DAY 2
The first bright and early start in Summer@INSEAD 2019 was inspired by the need to set off in time for our group, team-building exercises in the Fontainebleau forest. The students stepped up admirably to the task, with only a few fallen soldiers missing breakfast, but with all in time for Adrian Johnson’s 8AM debrief on the importance of daily reflection, as well as an explanation of the day’s logistics. The order of the day was team spirit, communication, and healthy competition, all within our recently introduced YFCD groups. The goal: tackling all of the mind-boggling, thought-provoking, outdoor puzzles and tasks our wizened French forest rangers had prepared for us.
It was a beautiful day in the Chateau de Courances. Although a bit nippy at first, we were all aware of the sunshine that lay ahead of us and were dressed appropriately as we parked up next to the rustic café that would become our base. Not to be daunted by the 6 challenges that lay ahead of us, the students set off in their YFCD groups, all merged to make teams of ten (distinguishable by our colour coordinated helmets). To give a brief description of each challenge:
– A puzzle challenge where students were tasked with getting through large holes in a net without touching the edges (acrobatics encouraged)
– A zipline attraction charged with a mind-boggling carabiner manipulation
– A face-to-face trust exercise requiring students to lean against one another as they slack-lined from a height
– A balancing contraption asking the students to stack forest logs atop a scale that all to easily tipped over, signifying disqualification
– A bridge the gap game which fully pushed participants physically, mentally, and creatively. In all honesty, the perseverance demonstrated by the teams forced to start from the beginning when prompted by a mistake or error was an inspiration to all in the audience.
– Finally, the annual, just-as-chaotic-and-frustrating-as-ever ski race between all the teams, bringing glory and humiliation in equal measure, as the students proved both their ability to shout over one another, as their ability to come up with creative solutions to difficult challenges.
In what feels like the climax of this writer’s journalistic career, it pains me to expose the scandal that lies in the leadership of tour guide Vincente, the two-years consecutive king of the outdoor team-building dark arts, whose vindictive strategizing and generous marking was much appreciated by their ultimately successful team (yours truly, a bitter green-teamer). In all honesty, the day of outdoor team building fully served its purpose in breaking the ice for many of the participants and their respective counsellors (laying the foundations for what will become very important relationships over the coming fortnight), as well as introducing the students to some of the skills and lessons that they will do well to take on board for the rest of the programme. The latter takeaway was demonstrated most poignantly in the end of session presentations delivered by the different teams, with each member playing a role, and each group summing up their respective key-learnings from the day. Bravo to the participants for their reflection, their charisma, and, highly noticeably, their artistic portrayals in these presentations, and well done to the Black team for their ultimate victory on the day, overall (subject to retrospective investigation by the regulatory authorities of French tour-guide cheating).
On arrival back on campus, the students were invited in for one final session of the day before we were all hosted to a wonderful barbecue courtesy of INSEAD Dean of Innovation, Peter Zemsky. Spoilt by a seriously indulgent spread, the students enjoyed the opportunity to bathe in the final rays of light from a long day’s work, punctuated by an engaging speech and exhibition of the history of Fontainebleau, courtesy of our gracious host. We repaid this generosity shown to us by stealing the Deputy Dean’s football goals, scurrying back on campus with an oath for their return at the end of the programme. Unfortunately, the evening’s wholesome nature was tainted by ugly scenes of disagreement by Marie Angelique and Pascale, both of whom have been taking part in a campus-wide “Assassin” role play game, with the latter denying her “death” and disqualification at the hands of the former and then going on an attempted role play rampage herself. A full explanation of the game, the scene and the outcome will likely come in a subsequent blog post, so we do encourage you all to, loyally and attentively, watch this space.
