Is it a risk for me to offer these types of activities? Yes. Without heads up facilitation the class could go on a tangent away from the topic or, heaven forbid, there could be a minutes of chaos!    However, with a technique called frontloading, the class can stay on course and still discover some rich lessons.

Frontloading simply means that the trainer tells the participants on what topic to focus their attention during an activity. For example, if an activity called for one person to be blindfolded and the remaining people to verbally guide them, I could frontload the activity by saying that we were going to focus on leadership. After the activity is completed and we discuss what happened, people are ready to talk about leadership. Because I focused everyone on leadership, it became a leadership activity. I could have just as easily said it was a communication exercise or trust activity if that had been the focus of the training.

A few years ago I discovered a great way to train on the topic of trust in the classroom. I was asked to do some trust building activities with a group of seventy people…indoors…in a classroom…with chairs bolted to the floor. My visions of people walking blindly or being lifted or supported vanished as I learned more about the training space I had to work with. 

My choices seemed clear; I could bore everyone with a class and discussion about trust or I could come up with something new. So, as with so many things in life, some creativity was needed and mousetraps were just the thing. What’s nice about mousetraps is that they have a high perceived risk and a low actual risk. Just the sound of a snap from a mousetrap causes a perceptible tension in a training room. People are afraid of mousetraps, or at the very least cautious of them. However, the actual damage one can do to a finger is simply pain or a minor bruise at most if someone gets snapped fully. There are no missing fingers or blood. The feeling of risk is high, but the actual risk is low. 

We started out the training session as if it was a normal training. I explained we were working on the topic of trust. We defined trust in our own words. We discussed situations that require trust. 

Then, I brought out the traps. I had prepared for a four-step mousetrap trust sequence. The room was focused. I asked everyone to find a partner that they did not know well and sit together. As they moved into place I began to distribute a trap for every pair of people. I asked for a show of hands of those who had never set a trap before. Almost everyone raised her hand. I did a quick demonstration of how to set a trap for everyone. I explained that you hold the wooden base in one hand and pull back the spring-loaded “snapper” with the other hand. Then you put the holding bar over the top of the snapper and slide the bent tip of it sideways under the small lip of the bait pan. When the spring is slowly released, the holding bar locks into place and the trap is loaded. 

I also brought to everyone’s attention the big V on one side of the trap and the mouse head logo in the V. (I like to use the Victor brand mousetrap.) I said that as long as they held the “mouse” by the head, it couldn’t bite them. In other words, the snap and possible pain happens on the end of the trap where the bait pan is located, so avoid leaving your fingers on that end. 

When everyone seemed to understand how the traps work, I started the mousetrap trust sequence:

Stage one: You and your partner take turns setting the mousetrap. Verbally help each other as needed. I observed and coached as needed.

Stage two: You and your partner take turns setting the mousetrap with your eyes closed. The sited partner can verbally help as needed. This stage took a little bit more time as people decided whether or not to do it. With some support from their partner, everyone took the challenge.

Stage three: Take turns unsetting the trap. The method to use to unset the trap is to hold your hand flat with fingers together, put it on top of a loaded trap, and then quickly lift your hand. For some people, this was very difficult.

Stage four: The sighted partner sets the trap and places it on a surface somewhere in the room, then verbally guides their sightless partner to unset the trap using the method in stage three. As people finished and relief showed on their faces, I drew people’s attention to a few people who were obviously afraid, but were doing the task anyway. What was their partner doing to instill confidence? What do you notice about their words and tone?

As the last trap snapped closed everyone cheered for the final person who was willing to trust her partner and overcome her own fears. 

The discussion after the activity turned to real subjects and real situations about trust, not the “canned” answers that are given so often. Everyone had gained an experience and a new friend.

I have repeated the trust sequence many times over the last few years. Although facilitating this exercise no longer feels risky to me, each time I run it I remind myself of the emotional feeling that risky endeavors create.

Since the development of this first exercise, to prevent my participants and myself from getting in a rut, I have continued to come up with new games* with uncertain outcomes, which would challenge, teach and energize.

by Sam Sikes

* If you’re looking for more “risk-friendly” activities, they are collected in my book Raptor.