RACE ACROSS LONDON: EXPERIENCE OVER CONTENT.

“Drop them in the desert and see how they get on.”

That was the brief.

Not the official one of course. The official one had all the right words — development programme, talent cohort, learning outcomes….

But off the record, what the client really wanted was simpler, and a lot braver.

Take this group of high-potential people, put them somewhere unfamiliar, and let them work out how to survive it.

I loved it immediately!

Because underneath the half-joke was a proper challenge. The client did not want another course. They did not want more slides, They wanted something their people would still be talking about months later.

That changed the the brief and design completely. Because when someone says “drop them in the desert” — the desert isn’t really the point.

It had to do three things….

Be memorable. Something that stuck. A moment the cohort would keep coming back to.

Create energy. Get people moving, problem-solving, negotiating and thinking on their feet - fully in it.

Impactful & in-person. This was a talent group. A long-term investment for the organisation. They needed to be in it together, same room, same playing field, same challenge, at the same time.

It also had to earn its place inside a wider development programme. A standalone “fun day” wasn’t the ask. This had to connect to the programme that came before it and the work that would follow. Stretch these people far enough to change how they see themselves and each other… without losing anyone along the way.

So we built them a Race Across the World-style challenge.

Not in the desert.

In London.

Teams raced across the city on foot with no phones, a basic map, a travel card, a bottle of water, a snack bar, a brief, and £7 in coins per team.

That was it.

No Google maps. No group chat. No easy answers but a set of tasks, clues, and checkpoints to reach, with decisions, problems and trade-offs to navigate along the way. Where to go, what to spend, what to risk, who to ask. Call this number at 11.05am — first check point. How they said? Figure it out we said.

There’s something brilliant about doing this somewhere people assume they know. Take away the usual shortcuts, and even the most familiar city starts to feel unfamiliar. The confident commuter becomes an explorer.

Around the central challenge, we built in things that turn a stretch into a step forward:

• Clear framing. People knew they were here to navigate the unknown together, not to already have the answers.

• Facilitation. When to step back and let the group struggle productively. When to step in.

• Reflection. Turning the experience into usable insight/learning.

• Connection. A thread back to the programme and the wider development journey, tangible takeaways.

People genuinely had to work things out for themselves, that was non-negotiable, it’s where the energy and the memory came from.

And it landed! …

“I think it was very impactful. It allowed us to see where our strong skills were, work as a team, learn when to focus on value vs benefit, and to work a lot on strategy.”

“I really enjoyed the event, particularly the teamwork and collective problem solving. Stepping away from the office environment and working with colleagues in a different setting helped build and strengthen connections.”

“Working as a leadership team with focus was good. Adding the ability to consider strategy based on common objectives was really great.”

“Risk vs reward and strategy. Listening to others around you and allowing everybody to input their own strengths to enable us to win together. Dropping the wall and talking to people we didn’t know, it really taught me a lot about communication through human contact and not technology.”

Our takeaway?

The temptation, when a client says “drop them in the desert” is to either play it safe or take it literally and hope for the best.

We chose to build an experience genuinely challenging enough to matter, with enough trust and structure around it, ensuring people embraced the challenge.

That’s the work. Where behaviour changes. Confidence grows. And that’s what people remember long after the programme ends.

If you’re building a development programme and you want a moment in it that people remember, start with the experience, not the content.

Interest piqued? Get in touch and let’s talk about your next great experience.