Volker Witzleben
Overview
The tool The Maze was used as part of a team training workshop with ten trainees and two instructors from the steel production company “Stahlwerk Annahütte” in Ainring. The team training workshop took place outdoors near Wagrain in 2019.
Topic: vocational training as a learning process
Staging
a. Performance
“The rug in front of you represents your vocational training, which began a few days ago. Your task is to complete the training successfully, learning from your mistakes. The goal is for all twelve participants to take the right path from one side of the rug to the other to complete the training.
Just like in your vocational training, there are many things you cannot know right now. There are fields that you are allowed to enter and fields that you are not allowed to enter. As soon as you enter a ‘wrong’ field, a signal sounds and you have to leave the field again by retracing your steps back to the starting line. After that, it’s the next trainee’s turn, until all team members have walked the correct fields to reach the finish line.
Mistakes occur, that’s normal. But what we should do is learn from our mistakes. That’s why the first mistake on any field costs nothing; the second and each subsequent mistake costs €500. Because this mistake could be avoided if you worked well together as a team.
You have a total budget of €5,000 at your disposal. Try to keep as much of this money as possible – through smart teamwork and by applying the knowledge we have already acquired.
To make sure the task is not too easy, you are not allowed to speak during the entire execution phase. Feel free to communicate nonverbally. During the planning phase, you can discuss and develop a good plan.”
After clarifying any unclear matters, I asked: “How much budget do you think will be left over from the €5,000?” It was amazing how different the team members’ estimates were and how the strategy was then reviewed and revised.
“Now I wish you every success and may the insights be plentiful!”
b. Progression
The trainees and trainers had decided in the planning phase to establish clear responsibilities, but, when they carried out the learning project, they jettisoned the seemingly smart strategy they had agreed without even discussing it. Contrary to what they originally agreed, all team members tried to remember the whole path, including the wrong fields.
In order not to step on a field in haste, the team members had agreed to first hold their foot over the next field. The idea was to check whether it was okay to step on the field (agreement through nodding) or not (shaking of the head).
A particularly interesting point occurred when three trainees nodded and gave the OK for the next field, while one of the instructors shook his head. The trainee in the field did not enter the field because he thought that the instructor would be right. However, this assumption turned out to be wrong: the three trainees were right.
Transfer to the real World
| Elements in the learning project | Elements in the real world |
|---|---|
| Rug with fields | Vocational training |
| Wrong fields | Mistakes we can learn from |
| Correct fields | Shared path through the vocational training |
| Budget (€5,000) | Cost-conscious work |
This led to considerable delays, as this field was not entered during the next attempts either, although this would have been absolutely necessary to complete the task. Only at a later stage did a trainee dare to step onto this field and everyone was amazed that he was allowed to enter this field. With a budget of €2,500 remaining, the team achieved what, in my experience, was an average result.
Reflection
I asked the following reflection questions to pave the way for transferring the learning insights to everyday life:
• What insights were you able to gain and how can you use them for your vocational training?
• How will you deal with mistakes in the future?
• How important is it for everyone to share their thoughts and contribute accordingly?
The following insights were elicited and recorded in the joint “team book”:
• Clearly allocating tasks also has disadvantages, because responsibility then rests on this one person and the team is extremely dependent on this colleague.
• Accepting help is just as important as offering it. There is no shame in doing so – it saves a lot of trouble.
• We should use swarm intelligence more and not rely too much on individuals.
• Communication without asking questions is difficult. So, we should ask more questions to understand our colleagues and their views.
Conclusion
This is a great activity for training how to deal with mistakes in a game-like way. Just knowing that trainers can also make mistakes helps trainees in their day-to-day work. “Think for yourself and don’t blindly rely on others!” is the message that everyone understood.
The feedback from the trainers and trainees on the three-day series of workshops was consistently positive. All the insights and experiences were presented in a play at the end of the training days.
Marcus (trainer): “If I had known what positive effects my mistake would have, I would have consciously incorporated it … Great to see the potential of the new trainees.”
Frank (trainee): “I learned so much during these three days that I can use in my work. The games were totally cool and I learned a lot from them!”