ABCD-Training-of-Trainers-Tools-July-2013

Activity 1: Electric Current
Instructions
Ask the group to stand up and form a circle. You will give two instructions, when it is someone else’s
turn to play the game, they can feel free to add another instruction as the game goes along.
Explain that there is electricity moving through you which you will pass on to the person standing on
either your left or right; they in turn will pass it on so that it moves around the group. The instruction is
that you will move it with your left hand and any sound you decide to make up to move it left and the
same for the right hand to move it right. The person will use the same action and sound to move it
along.
The second instruction is that if the current is coming your way and you wish to stop it and change the
direction it is moving in, then you will push both elbows down and use a different sound. This means the
current stops at you and you can then change its direction. For example if it comes to you from the left,
you can use both elbows in a stopping gesture and say the noise ‘boing!’ This will stop the current. You
can then use your left hand to send it back to the left (instead of carrying on to the right as it would
have) using the sounds for moving the current along.
When the current comes to someone and they wish to add a rule – maybe kicking it with their leg to the
person opposite them, or using their head, they should show the action and sound to be used and
explain to the group what is going on.
With so little information, the game can start. Usually a practice round is necessary as people get it
easily wrong. As the current starts moving, people tend to get more spontaneous – kicking the current,
using their hips or bouncing it on the floor, for example. Sometimes even two currents are at play at the
same time. More often than not, chaos and even conflict erupts as some people take it on themselves to
correct others who they think are doing it wrong, or people are doing their own thing and
communication breaks down.
Other times the current gets stuck between a few people and does not even reach the others so they
feel left out as they have not had a chance to play. There are also times when the current has been
thrown to someone without their knowledge and no one knows what has happened to it. The game is at
a standstill.
Allow whatever is happening to happen without intervening as a certain amount of chaos might be good
for the learning that follows. After about 10 minutes, you can stop the game and ask everyone to sit
down.
In the debrief, ask the group to define what they understand to be a process. Most often people say “it
is a continuous thing”, “it involves steps”, orbit has some logic to it”. Then reflecting on the game, you
can ask what we can learn about development processes from the activity. Usually the importance of
communication and information flow is highlighted as key to a good process. Conflict and confusion
often erupts when these break down or when people just start doing their own thing. You can also
reflect on your observation and make linkages. For example, processes often move too quickly and
people get lost. Sometimes they get stuck between one or two people who do not perform tasks and