On 2002-02-05 17:13, Cheree wrote:
At our staff meetings last month, we did an exercise called "The Lifeboat Game." We split the attendees into groups of 5 or 6, and passed out a list of 15 passengers on a yacht. The list had only sketchy information on each passenger, age, sex, occupation, etc. The "rules" of the game are the yacht is sinking. The lifeboat only holds 9 passengers. Each group must choose the 9 people that get to go on the lifeboat. The entire group must agree on the choices. The 9 should be listed in order of "priority." Each group should choose a spokesperson.

They were given 15 minutes to complete the exercise. Afterward, the spokesperson of each group explained either who was chosen to go on the lifeboat and why, or who was chosen to remain behind on the sinking yacht and why. The fun part of the exercise is filling in "unknown" information once the choices have been made. More information is given about passengers to show why the choices made may not have been the best choices based on ALL of the information. The most important piece of information being, that the yacht is still at the dock.

Lessons to be learned from this exercise are: We often make decisions based on incomplete information instead of asking questions. Be sure to identify the problem before seeking a solution. It is important to determine values and criteria for making choices.

If anyone would like a copy of the "passenger list" for the yacht game, please email me. I'll be happy to send it to you.