Change Up

April 14, 2011 by Mark Collard Filed under: Problem-Solving A simple line-up initiative using a deck of cards. At A Glance A group attempts to form a line as quickly as possible according to the numerical sequence of the playing card each person is holding. What You Need

Regular deck of cards Stop-watch 15 30 minutes

What To Do This initiative has become one of my latest favourites because its so simple, and always provides plenty of opportunity for discussion at the end.

Start by randomly distributing one card (face-down) from a regular deck of cards to each person in the group. Ask people not to look at their card, or show it to another person. Explain that you will issue two loud commands for each of several rounds GO, and STOP. On GO, you invite everyone to turn their card over (for the first time) and then as quickly as possible, form one straight line according to the numerical order of the cards, aces high. That is, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King, Ace regardless of suits, so if three people were holding 7s, it would not matter in what order they stood provided they all lined up between the 6s and 8s. Using a stop-watch, your job is to time how long this process takes. Between each round, the group is entitled to pool their creative resources and try to think of ways to improve their time. When the group is prepared to be timed again, explain that you want all

cards turned face down again, and then with a simple one-for-one swap, invite everyone to mingle and make as many trades as posible until you say STOP. At this point, without turning the cards over, invite the group to do whatever it needs to do to be ready for the next command GO which means the clock starts ticking again. Hint, be sure to focus the groups efforts on solving the timing problem, and not the method in which the cards are randomly distributed between each round. Good solutions not only feature good problem-solving and decision-making skills, but also an emphasis on systems and creativity. Variations

Same as above, yet explain the criterion of success is the alphabetical order of the cards (not numerical). You will literally hear the cogs grinding in peoples heads as they grapple with this change. So, now, suits do matter (Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, Spades in that order) when two or more of the same card value occur. For example, the 3s will now necessarly sit between the 6s and the 2s ( six, three, two ) Use a bunch of coins, and distribute as above, with the goal of forming a line according to the order of their year of manufacture, eg 1978, 1982, 1983, 1991

If you know of a cool variation to this exercise, please add a comment