Working with students and corporate executives in Team Building & Leadership simulations I see a great deal of cheating.
Not, the were being creative by staying within the guidelines kind of cheating . The I know the rules and choose to violate them anyway kind of cheating.
Work also has rules, guidelines, policies, regulations. If some of the regulations are violated someone can get fired, the company can receive a fine, lose funding, and several other things. People also violate these rules.
When I see this happen in the activities portion, that always leads me to this processing question.
- What, if any violations of the rules happened?
- If we behaved in the same manner, and purposely violated regulations what could happen?
- Why would you choose the break the rules today, here, in that last activity?
That final question always get a response in a similar fashion. This is just a game and it doesn’t really matter.
In reference to the response above This is just a game and it doesn’t really matter.
Here is my usual response
- I agree it does not matter, so why would you cheat on something that, as you said does not matter?
- What are your actions when something does matter?
- When something does matter, how will you react to that?
- What are you willing to do, when it really does matter?
A team building activity is meant as a reflective-learning piece. Something where you can have an experience, learn some new skills, take some risks and make choices without the companies and your future on the line.
If you are willing to cheat on something that admittedly has little bearing on your work and life. Then when you are faced with a real challenge in work, life – how far are you willing to cheat to make it right?
image by by skipgo shannon