If someone asks you and three other people to build the tallest free-standing structure out of 20 sticks of spaghetti, one yard of tape, one yard of string and a marshmallow, what would you do? Maybe first, you will start talking with the other people how to build a structure for a while, and begin to start. In this lecture, you will learn about the Marshmallow challenge.
A few years ago, at TED, Peter Skillman introduced a design challenge called the marshmallow challenge. Each team of four had to build the tallest freestanding structure out of 20 sticks of spaghetti, one yard of tape, one yard of string and a marshmallow. The marshmallow was required to be on top. This experiment was done to many people, for example, students, designers, architects, and even the CTOs of the Fortune 50. Most of them began by orienting themselves to the task. They figured out what it was going to look like and spent some time planning. Then, they spent the majority of their time assembling the sticks into ever-growing structures. Finally, just as they were running out of time, someone takes out the marshmallow, and put it on top. “Ta-da!” However, in a minute, it turns into an “uh-oh” because the weight of the marshmallow causes the entire structure to collapse. This is the result that most people experience.
According to the result of an experiment, the average for most people is around 20 inches. What’s amazing is that business school students and lawyers are about half of that. However, the most surprising thing is that kindergarteners are better than most adults. They build around 30 inches. What kindergarteners do differently is that they start with the marshmallow, and they build prototypes. They do not consider the marshmallow just as a final task, but they do their job with the marshmallow and get more time to modify the structure.
A few years ago, at TED, Peter Skillman introduced a design challenge called the marshmallow challenge. Each team of four had to build the tallest freestanding structure out of 20 sticks of spaghetti, one yard of tape, one yard of string and a marshmallow. The marshmallow was required to be on top. This experiment was done to many people, for example, students, designers, architects, and even the CTOs of the Fortune 50. Most of them began by orienting themselves to the task. They figured out what it was going to look like and spent some time planning. Then, they spent the majority of their time assembling the sticks into ever-growing structures. Finally, just as they were running out of time, someone takes out the marshmallow, and put it on top. “Ta-da!” However, in a minute, it turns into an “uh-oh” because the weight of the marshmallow causes the entire structure to collapse. This is the result that most people experience.According to the result of an experiment, the average for most people is around 20 inches. What’s amazing is that business school students and lawyers are about half of that. However, the most surprising thing is that kindergarteners are better than most adults. They build around 30 inches. What kindergarteners do differently is that they start with the marshmallow, and they build . They do not consider the marshmallow just as a final task, but they do their job with the marshmallow and get more time to modify the structure.
It means a lot that kindergarteners can build more successful structures than people who are well-educated, like business school students. There are two types of people. People who have a lot of discussion to find one way to build a tower and people who open up all sorts of possibilities to find ways to build a tower. The reason why kids are better than adults in this game is that they do not think there is only one way to solve a problem. Many adults just pay attention to find a perfect way, jockey for power and organize how to start. However, it may not be a perfect way to success.
If you would like to learn more from this lecture, visit snow and find, “Build a tower, build a team.”
1. Prototype : A prototype is a new type of machine or device which is not yet ready to be made in large numbers and sold.
Ex)) Chris Retzler has built a prototype of a machine called the wave rotor.
2. Jockey : [VERB] If you say that someone is jockeying for something, you mean that they are using whatever methods they can in order to get it or do it before their competitors can get it or do it. [NOUN] A jockey is someone who rides a horse in a race.
Ex)) I always jockey around when I’m on a standing concert.
