Hello All!
Recently a friend of mine introduced me to logic puzzles and I thought, “Hey! This would make a good problem solving activity to do with a virtual team!” Luckily, a colleague in the Challenge Course industry had the same idea! The following activity comes from teamworkandteamplay.com
The County Fair
By Jim Cain, Ph.D
There were six entries in the pie contest at the county fair. Judges awarded prizes for first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth place. Which person baked which pie? And what prize did they win?
The Clues:
- The contest judges awarded first prize to the apple pie.
- The peach pie won second place.
- The cherry pie was so sour the judges did not place it in the top five places.
- Betty’s pie placed lower than Andy’s pie and higher than Dave’s pie.
- Ellen’s pie was one of the best she ever made.
- Sarah substituted brown sugar for regular sugar in her pie.
- Sarah did not receive either first or sixth prize.
- Andy has never entered a fruit pie in the county fair.
- The chocolate pie placed one place higher than pecan pie.
- One person won two prizes, for fifth and sixth places and one of these pies was blueberry.
Debriefing Questions:
- What strategies or tools did your team use to solve this puzzle?
- Did a leader emerge in this problem solving activity? What made them the leader?
- Was the leader who you expected? Why or why not?
- Think about the projects your team takes on: Does the leadership role ever change? How do you decide who will be the best leader for each project?
- Does it make sense to always have the same person be the leader? Why or why not?
I look forward to the day when the challenge course can be available to help your teams reunite. Until then stay safe, stay healthy, stay connected!
Thank you,
Amy “Jesso” Watson
Challenge Course Manager
(503) 538-2763, ext. 105