sample assignment #1

The great cathedrals of Europe, like the Mayan temple of Central America, the stone cities of the Incas, and the pyramids of the Egyptians were built over many generations by many different skilled craftsmen and laborers. More than architectural masterpieces, the cathedrals served as focal points for worship and preserving community spirit and traditions. The strong fabric of many Medieval cities was woven on stone and stained glass. Take this opportunity to explore these cathedrals and learn the lessons that they teach.

What processes were involved in successfully designing, building, and using the great cathedrals?

How could the business community apply these "cathedral-building" processes to create success in your organization?

You have 90 minutes to complete the exercise and be ready to present to the whole group.

Prepare your final work on hypertiles. Choose one or more members to present when we reassemble. Your presentations must be under 10 minutes in length.

Use the walls during your conversation so you can all see what you're talking about. You have been provided with reference materials to help with understanding your metaphor.

sample assignment #2

If you added up all the weight of all life on earth except for the vegetable kingdom, one pound of every 10 would be ants. Or, imagine if all the animals and insects could be crammed into the First Union building downtown. The first two floors would all be ants. Over the last 60 million years or so, ants have remained one of the most successful of life forms on the planet-impervious to any natural or man-made disaster. (By the way, the queen does not run the colony, she's one of the least intelligent of the ants!)

What processes have the ants used to survive, to evolve successfully in the face of change, and to keep in balance with nature?

How could the business community as a whole apply these "ant-like" processes to create success in your organization?

You have 90 minutes to complete the exercise and be ready to present to the whole group.

Prepare your final work on hypertiles. Choose one or more members to present when we reassemble. Your presentations must be under 10 minutes in length.

Use the walls during your conversation so you can all see what you're talking about. You have been provided with reference materials to help with understanding your metaphor.

sample assignment #3

given to each team: After a walk through a field an inventor stoops to pluck small barbed seeds from his socks. A flash across a couple of neurons and, voila, Velcro is born! Nature-ever before our eyes but seldom observed creatively - has been the source of many innovative ideas. The brain was a metaphor for the digital computer. The digestive system has yielded insights into improved manufacturing processes. The metaphorical comparison between two dissimilar things or processes is a seedbed of innovation and innovation helps ensure continued viability and survival. Roger von Oech says of metaphors. "They all connect two different universes of meaning through some similarity the two share. In doing so, metaphors help us to understand one idea by means of another."

Team #1 only: The oceans were the starting points for life on earth. Near the surface, they still hold more density and diversity of life per cubic meter than any other ecosystem on earth. Sharks alone outnumber humans many times over and have lived unchanged for tens of millions of years. Cooperation, competition, and success have been honed to perfection. Input, thru-put, output, control and feedback all combine to crate a wonderful balance.

How are an ocean and the greater and your organization the same? What correlations can you find? How are they different?

What could your team learn from the ocean concerning its operations, products, services, organizations, etc.

Team #2 only: Just as man is the most successful and most social of the mammals, bees occupy the top rung of evolution in the insect world. They have evolved very efficient societies which communicate, build high-density living quarters, and even engineer efficient heating and cooling systems. And they KNOW how to compete. An African strain of bees has been migrating its way north from Brazil over the last decade, oblivious so far to all human efforts to stop them.

How are hives of bees and your organization the same? What correlations can you find? How are they different?

What could your team learn from the bees concerning its operations, products, services, organization, etc.