Unit 2 Team Power Lesson B

Unit 2 Team Power Lesson B

by Kru Bank

Fill in the Blank

In this lesson, you are going to watch segments of Wujec’s TED Talk. Use the information above about his challenge to answer these questions.

1. What do people do when they are “jockeying for power”?

Fill in the Blank

In this lesson, you are going to watch segments of Wujec’s TED Talk. Use the information above about his challenge to answer these questions.

2. Why do some teams not finish their towers?

Fill in the Blank

In this lesson, you are going to watch segments of Wujec’s TED Talk. Use the information above about his challenge to answer these questions.

3. What happens to some teams’ towers when they put the marshmallow on top?

Build a tower, build a team: Tom Wuject

Part 1

. . . So, normally, most people begin by orienting themselves to the task. They talk about it, they figure out what it’s going to look like, they jockey for power. Then they spend some time planning, organizing, they sketch, and they lay out spaghetti. They spend the majority of their time assembling the sticks into ever-growing structures. And then, finally, just as they’re running out of time, someone takes out the marshmallow, and then they gingerly put it on top, and then they stand back, and—ta-da!—they admire their work. But what really happens, most of the time, is that the “ta-da” turns into an “uh-oh” because the weight of the marshmallow causes the entire structure to buckle and to collapse.

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Part 2

  So there are a number of people who have a lot more “uh-oh” moments than others, and among the worst are recent graduates of business school. They lie, they cheat, they get distracted, and they produce really lame structures. And, of course, there are teams that have a lot more “ta-da” structures, and among the best are recent graduates of kindergarten. And it’s pretty amazing. As Peter tells us, not only do they produce the tallest structures, but they’re the most interesting structures of them all. So the question you want to ask is: How come? Why? What is it about them? And Peter likes to say that none of the kids spend any time trying to be CEO of Spaghetti, Inc. Right? They don’t spend time jockeying for power. But there’s another reason as well. And the reason is that business students are trained to find the single right plan, right? And then they execute on it. And then what happens is, when they put the marshmallow on the top, they run out of time, and what happens? It’s a crisis. Sound familiar? Right. What kindergartners do differently is that they start with the marshmallow, and they build prototypes, successive prototypes, always keeping the marshmallow on top, so they have multiple times to fix when they build prototypes along the way. Designers recognize this type of collaboration as the essence of the iterative process. And with each version, kids get instant feedback about what works and what doesn’t work.

  So the capacity to play in prototype is really essential, but let’s look at how different teams perform. So the average for most people is around 20 inches; business school students, about half of that; lawyers, a little better, but not much better than that; kindergartners, better than most adults. Who does the very best? Architects and engineers, thankfully. Thirty nine inches is the tallest structure I’ve seen. And why is it? Because they understand triangles and self-reinforcing geometrical patterns are the key to building stable structures. So CEOs, a little bit better than average, but here’s where it gets interesting. If you put an executive admin. on the team, they get significantly better. It’s incredible. You know, you look around, you go, “Oh, that team’s going to win.” You can just tell beforehand. And why is that? Because they have special skills of facilitation. They manage the process, they understand the process. And any team who manages and pays close attention to work will significantly improve the team’s performance. Specialized skills and facilitation skills are the combination that leads to strong success. If you have ten teams that typically perform, you’ll get maybe six or so that have standing structures. . . .

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  And the fundamental lesson, I believe, is that design truly is a contact sport. It demands that we bring all of our senses to the task and that we apply the very best of our thinking, our feeling, and our doing to the challenge that we have at hand. And sometimes, a little prototype of this experience is all that it takes to turn us from an “uh-oh” moment to a “ta-da” moment. And that can make a big difference.

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Thank you very much.

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Multiple Choice

PREVIEWING

A. Read the excerpt from Wujec’s talk. Complete the excerpt with the correct words or phrases.

So, normally, most people begin by ---?--- themselves to the task. They , -----

they figure out what it’s going to look like; they jockey for power. Then they spend some

time -----, they sketch, and they lay out spaghetti. They spend the majority of

their time ----- the sticks into ever-growing structures.

• a. orienting

• b. talk about it

• c. assembling

• d. planning, organizing

Multiple Choice

PREVIEWING

A. Read the excerpt from Wujec’s talk. Complete the excerpt with the correct words or phrases.

So, normally, most people begin by ----- themselves to the task. They , ---?---

they figure out what it’s going to look like; they jockey for power. Then they spend some

time -----, they sketch, and they lay out spaghetti. They spend the majority of

their time ----- the sticks into ever-growing structures.

• a. orienting

• b. talk about it

• c. assembling

• d. planning, organizing

Multiple Choice

PREVIEWING

A. Read the excerpt from Wujec’s talk. Complete the excerpt with the correct words or phrases.

So, normally, most people begin by ----- themselves to the task. They , -----

they figure out what it’s going to look like; they jockey for power. Then they spend some

time ---?---, they sketch, and they lay out spaghetti. They spend the majority of

their time ----- the sticks into ever-growing structures.

• a. orienting

• b. talk about it

• c. assembling

• d. planning, organizing

Multiple Choice

PREVIEWING

A. Read the excerpt from Wujec’s talk. Complete the excerpt with the correct words or phrases.

So, normally, most people begin by ------ themselves to the task. They , -----

they figure out what it’s going to look like; they jockey for power. Then they spend some

time -----, they sketch, and they lay out spaghetti. They spend the majority of

their time ---?--- the sticks into ever-growing structures.

• a. orienting

• b. talk about it

• c. assembling

• d. planning, organizing

Multiple Choice

GETTING THE MAIN IDEA

What is the most important idea in this segment of the TED Talk? Read the statements and choose the one that best describes the main idea.

• Teams usually don’t make very stable structures.

• Teams usually fight with each other.

• Teams usually spend too much time planning and testing their structure.

Multiple Choice

UNDERSTANDING KEY DETAILS

Teams usually go through four steps when they do the Marshmallow Challenge. Study the diagram and match each step with a description.

a. Teams assemble their towers.

• Orient

• Plan

• Build

• Ta-Da!

Multiple Choice

UNDERSTANDING KEY DETAILS

Teams usually go through four steps when they do the Marshmallow Challenge. Study the diagram and match each step with a description.

b. Teams finish their towers.

• Orient

• Plan

• Build

• Ta-Da!

Multiple Choice

UNDERSTANDING KEY DETAILS

Teams usually go through four steps when they do the Marshmallow Challenge. Study the diagram and match each step with a description.

c. Teams sketch designs for the structure.

• Orient

• Plan

• Build

• Ta-Da!

Multiple Choice

UNDERSTANDING KEY DETAILS

Teams usually go through four steps when they do the Marshmallow Challenge. Study the diagram and match each step with a description.

d. Teams try to understand the task.

• Orient

• Plan

• Build

• Ta-Da!

Fill in the Blank

CRITICAL THINKING

Inferring. Why do you think some teams “jockey for power"?

Multiple Choice

COLLABORATION IS KEY

PREVIEWING

In his TED Talk, Wujec reveals who builds the tallest towers. How do you think the people below do in the challenge?

a. Lawyers

• 1

• 2

• 3

• 4

• 5

Multiple Choice

COLLABORATION IS KEY

PREVIEWING

In his TED Talk, Wujec reveals who builds the tallest towers. How do you think the people below do in the challenge?

b. Architects and engineers

• 1

• 2

• 3

• 4

• 5

Multiple Choice

COLLABORATION IS KEY

PREVIEWING

In his TED Talk, Wujec reveals who builds the tallest towers. How do you think the people below do in the challenge?

c. CEOs and executive admins

• 1

• 2

• 3

• 4

• 5

Multiple Choice

COLLABORATION IS KEY

PREVIEWING

In his TED Talk, Wujec reveals who builds the tallest towers. How do you think the people below do in the challenge?

d. Business school students

• 1

• 2

• 3

• 4

• 5

Multiple Choice

COLLABORATION IS KEY

PREVIEWING

In his TED Talk, Wujec reveals who builds the tallest towers. How do you think the people below do in the challenge?

e. Kindergartners

• 1

• 2

• 3

• 4

• 5

Multiple Choice

GETTING THE MAIN IDEA

Use information from Wujec’s talk to answer each question.

1. According to Wujec, why do kindergarten students do well in the activity?

• They understand about strong structures.

• They don’t fight with each other.

• They start with the marshmallow.

Multiple Choice

GETTING THE MAIN IDEA

Use information from Wujec’s talk to answer each question.

2. According to Wujec, it is better to build .

• very few prototypes.

• many prototypes.

• one good prototype.

Multiple Select

SUMMARIZING

What do successful teams do when they build their towers? Check the best ideas

from Wujec’s talk.

Successful teams . . .

(มีมากกว่า 1 คำตอบ)

• try a lot of

  different designs.

• leave the marshmallow

  until the end.

• spend time deciding

  who is the leader.

• use geometric shapes

  in their structures.

• mostly have experts on

  them.

Open Ended

CRITICAL THINKING

1. Reflecting. How well do you think you and your classmates would do with the Marshmallow Challenge? Give reasons for your answer.

Open Ended

CRITICAL THINKING

2. Applying. What kind of structure do you think would work best in the Marshmallow Challenge?