This can be an intensely frustrating game for people (usually the intelligent ones) who don't get it. If you judge the frustration level is getting too high, then a few gentle hints like saying how the exercise “works”. You can use this exercise if the group's energy is a bit low, or if you have been doing intense work and are looking for a light relief. It may also help a group that is working mechanically to be more creative.

Instructions

1. Have the group sit in a circle of chairs where you can all see each other.

2. Tell them you are going to pass two spoons (or pens or markers as substitute) around the group, and that there is one simple, unchanging rule that determines whether someone passes the spoons to the next person as “crossed" or "uncrossed".

3. The objective of the game is to work out what the rule is.

4. As you pass the spoon, say whether they are crossed or uncrossed.

5. When the next person passes them on, you say again whether they are crossed or uncrossed but not why.

6. When someone works out the rule, he or she continues to pass the spoons and say (together with you) whether they are crossed or uncrossed until everybody has worked out what the rule is.

7. End the exercise when all or most have figured out the rule

The rule is that the spoons are passed "crossed" if the person passing them has her or his legs, ankles, or even arms crossed, and "uncrossed" if no body parts are. Note that what people do with the spoons is irrelevant!

When you see some participants are at their wits end about the exercise’s “rule”, tell them you are in two minds about whether the "spoons" are crossed or uncrossed while crossing and uncrossing your legs!

When you are done, you may want to have a brief discussion about lateral thinking and/or hear about the increasingly desperate hypotheses some people were imagining for the rule.