More than a Pencil

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Quick Synopsis

Encourage your team’s creativity and challenge them to work together to come up with a brand new use for an old tool. The pencil.

Ideal for building: teamwork, communication, innovation, creativity

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What You Need to Play

  • 4-30 people
  • Pencils

Set Up:

  1. Gather enough pencils for all groups. Group sizes should be 3-4 people. EX. If you have 10 people total, you would need 4 pencils.
  2. Come up with a new use for the pencil and write out your sales pitch for this new product. Great rule of thumb for writing a pitch. State a problem, state the solution, and state the benefit. See or use example below.            Example: Problem: Have you ever been home and needed a single hole puncher but can never find that elusive thing…and even if you do find it you are limited to just one size hole. Solution: Let me introduce you to the Pokemaster 3000. Benefit: All your hole punching worries are gone. With this innovative new tool you can punch three different hole sizes in seconds and in the precise location you desire. Found wherever pencils are sold!

How to Play More than a Pencil

  1. Tell the group that you have been working on a new product. Then share your pitch as seriously as you can. 
  2. Once you finish, tell the group that they are going to break into groups and come up with their own new product and pitch that they will share with the group.
  3. They will have 5 minutes to come up with their idea and sales pitch.
  4. Break the group into groups of 3-4 people per team. 
  5. Hand out a pencil to each group.
  6. Start the timer
  7. At the end of the time, say “Pencils Down!” Now it is time to hear what each group came up with.

Debrief Example Questions

  • How did your team come up with your idea and who would give the pitch?
  • Were there any disagreements and if so, how were they resolved?
  • What can we learn from this activity that we can apply to our jobs, company, lives, etc..