Equilateral Triangle Activity

This activity will help build understanding of three of the five Adaptive Schools’ Dynamical Principles:

• Everything influences everything else.
• Tiny events produce major disturbances.
• You don’t have to touch everyone to make a difference.

Directions

• Make a circle
• Look around the room and pick two other people without them knowing you are picking them.
• Remember who you picked.
• Do not let them know that you chose them.  The three of you are now the three vertices of an equilateral triangle.  Every time we move as a group, your job is to form an equilateral triangle with your two selected people.  You may not talk during this activity.
• Start walking when I say go and adjust your position so that you are equidistant from the other points of your triangle.
• Stop when I say stop.  Assess how successful you are.
• We will do this several times.

Processing the Activity

• Once the system is in motion, what happens when one person just stops or moves?
• What happens to the others?
• How were you connected to the others in your triangle?  How did your movement affect the entire system?
• What different systems are you part of?
• What implications does this activity have for your leadership team, school, grade level, PLC team, etc.
• Think of an example of how an action/decision you made had an effect beyond you that you did not anticipate.
• Consider each dynamical principle.  What might your understanding of these principles be now?