The trouble with icebreakers

Here’s an example. A Lean Manufacturing workshop begins with an exercise called Two Truths and a Lie. In this activity, each person makes three statements about himself or herself. Two of the statements are true. The other statement is a lie. The group then guesses which statements are true and which is a lie. People have a lot of fun with this activity as they try to guess when people are lying.

This is exactly the kind of time-wasting activity I run into all the time. What does any of this have to do with getting work done in meetings?

Very little, though knowing who in the group is a good liar may be helpful. However, when you ask participants to identify when a person is lying, you reinforce the belief that people can’t be trusted.

Two Truths and a Lie does not build the kind of connections necessary to do good work. While you may have fun doing the activity, when it’s over, you end up thinking, “What was that all about?”