summary is restricted to the personal use of C. Manjunatha Reddy (macreddy@in.ibm.com)

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