Watching some of the videos of games like the chocolate river, toxic waste or even the balance game, I’ve noticed a different meaning.
In these games there is an initial planning stage. Everyone is involved at his or her own level of comfort and confidence. Then the task begins.
In the chocolate river game there are really only two people doing the main work. The back person picks up the pieces and the front one places them. It is important that everyone in the middle focuses on their simple roles of balancing, staying in contact, and not pushing each other off. They have passive roles.
And that is the deeper meaning I’ve realized. There are times in our lives where we are not the lead, nor pulling up the rear. Great things can be accomplished if we stick to our roles. We can help a lot by just doing simple things that we are given.
This meaning does fit into the “alpha dog” model. But the model fails in that it assumes the same person must always be in front and at back. The group moves onto the next challenge and suddenly some one new finds himself at the front. They make take the leadership role and dictate how to proceed, or they listen to suggestions.
Sometimes, many times, the leader is chosen by accident. As we start the challenge and we are not really sure what the challenge is all about, the leader is just that person who stepped first on the board.
I’m not sure whether it is designed into these games but every time we’ve played them, the same lesson has to be learned. Most groups go through a phase of arguing about the best way to solve it. Younger kids even skip over this step. They just go ahead and try something. High school students feel a need to be analytical. They are aware that there is a solution. Simply by thinking a solution will present itself. The physical part is simply a matter of follow-through.
I watched one class progress through the challenges, toxic waste and punch-board and they were about to cross the bottomless canyon. As they began to through out ideas tempers began to rise. Each of the three strong personalities raised his voice hoping that alone would convince the other two boys. Meanwhile, two girls turned to walk away. Their ideas had been consistently ignored for most of the afternoon.
I felt lost. Shouldn’t I do something? I was their teacher. Teachers step in to correct and bring order. Don’t they?
It felt like an eternity deciding what to do, and slowly Doug walked up to the group slowly tying a couple of ropes together with a large knot at one end. By the time he reached the middle of the group, they were quiet merely by his presence and their curiosity. He calmly asked them to stand in a circle with both hands on the rope. The knot started at one person. He could say something, anything. An idea for a solution to the problem, a comment, or simply remain silent. The knot went around the circle twice. Doug took the rope, and with minimum discussion, they class agreed on a way to attempt the problem and solved it.
The solution they used did not come from the three loud boys. It did not come from the two frustrated ladies. It came from a classmate who had simply been a part of the other puzzles. She rarely spoke in class, or on the bus ride to camp.
The lesson coming out of this game was that everyone has a good idea. And in order to get through difficult times, it is important to listen to what everyone has to say. Give those quiet people a chance to talk and you will appreciate it.
