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YLT-Lonely, Boring Puzzle

When working in a team, is it better for one person to do the work, or for everyone to work together? This activity will give you the chance to try out both methods as you work to build puzzles. Does teamwork really make the dream work?

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Plan

  • Which puzzle will you do for the first and second round?  
  • Who will do the puzzle alone in the first round? 

Do

  • Split up into Patrol-sized groups, and pick someone who most wants to solve a puzzle.  
  • Give that person a medium-sized puzzle to solve, but only that person solves it, while the rest of your Patrol just watches. Allow up to ten minutes.  
  • Then do a second round with everyone solving a different, similar puzzle together. 

Review

  • What do you know now that you did not know before?  
  • What did you like and not like about the first round?  
  • What did you like and dislike about the second round?  
  • How can this relate to real-world Patrol work? (Think of the puzzle as a metaphor.) 

Keep it Simple

If you don’t have a puzzle (or don’t want to do one!), what other tasks could you do for this activity? 

Take it Further

Are there any tasks that are easier to do on your own? Why might they be easier than doing them as a team? How can you make sure that when you’re splitting up tasks, you’re doing it in the best way possible?