Going Ape! Experiential team activities

I just finished a call with one of my suppliers; he wasn't in his office yesterday because he and the team had 'Gone Ape'. They'd been for a team day at the local Go Ape' activity centre.

Even though he is unhappy at heights (and he went up to 40 foot at one point), he'd spent a day up in the trees with his colleagues. And he enjoyed it! Trainer brain in gear, I asked if they'd rounded off the day with any learning outcomes or summary? "Oh no, we didn't do any of that stuff. People would only say what was wanted anyway." Cynical? Realistic?

Makes me wonder about experiential team development. I have done paintballing (shooting the sales team in a former life with a computer company), and laser shooting (with a training company) but I've never had to build a bridge or roast rats over an open fire... well, not for work, anyway.

This is what he said once I'd told him I was blogging this subject:

"I would say that having traversed these heights with colleagues I do not have that much contact with that this did help us to bond. Sharing fear can really drop barriers quickly. I enjoyed it immensely, not least because it was genuinely something I thought I would not manage."

I personally found the laser shooting demotivating, not just because I was on the losing team either. I am not motivated by other's failing through my actions (which is basically what the objective of this exercise was), I am motivated by helping others to succeed and in creating my own success. I think I would quite like to do the tree thing though.

These outdoor, experiential training days are still highly popular. Are they, in fact, a motivational 'gift' disguised as training so we don't have to declare them on the P11D?

I'd be interested to hear more views on these outdoor training activities. Do they put people outside their comfort zone? Are they actually destructive to teams or individuals any way? Do the benefits outweigh any negatives?

Of course a good trainer will know their delegates' comfort zones and just how far outside to put them. But how can an external trainer know the limits and abilities of everyone in a group?

I'd welcome an article from someone on this - someone who either delivers, or has experienced, or has studied how experiential learning activities like these really affect delegates and whether they add to learning.