While many know me as The Bird Guy, few realize I started my career by founding one of the first team building companies in the United States. Today, Team Builders Plus continues to lead in helping teams create shared experiences.
However, team building has changed significantly over the past 30+ years.
The Beginning of Team Building
When it started, we weren’t just playing games for fun. There were no escape rooms or axe-throwing activities. Team building exercises had a purpose. Every moment was worth discussing, from how two partners decided who would be partner A or B to how the group planned for success. Everything held meaning.
Form a group and stand in a circle, extending your hand. Grab hold of a fifteen-foot rope, distributed like a spider web. Now, while maintaining contact with the rope, form it into a perfect square.
Then, debrief the experience.
We explored communication, conflict, leadership, and how quickly the team came together or fell apart under pressure. Who took charge, who held back, who listened, who ignored the plan, and jumped into action.
The debrief connected how they interacted in the exercise to what happens in the workplace.
“This is just like our staff meetings.”
“This is how we handle deadlines.”
“This is why projects stall.”
The group left with a greater awareness of team dynamics and a commitment to improve their environment.
The Evolution of Team Building
You might think that team building has evolved to explore deeper issues, helping teams identify their biggest challenges and create plans for success. But that’s not what truly happened. In reality, it’s quite the opposite.
Team building events have lost their depth, focusing only on fun.
Now, don’t get me wrong, Team Builders Plus has organized thousands of these events over the past 30 years, and people love them. We’ve led treasure hunts, built bikes for kids, assembled care packages for children in the hospital and the armed forces serving overseas. And when the goal is to create fun, shared experiences, then mission accomplished.
But maybe it’s time for team building to return to its roots as well.
The Future of Team Building
When team building began, most of the groups I worked with were in the same building, on the same floor, within shouting distance of each other.
Today, that’s no longer true. Teams are dispersed, with many individuals working from home or separated by state lines. Focusing on team dynamics is more important than ever, and it’s clear that pizza and fun games alone don’t fix much.
It’s once again time to challenge teams to solve problems, observe what happens, and link their interaction to what happens in the workplace. These conversations raise awareness, and awareness leads to small agreements. Small agreements create alignment and influence how people treat each other.
While the days of trust walks are gone, they highlighted something we seem to have forgotten: team activities can transform the culture.
About Merrick Rosenberg
Merrick Rosenberg is the creator of the Eagle, Parrot, Dove, and Owl personality framework and author of Personality Intelligence: Master the Art of Being You. As an award-winning speaker and founder of Take Flight Learning, Merrick has helped hundreds of thousands of people unlock the power of personality styles to transform their communication, leadership, and relationships. He’s on a mission to make self-awareness accessible, fun, and unforgettable.
