The philosophy behind a lot of team building seems to be something like this: You’ve been complaining that your job is very stressful. So we are going to take you out of your very stressful job for a day or two and make you do something even more stressful so that when we send you back to work you will stop complaining.
This exercise is based on a different philosophy of bringing people together: Create a relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere and then gently guide participants to get a glimpse of the creative spark in their colleagues and themselves. In the sometimes-soulless world of commerce we need to create an environment where the soul can shine; where we can gain insight and appreciation of the hidden depths of our associates and ourselves. The key is to do this without causing any unnecessary additional stress; and to avoid invasive, touchy-feely activities.Fine wine and poetry are the perfect catalysts.
The forum for the birth of philosophy was a convivial gathering known as the Symposium. Symposium literally means “ to drink together.” In Plato’s Critias Socrates expresses the magic that happens when people gather together in a convivial environment to enjoy wine, poetry and music. “You will find that suddenly something extraordinary happens. As they are speaking, it’s as if a spark ignites, passing from one speaker to another, and as it travels it gathers strength, building into a warm and illuminating flame of mutual understanding which none of them could have achieved alone.”This exercise involves a comparative wine tasting and poetry contest; (we usually arrange for a comparative chocolate tasting for those who don’t drink wine). Although most groups don’t think of themselves as poetic, after the second glass of wine everyone is a poet!
Comparative Wine Tasting
The New Symposium is usually offered as an evening team building event following one of Michael’s keynotes or seminars. Please contact Michael for details.
Download a description of this program
Read Michael’s writings on wine.
