Last FULL day in Charlotte, North Carolina we did a team bonding activity… getting locked in a room and attempting to solve puzzles to escape. During this test of knowledge, teamwork, and strength we came to an impasse where we had two three letter words we had to type into a Morris code system, and the clue was in front of our team the whole time, Get Out, hence the name of this blog post.
The team consisted of John, Keith, Abbey, Michelle, and I. Our room was “Do Not Disturb”, where we were on a case to find out where a serial kidnapper was keeping their victims and we ended up in their trap! We had 60 min to solve a series of puzzles to escape the room. We each demonstrated our strengths as a team from the StrengthsFinder assessment that we took during our time at Pitt CBA.
Personally, my strengths include woo, adaptability, positivity, discipline, and futuristic. These each came into play when trapped in a room that eventually was going to fill with poisonous gas to kill us (hopefully not really). Woo, or winning others over, came into play by distracting our captor, just kidding. It actually helped in communicating ideas clearly and keeping the atmosphere engaging, for example, it seemed as if our team became a team right from the start of the game. Adaptability was a big part of the game, as we were finding clues to riddles before we even had the riddle or lock. I had to adapt to each situation. Next is positivity, we felt a little stressed under the 60 min time limit, yet we all kept a positive attitude when it came to discussing what to do next, such as trying out different combinations with locks and failing and finding what to do at the start of the game. Discipline was necessary with myself, as I tend to let my mind wander, but when it comes to a task, I can focus on it to completion, and that is exactly what happened, as we were the only ones to escape!
My teammates skills came into play often and I believe we would not have made it out without the skill sets that they brought to the table. John came in with discipline and harmony, which really let us stick together with a team mindset, and discovered the bed post clues to get us started. Keith with a main skill of strategy, really helped us solve some of the lock puzzles and put us in order. Abbey’s skills of responsibility and developer, helped us envision some of the more abstract puzzles. Michelle’s skills of connectedness and relator furthered our efficiency of team work, with getting down to the task and allowing everyone to have their part.
Together, with teamwork, we all escaped the Escape Room! Now, to escape Charlotte…