Make team processes visible - by building a tower out of spaghetti, adhesive tape and a marshmallow as the crowning touch.

Challenge with Marshmallow

The idea of the Marshmallow Challenge is as simple as the realization is sustainable: Each team (three to four people each) builds a tower as high as possible from 20 spaghetti, one meter of tape, one meter of string and one marshmallow. In a very short time, this task shows how the cooperation works and how the individual people are involved in the group. No other game makes team processes visible and tangible so quickly.

Reaching your destination with curiosity

Would you have thought that children of kindergarten age would be the most successful at the task? The explanation for this is obvious: children do not yet think and act in fixed patterns, they are therefore excellent lateral thinkers. Consequently, the guarantee for the highest and most stable tower possible is not strategic planning, but a mixture of curiosity, the joy of experimentation and the courage to try something, even if it might go wrong ("trial and error").

Incentive as creativity killer

An experimental set-up has brought to light that a strong external stimulus tends to dampen rather than enhance creativity. In other words, a high reward does not automatically lead to a better result in the Marshmallow Challenge, what counts is enthusiasm and inner motivation - just like team projects in working life. You too can use this simple tower game to better understand the dynamics of your team.

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