TED2010 Talk. Several years ago, here at TED, Peter Skillman introduced us to a design exercise called the Marshmallow Challenge. Its goal was simple: in eighteen minutes, teams of four must build the tallest freestanding structure out of 20 sticks of spaghetti, one yard of tape, one yard of string, and one marshmallow. The marshmallow has to be on top. Though the task seems simple, it's actually pretty hard. It forces people to collaborate quickly. So I decided to run it as part of a design workshop. Since that first workshop, I've conducted over 70 Marshmallow challenges with designers, architects, students - even leadership teams of the Fortune 50. Most participants discovered deep lessons on how to successfully they personally innovate.
Normally most people begin by orienting themselves to the task. Then the team plans. Next, they assemble the sticks and tape them into ever growing structures. 'ta-dah!!! ' But usually, the 'ta-dah' turns into an 'oh-oh!! ' But why? Sound familiar? Here are the results: Glacier GAK at Steve Spangler Science. Khan Academy. Salman Khan talk at TED 2011 (from ted.com) | New and Noteworthy. Accueil.