David Yau & Associates

Really…. why team? Complementary competencies…. A sense of belonging…. Cross-learning opportunities… there are many answers to this question. I was reminded of one important answer during the Gobi race. The picture is my sketch of a scene in the Gobi race. It was 3:55am of Day 3 in a middle of nowhere in the Gobi desert - It was quite a magical moment for me. The light in the tent would be turned on at 4am to wake us up to start the last day of the Gobi race. I so

[Photo source unidentified.  Please advise if anyone knows.  I will add the source accordingly] In the ‘Journey to the West’ story(西游记), the Xuanzang’s (玄奘) crew met with lots of demons in the Gobi desert. We met some as well in the Gobi race - a leadership development program. However, for us, those demons reside in our own minds. Here is an incident when the demons showed up. A vivid and embarrassing example on how our unconscious processing prevents us from advancing t

It was Day 2 of the Gobi race and we were somewhere midway in the 96km race. Right in the middle of the day, all were tired and some were injured. Whilst I was at the front using the GPS to navigate, I noticed that Danny (pseudonym) was at the back of the line, and falling behind more and more from the pack. He did not look good. I picked up the walkie-talkie and asked him, ‘Are you ok?’. He replied. ‘I am ok’ I then carried on the walking. This sounds like a norma

Experiential learning to an extreme – a leadership development program in the form of a team walking race for 96km in 2.5 days over the Gobi desert (part of the Silk Road) Lot of memorable moments, and most importantly reflection on leadership, teamwork, learning design and my own development. Zero internet and each team sleeping together in a tent helped. Perhaps we were even mobilized by the collective unconscious of the Xuanzang 玄裝 history / myth to endure hardship a