To start an introductory session to agility involving not only the production team but also their managers and sponsors, I went looking for a fun Icebreaker to energize their exchanges in joy and good humor. While wandering on Youtube, I came across “Walk / Stop” which, from the video, seemed very nice to me, and I was not disappointed! 😉

Before you start

• You need space because as the title suggests, the participants will be set in motion
• No need for any special equipment except a pair of legs and a good mood
• The number of participants is not limited
• The duration depends on you, but count about 15 min with the debriefing part

The process

After asking participants to stand, here is how I introduced the Icebreaker:

I offer you an energizing activity to start the day –

a way to experience both body and mind agility!

Are you ready? 🙂

The activity takes place in 3 rounds during which the participants will have to physically perform a movement according to what the facilitator will say.

1st lap: Walk / Stop

• I ask participants to follow my instructions: when I say “Walk” they should walk around the room and when I say “Stop”, just stop.
• After a few tries (at a rather slow pace), I ask the participants to now do the opposite of what I would say.

So "Walk" will mean "Stop"

and “Stop” will mean “Walk”.

• After a few minutes of practice, I suggest that participants add a touch of difficulty.

2nd round: Name / Clap

• I then add the following 2 instructions: when I say "Name", they will have to say their name to another voice and when I say "Clap", they will have to clap their hands.
• I also remind you that "Marcher" means "Stop" and "Stop" means "Marcher".
• After a few tries (at a slightly faster pace), I ask the participants to reverse these last 2 instructions.

Thus "Walk" will mean "Stop",

"Stop" means "Walk",

“Name” will mean “Clap”

and "Clap" will mean "Name".

I launch the experiment again and we can already see smiles on their faces: and yes, it's not so easy anymore! 😛

After a few minutes of practice and a bit of humour, I suggest that participants not stop on such a good start and add a touch of difficulty.

3rd round: Dance / Jump

• I then add the following 2 instructions: when I say "Dance", they will have to do a small dance step and when I say "Jump", they will have to do a small jump.
• I also remind you that "Marcher" means "Stop", "Stop" means "Marcher", "Name" means "Clap" and that "Clap" means "Name".
• After a few tries (at a slightly faster pace) and now unsurprisingly, I ask participants to reverse these last 2 instructions.

Thus "Walk" will mean "Stop",

"Stop" means "Walk",

“Name” will mean “Clap”,

"Clap" will mean "Name",

"Dancing" means "Jump"

and "Jump" means "Dance".

I encourage them with a bit of humor for this last round and let's go!

The participants are having fun and it seems to be much less difficult to switch than before! 😉

Debriefing: the change

After any workshop, the debriefing phase is essential for me. Indeed, without it, the experience risks simply remaining at the game stage in the minds of the participants when it can greatly contribute to the learning process.

The context of the half-day having for objective to introduce Agility, I could not miss the notion of change.

Indeed, the Icebreaker " Walk/Stop » strongly reminded me of the workshop “Walking towards your goal” (from somatic coaching) that I had tested during an AgilePlaygound Paris in which it was explained that the notion of balance can also be seen from the angle of a sum of imbalances that cancel each other out. We can quickly draw a parallel with change, which at first can be frightening because its impacts are unknown, however when the latter becomes a habit, it is no longer a problem.

This is what the participants experience during these 3 rounds:

• The 1st round is slow to be able to anchor a habit. During the first inversion, they experience a first change.
• The 2nd round anchors the previous habit including the first change and brings a second change which is already less “scary”, which is less disturbing.
• The 3rd round anchors the previous habit including the first and second change and adds a third one which does not surprise anyone and to which most people adapt quite easily: they did not realize that the frequency of the instructions had increased in this last lap.

Thus, change requires time to adapt and when you get used to change, it becomes easier, faster and less painful.

Isn't that what we mean by Agility? This ability to adapt at any time to a constantly changing environment? 😉

Why did I like it?

I'll keep it pretty simple:

• He is fast
• He is easy to learn / animate
• He is fun
• It does not require no material
• He gives of energy to the group
• It can be used with any number of persons
• It allows a debriefing interesting

In any case, I highly recommend it, you will have a lot of fun! 🙂

The original video