What do 20 sticks of spaghetti, one yard of tape, and one yard of string, and a marshmallow have in common with Christian leadership? Tom Wujec, a fellow at Autodesk, describes this “marshmallow challenge” as an experience of "forced collaboration." The premise is simple—groups of four attempt to build the highest structure using the aforementioned materials in only 18 minutes.
Most of the groups tended to begin by orienting themselves to the task, and thus making a plan. With the crunch of the 18-minute limit, most groups’ plans ended in “uh-oh” moments. Business students’ structures were some of the most likely to fall because college trained them to find the "single right plan.” Those with specialized skills (engineers) or kindergartners tended to do well. Kindergartners did well because they learned from the iterative process—making prototypes and seeing they worked, rather than planning the whole process.
Once Wujec offered a 10,000 dollar prize to see what would happen in the experience. When the pressure was on, not one group had a standing structure. When given a second chance, the groups finally learned the value of protyping.
Thus, Wujec concluded that generally Specialized Skills plus Facilitation Skills=Success. Even more, Wujec argues, “Every project has its own marshmallow.”
Normally I'm usually not a “fan” of business oriented models of leadership, but in this case Wujec is onto something. What if Christian leaders actually placed people based on gifting rather than need alone? What if we moved away from trying to “find the one plan” and sought to work together
