Learning and development through social impact

More than you ever thought possible can be achieved in a short space of time, with the right attitude and with the right people by your side…  

We’ve worked with INSEAD’s Executive Education programmes for 18 years; the inclusion of a Splash Project on these top-end development courses for international business professionals, ensures the teams are taken out of their comfort zones (most have never used a tool) and tasks them to overcome impromptu challenges together. 

Our collaboration with INSEAD typically involves smaller groupings, constituting our smallest projects of the year. Following a planning exercise the night before, groups of around a dozen participants have half-a-day to build a piece of infrastructure for a not-for-profit organisation or in-need community. 

The scale of the projects may be small, but they are still massive in impact. 

This April we worked with a team of nine professionals in central France, tasking them to build two timber teepee shelters in the Faisanderie leisure centre park, Fontainebleau, for local children to enjoy.   

And a few weeks later in May, we worked with a team of 12 professionals in Australia who built an attractive decked seating area for hospitality trainees with additional needs at social enterprise hotel, Hotel Etico, in the Blue Mountains. 

At the beginning of project day, Lloyd Comer, Splash Project Manager for the Australia project, told the team:

“You will be challenged to work as a high-performance team. You will be responsible for planning, leading and executing the project, transforming this unused site. 

“We’ll provide you with the tools, the plans, and the support. All we need from you is your hands, brains, and bucket loads of enthusiasm.” 

Loic Sadoulet, Affiliate Professor of Economics at INSEAD, added:

“The purpose of the planning exercise is for them to get a sense of the project and build the engagement and the energy. Planning is important because when things go wrong you have to be nimble and adapt quickly.” 

Participants said: 

“I didn’t appreciate how tough it was going to be…it was such good fun…there were a lot of lessons learnt…”

Hotel Etico supports hospitality trainees with additional needs access the work environment.  

Andrea Comastri, Hotel Etico CEO, said:

“The social enterprise model at the hotel is about creating interactions with our hospitality trainees and our guests.    

“More business means more work opportunities for our trainees, and when they have more things to do, they’re more active and get more interaction. So it’s a win-win.”  

“I can’t thank the team enough for their amazing effort, energy and attitude throughout the day, it will make a massive difference to our trainees and the business.”