In one of my organizational culture classes, the students participate in Tom Wujec’s Marshmallow Challenge, trying to make the tallest, freestanding structure out of spaghetti, string, and tape — plus a jumbo marshmallow that must be placed on the top.
Even though this exercise is referenced in Daniel Coyle’s The Culture Code the students are reading, inevitably they wait until the very end to secure the marshmallow and the whole tower tumbles over. They underestimate the weight of the seemingly insignificant item and it causes their demise.
Many things in organizational life are like that marshmallow. We dismiss the impact of smaller details, forgetting they are what can trip up the entire project. We wait until the last minute and then don’t have time for contingencies. We focus so much on getting started that we fail to think the whole process through.
It’s worth your 20 minutes to try the Marshmallow Challenge with your team and to debrief afterward. The lessons from that little cube of fluff can pay dividends in all your project work.
