Introduction to Desert Survival

The Situation

"It is approximately 10 o'clock in the morning on a mid-August day and you have just crash-landed in the Sonoran Desert in the southwestern United States." Your task is to rank 15 items salvaged from the plane in the order of their importance to your team's survival. Set in an unfamiliar location, this simulation takes the participants outside of their organizational roles and areas of expertise to a situation where only their synergistic problem-solving skills will help them to survive.

Team Synergy

The Desert Survival Situation™ (by J. Clayton Lafferty and Patrick Eady with Alonzo W. Pond, 1970) provides a unique opportunity to quickly and objectively measure whether your groups are achieving synergy -- as well as demonstrate this otherwise elusive concept. Synergy occurs when the interactive efforts of two or more people produce a solution that is superior to their independent solutions. By measuring the quality of both individual and team performance on a single task, this simulation allows groups to quickly calculate the extent to which they are fully utilizing their resources -- and doing so in a way that achieves synergy.

Use the Simulation to.…

Establish a Constructive, team-oriented atmosphere in the workplace, at conferences or workshops, and in classrooms or training programs
Strengthen members' rational and interpersonal problem-solving skills
Demonstrate and promote synergy within groups
Improve the efficiency and effectiveness of individual and group decision making