ARTICLES
& REPORTS
Professional
Development
About
Innovation Network
- P r o f e s s i o n a l _ D e v e l o p m e n t -
By Charlie Hawkins
Here's a simple exercise you can use to stimulate a lively conversation on values with your team, office mates, family, church group or friends.
You and sixteen other people are on a sinking ship. You can see an island in the distance (presumably deserted) and you have a life raft which will only hold nine people.
The group has agreed to abide by your decision as to who goes and who stays (right!). There is little chance that the people who stay will be rescued. Here's a brief description of the group. Who will you take in the life boat? Rank them in your order of preference.
___ millionaire Iranian playboy, age 29
___ recognized surgeon, an admitted homosexual who has been exposed to AIDS
___ electrician, member of a militant racist group
___ black college student, in a drug rehab program
___ newly-wed Jewish high school teachers who refuse to be separated,
___ retired male prostitute, mid 30s
___ pregnant teenager, questionable intelligence
___ fundamentalist missionary
___ Latino policeman, age 40
___ young boy who recently spent 9 months in a mental institution
___ secretary, mid-20s, divorced twice
___ nurse, politically active lesbian feminist
___ renowned female historian, age 60
___ accomplished musican with degenerative disease
___ architect with history of emotional disorders
___ you
Discussion questions:
What strategy did you use to make your decisions?
What values or biases did you note as you were making your decisions?