CHALLENGES

#1: At the core of the Lean Principles is Respect For Others. A few days ago was National Respect For Veterans Day. Anywhere around the area find an active military person or a veteran. They could be wearing some form of military or veteran attire, have a military ID, or they could simply describe their military background while you’re completing your challenge. Then take a video of them watching your entire team doing 10 push-ups, sit-ups, or jumping jacks to honor their strength and courage. After you’ve finished recording, spend a few minutes learning more about their time in the service as a small gesture of appreciation.

#2: Over the years, Flintco has completed a number of projects to improve St Jude facilities around the area. To honor this important partnership, and the incredible work that organization is doing, have every member of your team paint their fingernails bright gold (the international color for childhood cancer awareness) using real nail polish. Then get your team to any building around the area with the St Jude logo on it and take a proud team picture showing off your nails, while the building and logo are clearly visible behind you.

#3: One of the core principles of Lean is Optimize The Whole, which focuses on the overall success of the group as opposed to individual success. Get to the lobby of any of the downtown hotel projects completed by Flintco over the past 10 years (if you don’t know which ones those would be you can phone a mentor or reach out to a Memphis lean coach). Once there, take a video of your team completing the Optimize The Whole Challenge, while the hotel logo is visible in the background. Basically, your team members will all be standing shoulder to shoulder in a tight clump/circle with your backs all facing in and your arms interlocked. Slowly lower the entire interlocked group to the ground until you are in a seated position with your butts on the ground, and then slowly stand all the way back up while remaining interlocked the entire time. To watch a video of a group successfully completing this challenge click HERE.

#4: To build anything great, whether that’s a company like Flintco, or a project at the iconic Graceland, requires great leadership and people working together. Located somewhere downtown is a life-size statue of Elvis, who impacted this city, and the world, in significant ways. Once you’ve found him, take a fun team picture with the statue reacting wildly as if you’ve just met your longtime icon. Then after this event, live each day in a way that will make people want to build a statue of you in the future.

#5: Another core principal of Lean is Generate Value, or making sure all efforts are valuable to the stakeholder and not wasteful. Your team has been given 15 playing cards, with each of them representing something that is valuable to the stakeholder. Using all 15 cards (so that there is no waste) create a 3-tiered house of cards and then take a proud team picture with your structure before it topples. Your team can design the house however you want, as long as all 15 cards are incorporated into the structure, it is 3 tiers tall, and it is self supported (not being held up or leaning against anything).

#6: This past weekend marked the 63rd anniversary of the Sit-In Movement against racial segregation reaching Memphis, when seven Owen Junior College students sat-in at the lunch counter in McClellan’s Variety Store downtown. To honor the strength of these young student demonstrators, get your team to the National Civil Rights Museum, which is also the site of a Flintco renovation project completed 10 years ago. Once there, take a picture of your team all doing "wall sits" against the red Civil Rights Museum sign, the Lorraine Motel sign, or a nearby wall where one of those signs would be visible in the background. To learn how to do a proper wall sit click HERE.

#7: Employee health and safety is an important part of the Lean vision. Research shows that consuming raw garlic can boost your immune system. So take a video of all your team members each chewing a separate raw clove of garlic for at least 15 full seconds. Team members should be actively chewing the clove and not just holding it in their mouths. Disclaimer, although healthy this will likely not be pleasant, which is exactly the point. Because a team that suffers together, grows together.

#8: Earlier this week was National Jump Out Day, which encourages people to assemble outside and perform jumps as a fun recreational activity. So to celebrate, and to live out the popular “10 feet off of Beale” saying, get your team to the wings mural seen HERE. Once there take a well timed picture of your team all jumping at the same time and high fiving each other while the mural is visible in the background.

#9: Another principle of Lean is Eliminating Waste, which includes unnecessary movement of people and materials, wasting time, and waiting (among other things). To demonstrate that your team is efficient in your planning and execution, anywhere around the area take a team picture with any public digital clock (not a cell phone or personal watch) when the digits add up to 12. For example, 5:43pm would be acceptable because 5+4+3=12. Similarly, 6:06pm would also be acceptable, or any other time where the sum of the individual digits equals 12.

#10: To celebrate the completion of the Memphis International Airport Concourse B Modernization project completed in 2021, take a video of your team completing the "Paper Airplane Challenge". Basically send some team members to the 2nd level of any building, balcony, or parking garage and have them toss paper airplanes out into the air in front of them (not just dropping it straight downward). The rest of your team should be on the ground level below. Any of your team members at ground level need to catch just one plane before it hits the ground. All team members at ground level can be attempting to catch planes, but only one plane needs to be caught.

#11: Another principle of Lean is Focus On Flow. Flow is the notion that every team involved in a project can get their work done smoothly and unimpeded by the work of others on the project. Once teams learn to communicate with and trust in each other, they’ll find that their flow is greatly enhanced, thus improving productivity. Get every team member a large (16 ounces or so) open-top paper, plastic, or foam cup and fill it with water. Then somewhere outdoors, line up shoulder to shoulder and have each team member balance a full cup on their head. Once everyone’s cups are balanced, hold hands with the team members on either side of you and take a video of your team working together to all take 10 steps forward without anyone touching their own cup (or another team member’s cup) or having it spill. If someone’s cup spills make sure to encourage them and then refill any spilled cups and start again as a team. After your team successfully travels 10 steps together dump the cups to prove they were full, and celebrate!

#12: Get your team outside of the location downtown where “Ol’ Billy” (seen HERE) is enjoying his retirement. Once there, take a video of your team completing "Stop, Drop, and Roll" and yelling each step of the fire safety technique as you all do it together and Ol’ Billy’s place of retirement is clearly visible in the background.

#13: The final principle of Lean is Continuous Improvement, which focuses on the concept of Plan, Do, Check, Adjust. You will need to execute each of these steps well in order to properly complete this challenge and avoid a messy outcome for your team members. Take a video of your team successfully completing the Whipped Cream Catapult Challenge. Divide your team into pairs. Have one person from the pair squirt a small lump of whipped cream onto the back of their hand. That person should launch the whipped cream to their partner using the “arm catapult” technique seen in the video HERE. The second person should successfully catch the whipped cream in their mouth, or at least catch some of it in their mouth and the rest on their face. To complete this challenge at least half your team should make a successful catch in the video.

#14: Being a part of the Flintco team and executing the Lean program requires intense focus. So this challenge will test just how focused you are! Click HERE to get to the brain puzzles and then select “Memory”. Then, anywhere along the way have at least two team members achieve a score of 50 or more points. Once you have your two super focused teammates, take a celebratory picture of them while they’re displaying their phone screens and the point totals are clearly visible. You can take an additional close-up picture of the two devices to clearly show the point totals if necessary.

#15: A few days ago was National Letter To An Elder Day. Find a postcard that features this area in some way, or a fun greeting card, and purchase it. Then click HERE to go to the Love For Our Elders project, which is focused on fighting loneliness with love, one letter at a time. As a team, choose someone from their list whose story or background resonates with you. Then on your card include a fun or uplifting message and sign it. Stamp your card and take a picture with it to show you've completed your Act Of Kindness and then drop it in the mail along the way or after your event ends.

#16: The Memphis Pyramid is not only a marvel of construction, but it is considered the 10th tallest pyramid in the world and houses the worlds tallest freestanding elevator! Get your team inside the pyramid and complete ONE of these challenges. Your first option is to take a picture of your team forming a 3-tiered, human pyramid anywhere inside of the building. You’ll need at least 6 people to properly form 3 tiers, so recruit kind strangers if needed. The second option is to have anyone on your team score over 400 points in one round at the old school shooting arcade game. Once someone achieves an acceptable score take a team picture surrounding the sharp shooter and then take a second close-up picture of them with their score.

#17: At any point throughout the adventure get your team to a place (or multiple places if needed) with a variety of drink options. Once there, have each team member order a shot (traditional or non-alcoholic) that starts with the same first letter as their first name. Then take a quick video with each person one at a time saying their name and the name of their drink, followed by everyone doing a cheers and drinking up!