Title of Activity: Warp Speed

Number of Teams & Group Size: Involve all participants in 1 big group

Logistics Needed: At least 1 soft squeeze balls / stress balls, recommended 3 - 4 balls. 1 x Stopwatch or Timer A4 Paper Markers

Time Allocated: 15 - 30 minutes

Goal: Passing the ball through the system in the shortest possible time

Preparation & Set-Up: None

Directions for Conducting the Activity: 1. Instruct all participants to form 1 big circle. 2. Go around the circle, and have each participant share their first names, one at a time. 3. Inform participants that you will toss 1 ball to someone within the circle. Before you toss the ball, you will have to call out that participants first name. They must use an underhand toss, and aim for the receivers body, not the face. - Tammy. 4. Inform participants that the receiver of the ball must thank the thrower by their first name. - Thank you, Peter. 5. The receiver must now pick another participant to toss the ball to. They can only toss the ball to someone who has NOT received it yet, and they must remember who they tossed it to. 6. In other words, each person within the circle must receive the ball once.

7. Start by tossing 1 ball to a participant of your choice, and observe how participants carry out the activity. 8. If at any time you observe that the Specific Rules are NOT followed, halt the game. Remind the participant about the rules GENTLY. Then ask them to carry on where they stopped, but in a correct manner. - When to halt the game: If participants toss the ball without calling the receivers first name, if participants forget to thank the thrower, if participants toss the ball to someone who has already received it once, safety violations, etc. 9. Once everyone has received the ball once, ask the final receiver to toss the ball to you. Announce to participants that the loop / circle is complete. 10. Inform participants that you will begin another round, and everyone is to toss the ball to the exact same person as before. They must also continue calling out names before tossing, and remembering to say thank you upon receiving. Everyone is to remain at their place within the circle. 11. Begin the new round, and observe participants. Halt the activity at any time when the rules are broken, remind participants, and then carry on where they stopped. 12. You have now completed 2 rounds. Depending on the ability of participants, you may or may not need to carry out 1 additional round for them to become familiar with the process.

Introducing A Time Limit 13. Inform participants that you will now test the system by timing how quickly they can complete passing the ball. 14. At this point, remove yourself from the activity. Inform participants that from this point on, there are only 2 Specific Rules. Firstly, the ball must pass through the system in the exact same order as established - Each person must pass (Note: Dont say toss anymore) the ball to the exact same person as before. Secondly, each person must touch the ball once (Note: Do NOT emphasise the word once). 15. Start timing when the first person passes the ball, and stop timing when the final receiver catches the ball. 16. Inform participants of their timing, then prompt them with Do you think you can do better? - They will likely say yes. If they say no, encourage them to try.

17. At some point, participants may ask if they can change places, or move around. Simply remind them that for this 2nd half of the activity, there are only 2 Specific Rules, and repeat these 2 rules to them. 18. Allow participants some time (~ 3 minutes) to discuss, and then announce you will time their next attempt. 19. After each round, prompt participants to do better, allow them some time to discuss, and then time their next attempt. Each time if participants ask you any questions, simply reply with the 2 Specific Rules. (Note: This allows them to draw their own conclusions). 20. Allow the activity to carry on, and collect timings for at least 3 - 4 rounds, before you move on to the next stage of the activity.

Setting the Challenge 21. Record down on A4 paper the 3 - 4 timings youve collected. Inform them that the record for passing a ball through a system is actually 2 seconds or less (for a group of 12 people). 22. This will elicit various responses from participants, but also alert them that their method of passing the ball through the system needs to change fundamentally. Allow participants some time to brainstorm (~ 5 - 8 minutes). 23. If need be, you may split participants into groups, with a maximum of 12 people in each group. Remind each group that the goal is to pass the ball through the system in 2 seconds or less. 24. Again, time each attempt and allow for brainstorming. Your role during the brainstorming is to observe participants, and inject with the 2 Specific Rules if they veer off.

The Solution 25. After several attempts of trial-and-error, participants will eventually arrive at one of 3 solutions. Any of these solutions is acceptable, as they fulfill the 2 Specific Rules, and you may end the activity at this point. Alternatively, you could also keep encouraging participants until they finally arrive at the ideal solution. 26. Solution 1 - The Funnel: Participants form a funnel, by standing in a circle and stacking their hands on top of other participants hands, creating a circular barrier. They then drop the ball down the funnel. The drawback to this solution is that the ball doesnt actually touch everybodys hands.

27. Solution 2 - The Zipper: Participants stand in 2 rows, facing each other, with one hand outstretched, and palms up. Everyone then places their hands side by side, in a gradual downward slope. They then roll the ball down the slope. The drawback to this solution is the there is no control over how the ball rolls. 28. Solution 3 - The Gate: This is the ideal solution. Participants stand in 2 rows, facing each other, with one hand outstretched, and palms facing the side, fingers together, and thumb pointing upwards. Everyone then places their hands against the hand of the person opposite them, in a gradual downward slope. They then roll the ball down the slope, blocking the ball from falling off the slope with their outstretched thumbs.

Specific Rules: For the 1st Half of the Activity 1. Balls must be tossed, not thrown, using an underhand toss. No other method of tossing is allowed for safety reasons. 2. Do not aim for peoples faces, aim for their bodies instead. 3. Before tossing the ball, you must call out the other participants first name clearly. 4. The receiver of the ball must thank the thrower by their first name. 5. Each participant must receive the ball once. 6. Participants must remember who they tossed the ball to, and toss it to the exact same person in subsequent rounds. (Once the original order is established, it must remain the same throughout).

For the 2nd Half of the Activity (State these exactly as shown) 7. The ball must pass through the system in the exact same order as established. 8. Each person must touch the ball once.

Variations: 1. Group Juggling / Name Juggling 2. Instead of just promoting participants to do better, ask them for a specific timing instead, to set a goal for themselves. The timing they give should be lower than their previous timing. If they fail to meet the timing, you may use this as a learning point during the debrief. If they meet the timing successfully, ask them for a lower timing. Keep lowering the timing until they fail at least once. Ensure

that after this 1 failure, they should succeed at least once more, so that the activity ends on a positive note.

Learning Points: Becoming familiar with a new process / Practice makes perfect Perseverance / Coping with Failure Alertness Communication Teamwork Creativity Thinking out of the box Problem solving Listening skills Helping each other

Facilitator Notes: If participants fail at any time, give up, or break any rules, provide gentle encouragement. Allow participants the freedom to make their own decisions, as a facilitator, your role in this activity is simply to remind them of the 2 Specific Rules; the ball must pass through the system in the exact same order as established, and each person must touch the ball once. For a group of 12 people, the ideal timing is 2 seconds or less. If your total class size is larger than 12, you may split them into smaller groups AFTER youve set the challenge of 2 seconds or less. Do NOT give away the answers or solutions to the activity, until AFTER the activity ends, and even then, only if participants ask for it. If groups arrive at a solution that is NOT any of the 3 solutions listed, you will have to gently prompt them to remember that the 2 Specific Rules must be met. Some examples of ideas that groups develop but do NOT satisfy the criteria, include putting the ball on the floor and everyone touching it, someone holding the ball and running around to use it to touch everyone, rolling the ball along the floor or table and everyone lining up to touch it as it goes by, etc.