The Marshmallow Challenge

The marshmallow challenge is a simple game designed to make the participants work together as a team and build the tallest, free-standing structure they can with a marshmallow placed on top. The only equipment the teams have to use are 18 spaghetti pasta strips, 1 metre of tape, 1 metre of string and of course, a marshmallow. They are then given 18 minutes to build the tallest free-standing structure they can. The only rules are that the structure must be free-standing and they aren't allowed to tape the structure to the floor.

We've used the marshmallow challenge with our Kenyan groups as a bit of an ice breaker but also because of its relevancy to the start-up of a business. The majority of people doing the marshmallow challenge jump straight in and try to build the tallest possible structure before tentatively trying to place the marshmallow on top during the dying moments of the game. This normally results in the structure falling down as the structure can't hold the added weight of the marshmallow. This can be metaphoric to someone creating a complete product or service from an initial idea before ever testing it in the market to actual consumers. This game embodies what we're trying to teach our groups and one particular process we feel works very well in practise. If you take your idea and continually test it, then learn from these tests and modify the idea accordingly. This cycle can be done repeatedly to minimise risk and improve your idea until you're sure your complete idea/service is ready for the market.

Ironically, those who normally do best at this game are children around 6 years old. This is because they make a small structure first and then place the marshmallow on top to see if the structure can hold its weight. If it works, they start to add to the structure and make it incrementally bigger whilst testing the marshmallow. This message of testing, learning and improving is a simple one, yet highly effective. Ultimately, this game shows how easy it is to get carried away with one idea and forget to actually test it with your target market. After all, if they dislike your idea, you can learn from this early on before your risk and investment increases.