Description
Competing teams build the tallest tower they can from a fixed set of materials. Simple in theory — part engineering challenge, part creative experiment, entirely dependent on turning an idea into something that actually stands up. As always, talking about it is considerably easier than doing it.
In the corporate world, this is a classic team-building exercise for good reason: you can’t build a tall tower without communicating well, and you find that out very quickly.
What do you need?
- One pack of spaghetti, shashlik sticks, toothpicks or straws
- One marshmallow per team
- One roll of scotch tape
- One pair of scissors per team
Let’s do it!
Each team has a fixed amount of time — five minutes works well — to build the tallest tower they can, with a marshmallow sitting on top. The marshmallow is the measuring point. Highest tower wins.
To count, the tower must stand freely on the floor or table and hold for at least ten seconds before it collapses.
What makes this an agile parenting tool?
Once the towers have fallen — or triumphantly stood — teams can run a quick review, reflecting on the work itself:
- How many approaches did we try before finding one that worked?
- What did the failures teach us?
- What would we do differently next time?
And a retrospective, zooming out to look at how the team functioned:
- How did we support each other?
- Did we have a good way of making decisions together?
- Did we actually enjoy it?
Play with us!
Know a game that sparks the same kind of conversation — about how to work better, communicate more clearly, and reflect honestly? Share it with the community in the comments.