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The Big Question (One of my Favorites)

4/12/2016

1 Comment

 
(This post was updated on March 7th, 2021)
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Ever since my first workshop with Jim Cain (I have to say, "back in the day") I've been growing my collecting of ponderables for The Big Question ice breaker. I just love talking to people, asking them questions and getting to learn more about what they think. I still remember thinking how good Jim's questions were - they really got us talking.

At the time of this (original) post, Jim launched his back-pocket book, the International Edition of Teamwork & Teamplay. It includes (in it's 4.5 by 6 inch portable size), 50 "team" activities that are each briefly described in 16 different languages and then detailed out in English. Included in this collect is, The Big Question (the reason for my trip down memory lane).


Find your copy today on Amazon. In this new book Jim references his Teamwork & Teamplay Cards. With this oversized deck of cards you can run over a dozen activities - Jim's collection of 52 BIG questions are included on the faces of the cards. (And, you guessed it, you can use T&T Cards as a standard deck of playing cards. To those of you on the FUN Followers list, Box Cards from FUNdoing Fridays (April 8th) is enhanced with the oversized cards.) Find your Teamwork & Teamplay Cards here.

Below are some of Jim's questions (from his new book) and some of mine that I've used (collected) over the years. Of course, you can create your own Big Questions related to what you think your team would benefit from talking through. 

PLAY: I simply ask my participants to stand back-to-back with someone else. When everyone is paired up I ask everyone to turn around and say hello to their partner. Then, I shout out a BIG Question from my list and ask everyone to share their answers with their partners. After sufficient time I call out, "Back-to-back with someone new!" When everyone is paired up again I repeat the process. Usually six or seven questions keeps the interest going. Then it's off to the next activity...

Questions from Jim: 
  • What inspires you?
  • What makes you laugh? 
  • What is the most interesting thing you have ever found? 
  • When was the last time you were really surprised - what's the story? 
  • If the day was 25 hours long, what would you do with the extra hour?
  • What is the weirdest thing you have ever eaten? 
  • What is something you've lost and then found again? 
  • Describe a kind thing you've done for someone else. 
  • Name three things for which you are thankful. 
  • Describe something you have done to make the world a better place. 

Questions from Chris: 
  • When you think about tomorrow, what comes to mind? 
  • What do you think is the most exciting invention in your lifetime? 
  • What, and where, would you plant, if you could plant, any plant? 
  • When your get up and go has gone up and went, where does it go? 
  • If the world goes back to the barter system, with what will you barter? 
  • Why does everything slow down when you are in a hurry? 
  • If you had a super-power, what would it be - what's the story? 
  • If you had a magic carpet for a day, where would you go? 
  • Choose any living person to have lunch with - why did you choose this person?
  • Who is one of your heroes? How did this person get to be a hero to you?  

Make the Questions Mobile Take a screen capture of these questions and send it to your mobile device, then crop the questions out and have them close by for easy access.

What are your favorite questions to ask participants? Share them with us in the Comments below. 

Have FUN out there. 

Chris Cavert, Ed.D.
1 Comment
Karen Whittaker
11/1/2021 12:09:36 pm

One of my new favorite questions to ask is, "What is your favorite family dessert?" I will explain to the group that your family dessert is something that has been passed around in the family, either from a grandparent, a parent, aunt, etc.
I always share first so they understand. "I talk about my mom's homemade fudge and how she got the recipe from her aunt. She would make it on Holidays, but if we were lucky, she would make it on an ordinary Saturday night and my dad would make popcorn on the stove and we would have a sweet, salty snack. I have now passed it down to my own children and we make it together."
I like to do this as a whole group activity. It is a great way to explore the diversity in your group. If a student does not have a family tradition, I ask them what dessert recipe they might want to pass along to their children. Best outcome: I did this activity with a class that was male heavy (a welding class that comes to my facility once a month). My co-workers were skeptical this class would want to participate in this activity but I did it anyway. Truth is, some of them did need a little persuading but they still shared, and some really go into it. The following month when this class returned we got a treat. One of the young men had his mother make the brownies he had talked about and brought them into class to share! Lesson: everyone loves to talk about food because we all love to eat it and in doing so they share a lot about the traditions in their family and culture.

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    Blog Author

    Dr. Chris Cavert is an internationally known author, speaker, and trainer in the area of adventure-based activity programming and its relation to community and pro-social behavior development.

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