This is a great activity to demonstrate the importance of active listening and not making assumptions.
Tell your team you are going to tell them a story. They will need to listen carefully and they should not take any notes. Once you have finished telling the story, you will ask them a question about what they have just heard. If anyone knows the answer to the question, ask them to keep it to themselves until asked to share.
“You are the bus driver on the number 10 bus. At the first stop, 29 people get on. On the second stop, 6 of those 29 people get off, and at the same time, 10 new passengers arrive. At the third stop, 8 passengers get off. The bus is running a little early, so during 3 minutes wait at the stop, 14 people and a dog get on. At the fourth stop, 12 passengers get off, and 2 passengers get on. At the fifth stop, everyone gets off.
How old is the bus driver?”
Ask anyone who knows the answer to put their hands up but not say the answer. Most people in the team who do not know the answer will probably look quite puzzled and some might say that you hadn’t given them that information to begin with!
Finally, ask anyone in the team who knows the answer to share it. If nobody knows the answer, share it with them: the very few first words spoken were “You are the bus driver” so the bus driver is as old as you are.
