Tendências
27/05/2024
At Immersis, we apply this structure to the creative process of our experiences. We aim to leave a lasting impact on the participants and provide a behavioural or mindset change.
1. Simplicity: The Power of a Clear Idea
Simplicity does not mean lack of depth. For us, it means extracting the essentials and presenting them clearly and powerfully (the Heath brothers use the term core). Each of our experiences has a clear central goal that participants must achieve, even when the challenges are complex.
For example, in “Blind Driving”, the concept is simple: the participant guides a blind person who drives a car. However, behind this simplicity lies a profound challenge of leadership, effective communication and mutual trust. This clarity of purpose allows the lessons to stick and be applied effectively in the companies’ day-to-day activities, whether in decision-making or communication between teams.
2. Surprise: Challenging Expectations to Teach Better
Surprise is a powerful tool, as it has the potential to open participants’ minds and challenge their perceptions. At Immersis, we use moments of surprise to alter expectations and create rug-pull moments — unexpected turning points that leave a lasting impression.
For example, in Alternate Reality Games (ARGs), we create a narrative parallel to the participants’ daily reality, where the unexpected becomes a constant. These games take place in the real world, and at certain moments, we introduce twists that lead participants to act in ways they never imagined, such as abandoning a broken-down bus or helping sell an apartment to a foreigner.
These unexpected twists and turns force participants to leave their comfort zone, think creatively and collaborate under pressure, ensuring that lessons learned translate into improvements in the workplace.
3. Concreteness: The Tangible Transforms
Being concrete and specific is a central pillar of our immersive experiences. Making an idea tangible and experiencing it physically makes participants understand and internalize the concepts more effectively. In our “Rowing Against the Tide” program, participants travel to a rowing club to learn the techniques and coordination necessary to row as a team.
After getting ready, they go to the river, facing a demanding route that can only be completed with perfect coordination between everyone. This experience physically demonstrates what it means to work as a team — rhythm, communication, and trust are essential to move forward. This implementation means that the lessons learned are recorded in memory and are easily transferable to the work environment.
4. Credibility: Practical experience speaks for itself
Credibility is vital for an experience or idea to be sticky. At Immersis, we believe that credibility doesn’t just come from facts or statistics but from lived experiences that show, in practice, their validity. Our experiences are designed to provide moments in which teams directly perceive the results of their actions.
In the “Defusing V-Bombs” experiment, teams must deactivate virtual bombs and can only succeed if they communicate efficiently under pressure. Every mistake has an immediate consequence — the bomb explodes. This immediate consequence gives unquestionable credibility to the lesson about communication and resilience.
5. Emotion: Create a Lasting Connection
We know emotion is one of the strongest elements in creating lasting memories. At Immersis, we design experiences that touch the emotional side of participants and create deep connections, between them and with the experience itself.
In “The Experience Counts”, participants experience the emotion of helping elderly people understand new technologies that can save lives. The human contact and empathy generated in this activity create exciting moments that stay with the participants forever. These are experiences full of meaning that change the way they see the impact of technology on society and create a deep connection with the values of the experience, making the lessons last far beyond the event.
6. Stories: The Human Factor in Experiences
Stories not only engage but also help make sense of experiences. At Immersis, we use storytelling as a tool to foster creativity and innovation. In the “Moonshot” experience, teams are transported to a scenario where they have to work in collaboration with a prominent figure, such as an astrophysicist, on an imaginary mission for NASA.
This inspiring narrative puts teams at the centre of an innovative mission that encourages creative thinking and problem-solving. By integrating an engaging story, we connect the necessary skills — creativity, collaboration and innovation — to a context of real impact, which can be taken back to the workplace.
Conclusion: High-impact Experiences
Each element of the SUCCESs model must be part of our “offer”. Our experiences go beyond simple teambuilding exercises; These are moments of personal and professional transformation, where the impact is real and lasting and which companies increasingly value.
If your team needs more than an experience, it needs a moment of transformation…
…Challenge us to create that change!
Source: Heath, C., & Heath, D. (2007). Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. New York: Random House.
