What is the institution?

What could be a good game for a group of workshop participants to understand the identity of the institution they work for?

• I am facilitating a process of getting a bunch of people to develop their strategies. Prior to that it is critical that they understand the identity of the institution they work for. The quintessential question "who am i" but for an institution. Are there any games / exercises that can make this fun?

• Answer:

  If you have the ability to assign advance work, you might want to consider what I do. I assign films to the participants - individually, if it is not a residential programme or in groups, if it is. I do my best to choose films from many languages and cultures. The films are chosen for the diversity of relevant expressions of the core themes that I then drive the exploration of, in a time-controlled, directed, discursive setting. The exercise also serves as a good icebreaker for the group and the discussion creates a sense of ownership of the outcome. Of course, this assumes you have a repertoire of film titles ready to go to. And you can access enough prints/ DVDs legally. It is important to drive this exercise to conclude on a "high" so that the vision and identity work you have done gives the participants a sense of meaning and hence enthusiasm for the remaining work they need to do in the workshop.