Life has a funny way of surprising you, and never more so than this year. For many of us, it’s been a year of stress, anxiety and extraordinary challenge. Those are some of the negative consequences of unwelcome change.

But change, even unwelcome change, can encourage resourcefulness, creativity, and lead to some surprising new opportunities. 

If you had told me a year ago that we’d have a version of Glasstap Sheep Trials that could be delivered remotely, I’d have thought you were mad! After all, this is an activity that traditionally requires hula hoops, cones and plenty of outdoor space, and involves a team leader guiding his or her blindfolded team around a course.

And if you’d told me that my team would join a training session with some of our customers in India, I’d probably have been sceptical too.

But both things have happened this month, and both are inextricably linked. 

Bharti Dekate and her team at We Are Idea Consulting in Mumbai, India, have really embraced Remote Delivery this year, and have been appreciative of the work we’ve put in to creating a new library of Remote Delivery materials that they, and others, can use. 

When we said we didn’t have a remote version of Glasstap Sheep Trials, and couldn’t see a way to create one, they set themselves the challenge of finding a solution. Having achieved the impossible, they then invited my team to join theirs for a training session, where they demonstrated what they’d come up with. 

Their solution was brilliant; both in its simplicity and its effectiveness.

As a result of this effort, I’m really proud to be able to bring Sheep Trail to Trainers’ Library members around the world; an old favourite redesigned for new times.

The new approach has already been experienced by more than 100 people in India, so it’s well tested. 

Just like the original version, it’s an activity that will really test your participants’ planning, communication and team skills. And it’s a great tool to use in continuous improvement training too, since you have the option to let teams have a second or third attempt with progressively more difficult challenges. 

It might not be a huge thing in the scheme of things, in a world that is striving to find an effective vaccine or treatment and defeat a new virus. But in difficult times, it’s a timely reminder of what can be achieved when people pull together and generously support each other. And it’s a wonderful demonstration of how a pandemic that forces people apart, has paradoxically created opportunities to bring people closer together.

Until next time...