Using Wuzzle Picture Puzzles for Building Teams, Enhancing Creativity, and Improving Decision Making

By Steve Dunphy, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Management Indiana University Northwest 3400 Broadway Gary, Indiana 46408 July, 2006 For Submission to: The Journal of Business and Training Education

Keywords: Teambuilding, enhancing creativity, word puzzles. Abstract The use of wuzzle picture puzzles is proposed for building teams, enhancing creativity and improving small group decision making. Picture puzzles are first solved individually and then in groups. The author suggests that this exercise will be useful for team building while enhancing creativity and improving decision making. Its is proposed that the results will be significant in more ways than those merely statistical.

Introduction A number of large, American corporations have come under criticism in recent years for the fact that the various parts of the corporation may not be working together to produce innovative products indicative of that clich, thinking outside the box (Appendix: wuzzle picture puzzle b, #7). The management literature is rife with calls for improved teamwork, enhanced creativity and better decision making. To name but one case, according to a recent study on the consumer electronics industry, lead times are longer for Japanese companies but manufacturing performance was vastly superior to that of Western companies (Oliver et. Al., 2004). Citing one reason behind the problems with American manufacturing, Rossetti and Choi (2005) document the short term orientation of a number of manufacturers in the aerospace industry and show how strategic outsourcing, when focused on immediate cost reductions, may result in a weakening of the buying firms long run competitiveness. Management consultant Paul Engle believes that American companies can foster their competitiveness through gains in efficiency, responsive customer service, and a motivated work force (Engle, 1004). Perhaps the researcher Charles Watson can provide a unique perspective on todays debate from years ago. In a treatise on creativity, Watson (1975) asserted that certain traits such as open-mindedness, flexibility, humor and the ability to consider irrational ideas and impulses are a help. Watson links the development of creativity to concentration, problem selection, information gathering, free wheeling thinking, unconscious mind works and solution discovery. These are all skills needed to solve the wuzzle picture puzzles.

The Group Administrators are often asked to find ways to get their employees to improve their productivity, resolve conflict, and increase cohesion in order to act as a group. Management textbooks describe group cohesiveness as one of the more important determinants of a groups structure (Greenberg and Baron, 2001). Without it, members do not desire to remain a part of the group. In fact, a number of deleterious consequences may result from employees failing to work as a group. According to Kidwell and Mossholder (1997), a deterioration in group cohesiveness may negatively impact citizenship behavior - among other things. If this statement is coupled with the fact that more and more group work involves virtual teams or the use of interactive technologies (Lurey and Raisinghani, 2001), then the question becomes how can the administrator at least warm the group up? A start may be to consider that group cohesion shows up in the way members are attracted to each other and motivated to stay in the group. A number of factors such as face-to-face communication, time spent together, the severity of the initiation, group size and external threats all affect cohesiveness. Still, professional managers explain that it remains difficult to coordinate the work of the staff with the demands of upper management, the requirements of the customers and the demands of the general public (McAdoo and Pynes, 1995; Mulroy, 2003). For example, in surveying employees of a mental health services agency, McAdoo and Pynes found that the statistically significant factors contributing to employee dissatisfaction with their jobs included employees reporting that they did not feel involved, believed that management was(nt) interested in the success of line staff, that mutual trust and

respect was lacking among co-workers or between management and line staff, and that they had no voice (p. 367). Mulroys study pointed out that stressors constrained executives ability to collaborate. Stressors included uncertain funding streams and conflicting policies.

Using Wuzzle Picture Puzzles

Are there exercises to build group cohesiveness, espirit de corps and teamwork which might enable the manager to collaborate, enhance motivation and develop an energized, positive environment leading to greater creativity and innovation? A simple,

informational paper and pencil exercise involving the process of understanding and deciphering wuzzle picture-puzzles is proposed for this very purpose. The wuzzle picture-puzzle exercise may be used either as a stand alone activity or as a warm-up to some other event involving, for example, in depth team building or even a meeting about the organizations mission and current objectives. The manager need merely pass out Wuzzle Picture-Puzzle A to each participant (see Appendix A) and ask him or her to solve the puzzles as quickly as possible. Sixteen boxes each contain an anagram representing a commonly used or commonly known phrase, short set of words or concept that is depicted by the picture. Participants must identify the phrase. After completing the exercise, the manager should have participants switch then grade each others papers. One point should be recorded for each correct answer. A perfect score would total 16 points.

After grading the papers, the administrator may wish to randomly assign participants to teams or even assign participants who do not seem to get along to the same team. Teams may consist of 2, 3 or even 4 members per group. Teams are given Wuzzle Picture-Puzzle B (see Appendix B) and told to solve the puzzles using the collective wisdom of the group. Again, after completing the exercise, papers should be switched and graded among teams. Scores typically increase significantly when individual results are compared with group results. At this point, the manager can explain that in the team condition, group members were able to capitalize on the diversity of their teammates by playing to each others strengths and minimizing each others weaknesses. In working with others, participants are typically able to uncover personal biases and stereotypes, learn about other points of view, overturn inaccurate beliefs, assumptions and misunderstandings, improve their comprehension of others who are different, and improve the quality of their decisionmaking. The result should be a synergistic decision process wherein interpersonal skills are combined with rational skills. By learning to more effectively and efficiently communicate with each other, team members should be able to engage in active listening and in responsive clarifying. The idea is that team members will pay attention and respond to each others feelings and ideas because they have a clear incentive to solve the puzzle. Prizes or awards are not necessary. Team members will naturally wish to demonstrate their skills or avoid embarrassment by not exposing their lack thereof. Successful groups typically have members who are supportive and appreciative of each other. All of these factors should combine to support the decision-making process

and the result is typically a marked improvement in wuzzle picture-puzzle performance scores from test A to test B. Scores may even double.

Debriefing and Conclusion

This exercise should demonstrate that working in diverse groups may result in an improvement in overall performance. Research in this area seems to indicate that a mixed group of experts who are afforded the opportunity to freely contribute ideas to the decision-making process and whose skill set on a structured task is complementary, will typically outperform an individual decision maker (Hill, 1982; Wanous & Youtz, 1986; Yetton & Bottger, 1983). Can the manager now extrapolate these findings from the teams to the work units mission and objectives? Most organizations face a structured task. What types of structured tasks does the organization face? How are participants in fact similar to a mixed group of experts? Can participants think of new and improved ways to achieve the managers structured tasks through an invigorated process of decision-making? If they can, the wuzzle picture-puzzle exercise may prove to be a meaningful experience for networking, understanding, and improved decision-making first inside the organization and then beyond.

REFERENCES Dunphy, S. (2004). Building volunteer group cohesiveness and teamwork: the ball toss exercise. The Journal of Volunteer Administration. Vol. 22, #4. p. 40. Dunphy, S. (2004). Demonstrating the Value of Diversity for Improved Decisionmaking: The Wuzzle-Puzzle Exercise. The Journal of Business Ethics. V. 53. p. 325. Engle, P. Breaking the Rules. 2004. Industrial Engineer. November. V. 36#11, p. 22. Esser, J K. (1998), Alive and Well after 25 Years: A Review of Groupthink Research. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. Vol.: 73, Issue: 2/3, February/March. 116 - 141. Hill, G.W., (1982). Group versus Individual Performance: Are N + 1 heads better than one? Psychological Bulletin, 91. 517-539. Lurey J. & Raisinghani, M. (2001). An empirical study of best practices in virtual teams. Information & Management. 38, 523-5444. Mathis, R & Jackson, J. (2003). Human Resource Management (10th ed). Mason, Ohio: Thomson Southwestern Publishing. McAdoo, S. and Pynes, J. (1995). Reinventing mental health service delivery: One nonprofits experience. Public Administration Quarterly. Vol;. 19. Iss. 3. pg. 367. Milliken, F., Martins, L. (1996). Searching for Common Threads: Understanding the Multiple Effects of Diversity in Organizational Groups. Academy of Management Review. Vol 2, No. 2, 402-433. Mulroy, E. (2003). Community as a factor in interorganizational partnerships. Vol. 14. #1. Fall. Pg. 47.

Oliver, N., Dostaler, I. and Dewberry, E. 2004. New Product Development Benchmarks: The Japanese, North American and UK consumer electronics industries. Journal of High Technology Management Research. August. V. 15#2, p. 248=9. Rosetti, C. and Choi, T. 2005. On the dark side of strategic sourcing: experiences from the aerospace industry. The Academy of Management Executive. February/ V. 19, Iss. 1, p. 46. Tuckman, B. W., Jensen, M.A. (1977). Stages of small group development revisited. Group and Organization Studies. No. 2, 419-427. Wanous J., & Youtz, M., (1986). Solution diversity and the quality of group decisions. Academy of Management Journal, 29, 141-159. Watson, C. 1975. Developing Creative people. Research Management. May. V18#3, p. 14. Watson, W., Johnson, L. Merritt, D., (1996). Team Orientation, Self-Orientation, and Diversity in Task Groups. Group & Organization Management, Vol. 23, No. 2, June. 161-188. Yetton P., & Bottger, P. (1983). The relationship among group size, member ability, social decision schemes, and performance. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, v 32, p. 145.

Wuzzle Picture Puzzles A (to be solved individually)

1 2 3 4

Win or Lose? Play ball!

No

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

or

10

Answers: Wuzzle Picture Puzzles Version A 1. A penny for your thoughts. 2. It aint (or isnt) over till the fat lady sings. 3. Drunk as a skunk 4. The buck stops here. 5. On a wing and a prayer (or, coming in on a wing and a prayer). 6. Its not whether you win or lose, its how you play the game. 7. Like shootin fish in a barrel. 8. Never look a gift horse in the mouth. 9. Put your money where your mouth is. 10. An apple a day keeps the doctor away. 11. A tempest in a teapot. 12. A flash in the pan. 13. The devil is in the details. 14. Dont pee on my leg and tell me its raining. 15. Signed, sealed and delivered. 16. Fish or cut bait.

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Wuzzle Picture Puzzles B (to be solved as a group)

1 2 3 4

5 Hi. My names Tim.

Buck +Buck (reverse the sum)

Start from here. 9

10 $

11

$ $ 13 14 15

E v e r y t h i n gs 16

Hi! My names Dory.

12

$1.00 (Hint:: what is this young lady wearing here?)

12

Answers: Wuzzle Picture Puzzles Version B 1. Dont put the car before the horse (or putting the cart before the horse). 2. Punch his lights out. 3. Cry wolf. 4. See ya later, alligator. 5. From here to timbuktu. 6. Its raining cats and dogs. 7. Thinking outside the box. 8. Walking on eggshells. 9. Lightning never strikes the same place twice. 10. A fool and his money are soon parted. 11. Eye candy or Dutch treat. 12. Everythings hunky dory. 13. A day late and a dollar short. 14. Swimming with the sharks. 15. You cant make a silk purse out of a sows ear. 16. Thats a no brainer.

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