We did our first Build-A-Bike ® program for Genentech almost 15 years ago in San Francisco, CA. So, we were so happy to organize another bicycle team activity for their leadership group last week! This time, though, the leadership group traveled to Phoenix, Arizona for their meeting. We had a fun time rekindling old friendships from one of our oldest clients!
Genentech is a genetic engineering company that uses gene therapy to treat (and sometimes even cure) illnesses. The company’s research has extended patient lives and improved the lifestyle of the patients. Their major focus is looking for cures for diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s.
The participants in this bike activity for charity were really sharp. (No surprise here.) But they did have one small disadvantage during the team building activity. 😉
This Intelligent Group Had to Work Together to Solve the Team Challenges
When people get really good at solving challenges — especially world-changing solutions — they tend to want to work alone. The natural thought process is, “I’m really good at this. I don’t ned any help.” However, that is where we often fall into a trap. Our experience, our stereotypes, and our belief systems all limit the ability to see breakthroughs. We become conditioned to see the world a certain way. As a result, potential solutions allude us. However, when new team members with different experiences, different stereotypes, and different belief systems look at the data, they bring new ideas.
So in this custom team event, we created a metaphor for this activity. We divided the team into small groups. Then we gave each team the same challenges to solve. However, each team received a little piece of the ultimate solution. So, after a few minutes of frustration, they began to communicate with the other teams. When they did, the solutions were obvious.
This made for a great summary at the end. The huge problems in the world (like curing cancer) will likely not be solved by any one individual. However, when we work as a team, the solutions come much faster!