The Culture Code (Ebook)

Why do certain groups add up to be greater than the sum of their parts, while others add up to be less? A few years ago the designer and engineer Peter Skillman held a competition to find out. Over several months, he assembled a series of four-person groups at Stanford, the University of California, the University of Tokyo, and a few other places. He challenged each
group to build the tallest possible structure using the following items:
• twenty pieces of uncooked spaghetti
• one yard of transparent tape
• one yard of string
• one standard-size marshmallow

The contest had one rule: The marshmallow had to end up on top. The fascinating part of the experiment, however, had less to do with
the task than with the participants. Some of the teams consisted of business school students. The others consisted of kindergartners.
The business students got right to work. They began talking and thinking strategically.

They examined the materials. They tossed
ideas back and forth and asked thoughtful, savvy questions. They generated several options, then honed the most promising ideas. It was professional, rational, and intelligent. The process resulted in a decision to pursue one particular strategy. Then they divided up the
tasks and started building.