1The Challenge
What was the challenge?
MongoDB wanted to bring a team of 30 together at its Gurugram office for a session that got people collaborating, thinking, and working toward a shared goal — an engaging break from daily work that would still leave the group with something real about how they plan and execute together.
For a technology team, the interesting tension is that individual capability is rarely the constraint; coordination is. A room full of sharp people can still stumble when a shared goal has to be planned collectively, resources divided sensibly, and the plan carried through as conditions shift. The session needed to surface those group dynamics in a setting removed enough from daily work that people engaged with it openly rather than defaulting to their usual roles.
2Our Solution
What solution did we design?
The Columbus Challenge was chosen because it stages the entire journey from plan to outcome in a single, absorbing experience. Framed as an expedition into the unknown, teams set a goal, plan a route, allocate their limited resources, and then execute — adapting as the conditions of the challenge shift beneath them.
What makes it effective for a group like this is the gap it reveals between planning and doing. Teams that plan meticulously but can't adapt tend to come unstuck; teams that act without a plan burn their resources early. The sweet spot — a clear plan held loosely enough to adjust — is something groups discover through the experience rather than being told, which is what makes the lesson stick. Collaboration, communication, and shared decision-making all get tested along the way, as the team has to align on a direction and then hold together when the plan meets friction.
The Columbus Challenge was paired with the Everest Challenge, giving the day a second strategic climb-and-execute experience to complement it.
3How We Did It
How was the programme delivered?
The 30 participants were divided into teams and taken through the Columbus Challenge's plan-and-execute cycle — setting their goal, mapping a route, allocating resources, and then executing against the plan as conditions changed. Facilitators observed how each team organised itself: how it reached a shared plan, who took ownership of what, and how the group responded when execution didn't go as expected.
Those observations anchored the debrief, connecting what happened in the challenge back to how the team plans and works together day to day. Paired with the Everest Challenge, the day gave participants two complementary experiences of strategy and execution under constraint, keeping the group engaged across the session.
4Key Outcomes
What were the results?
The Columbus Challenge gave MongoDB's team a hands-on experience of the full arc from planning to execution — and a shared, first-hand look at the gap between a good plan and its delivery under changing conditions. Collaboration and adaptability emerged naturally as the group worked to hold its course.
For a team session built around engagement and collaboration, the day gave 30 people a genuinely shared challenge — and a memorable break from daily work that still left them with something to take back to it.