The TedTalk video titled Build a tower, build a team, from Tom Wujec is great for lower-level business or management courses to introduce concepts of integrated teams, group dynamics, feedback loops, early prototyping, etc. It can also be used by upper level and graduate classes as a refresher or in a corporate training setting. The video quickly demonstrates the need for people to question how their teams are constructed and how successful innovation occurs. It emphasizes the need for early prototyping and tight feedback loops.
Type of Material:
Presentation
Recommended Uses:
This is recommended as a team exercise in class
Should include a debriefing at the end
Students will understand the concepts being taught and the rationale.
Technical Requirements:
Mozilla Firefox 121., Chrome
Identify Major Learning Goals:
Learn how to manage teams
Demonstrate how to operate when using innovative projects
Target Student Population:
This is appropriate for upper-level high school class to learn teamwork
Undergraduate management courses
Graduate courses in management
Professional development.
This would be a good candidate for an icebreaker.
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:
None
Content Quality
Rating:
Strengths:
This is an effective contribution to design workshops, as it forces collaboration quickly.
The research noted is based on experience with this team exercise with different organizations in different environments.
The TedTalk was given in 2010, but the topic and takeaways are still quite relevant.
Teams should question team dynamics, focus on early prototyping, be resilient when the prototype is not quite right, and try again.
Concerns:
It’s not clear what academic principles and theories could apply
Although this is a practical application, without the theories and principles, it is incomplete.
Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool
Rating:
Strengths:
The video quickly demonstrates the need for people to question how their teams are constructed and how innovation should occur.
Toward the end of the video, it emphasizes the need for early prototyping and tight feedback loops.
It did not identify learning objectives, but the video only lasted a bit over 6 minutes.
One emphasis is on the need to facilitate or manage the process of developing the tower, which is often overlooked because the focus is on designing and building.
The project helps identify hidden assumptions; as the speaker notes, the exercise provides a common experience and a shared language.
Concerns:
The presentation could be more effective if an approach to debriefing after the exercise was provided.
Having people do a teambuilding project without a review afterward does not provide any information to them about what they were supposed to take away from the exercise.
Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty
Rating:
Strengths:
TedTalks are easy to use
Accessible without an account.
Easy to use in the classroom to either begin a discussion or start an activity.
Concerns:
An overview of the teambuilding activity is provided, but more details are needed about how to approach this activity, such as including a way to discuss the outcomes afterward, including learning points, to be more effective.
Creative Commons:
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