Kindergarteners Teach Us About Leadership & Collaboration

Jasmine Chabria

Speaker & Trainer

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When you think about high-performing teams, what comes to mind? Is it a group of experts? Is it enough to have experts? I wish to share a spoiler - the most successful teams aren’t necessarily the ones filled with the brightest minds—but the ones that truly collaborate. EI is made up of leaders across different fields, and I hope this insight empowers each of you to instill true collaboration within yourself and your teams

The Marshmallow Challenge

An engineer Peter Skillman set up a challenge. 2 groups were tasked with building the tallest possible tower using:

• One marshmallow (which must sit at the top)

• Spaghetti

• Tape

• String

There was Group A: business school students. And Group B: kindergarten students. Now, pause for a second. Which group do you think built the taller tower? Take a guess!

The Unexpected Outcome

The winners? The KG kids built a taller tower. Simply, because they were truly collaborating.

True collaboration = working together towards a shared goal, without status games or ego. People within a team focus on the task/ problem at hand. They focus on making the task happen together. (𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸? 𝘓𝘦𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘥𝘢𝘢..')

Meanwhile, the biz students were busy proving how they were the smartest in the group, playing status games instead of just building. (𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘐 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐'𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰s𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱? 𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺...? 𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯g 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘴𝘵 𝘶𝘴? 𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘐 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱?)

The Lesson: Collaboration Over Individual Intellect

Winning teams aren’t made of the smartest people in the room but of those who can set aside ego and work toward a shared goal.

The next time you’re in a team, ask yourself: are we focused on solving the problem together, or are we playing status games? The answer could make all the difference in whether your team builds a tall, sturdy tower—or one that collapses under the weight of its own complexity.

“Biz School Students & Kindergarten students”