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Samantha Zimmerman

Kay Powell

LEAD 101

21 November 2021

Mt. Everest Simulation Reflection

The mount everest simulation was an opportunity for my classmates and myself to form a

temporary and virtual team to accomplish a common goal. We all had different roles and

received individual and group goals. Before the simulation, my group was able to meet and talk

as part of the forming stage of Tuckman’s first stage of group development. According to the

textbook Discovering Leadership by Anothny Middlebrooks, forming is the “introductory stage

of a group where members are getting to know one another and tend to act in very polite ways”

(Middlebrooks, 312). We discussed basic information about ourselves to break the ice. My group

member Zach would then ask us more random questions to lighten the mood and make it less

awkward to talk to each other. As a result of our forming stage, I think our communication with

each other was good and I felt that if I had something to say I felt comfortable with my group to

speak out.

Chapter 6 in Discovering Leadership explains different decision-making models. I think

that my group used the SOLVE model of set roles, outline problem and decision criteria, list

multiple strategies, veer toward consensus, and evaluate decision and process (Middlebooks,

158). Reflecting over the simulation I learned that the solve model of decision making is

important as it gives a group structure to achieving a goal. We all were aware of our personal

roles to play, the problems that arise and strategies to solve them. We wanted to be on the same
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page for most of the simulation and discussing our performance at the end allowed us to discuss

what we could’ve done differently or what we thought worked well.

I learned that managing time is important to a team's success as my team's biggest

obstacle was time management. We were pretty good about going over different possibilities and

options but sometimes we spent too much time trying to get everyone to agree and we gave

ourselves seconds to make a final decision. Twice, Ryan, our team leader didn’t make a decision

and it ended up affecting the rest of our team's progress. Ryan wanted to wait for everyone to

make their decision before he did but it ended up hurting our goal of getting everyone to the top.

Also we spent a lot of time trying to be proactive by “anticipating and preparing for a possible

outcome” (Middlebrooks, 203). Problems would arise throughout the simulation and me and my

group spent a lot of time trying to figure out the different possibilities we could encounter and

how to avoid them. For example, James' character's health became weak early on and we had to

discuss when was the best time to give him medical help.

Due to being a virtual team, it was a little more difficult as we all had to look at the

simulation screen and not really see each other's faces. I had to minimize my Zoom screen to

only take up a small portion of my screen which resulted in me only being able to see one

person's face at a time when they talked. Then I would make it bigger when I didn’t necessarily

need to look at the information so I could see how my teammates were reacting. By being a

virtual team I learned that communication is key and how to address different things because I

couldn’t always see someone's face or what they were doing while someone else was talking.

Constantly communicating with one another it showed who was staying actively engaged and

who had concerns about different decisions and scenarios. It was also difficult because Kristi was

our observer and she also muted herself which led me to forget that she was there. Reflecting
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back I could’ve been a better leader by making sure that she felt included by asking her opinions

on some of our decisions. Just because she didn’t have a direct role didn’t mean that she didn’t

have any ideas that could help us accomplish our goals.

I feel that both Ryan, the team leader, and Zach, who was the photographer, made it a

point to get everyone’s input and opinions about the decisions. Zach was good at pointing out

other what if options just so that we weren’t settling on the first option. If we had a storming

stage it would probably be when Zach wanted to stay an extra day at one of the earlier camps

while the rest of the group wanted to continue up the mountain. There was disagreement while

trying to convince one another to agree on the same decision but it didn’t affect how we

continued making decisions during the simulation. I learned that coming to a decision was easier

when my group members were open-minded by having “the mindset of being receptive to new

ideas and perspectives” (Middlebrooks, 208). By listening to others ideas, we as a group were

able to maintain cohesiveness and work together. I feel like everyone in my group participated

and actively stayed involved by asking questions or letting the group know about the status of

their Mt. Everest character. For example Claire, the marathoner, would tell us her options for

predicting the weather and what she thought the answer would be but then asked for the group's

input. James, the environmentalist, had to continuously update us in the first few days on the

status of his character since his character’s health wasn’t great after the first day.

Overall, this simulation showed me how things like being open-minded, having open

communication, and being proactive can benefit a team's ability to complete a task. I also learned

that the forming stage of team development can benefit a team's ability to communicate with

each other. Since my team was able to get to know each other a little bit before the simulation it
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allowed us to comfortably communicate throughout the simulation. Ultimately these leadership

qualities helped my team perform and work together towards a common goal.