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An exercise designed to get people out of their seats and having fun! It is best introduced
after people have been introduced to the overall concept of Personality Type or
Temperament, Guessed their Type, Read their Type Profile, and Received their Reports. It
can be used in almost any group setting, i.e., teambuilding, management development,
teacher education, etc. The goal is to show your workshop participants that personality type,
As Gordon Allport suggested, is something and does something. It¶s not just an abstract
theory or concept. The unique qualities of the sixteen types and four temperaments exist in
behavior and this exercise will reveal it.

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Y Ôlip Chart or Newsprint
Y Markers
Y Clues form ± 1 set per group
Y Murder Mystery Team Ôorm
Y Observer Ôorm
Y Missing Clues (Power Point, Over Head Transparency or Written of News Print)
Y Murder Solution (Power Point, Over Head Transparency or Written of News Print)

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Total time required is one and half hour (1.5) - 10 minutes to set up, 30 minutes to solve
crime, 30 minutes to debrief and 10 minutes present solution and wrap up.



1. Divide the large group into small groups of four or five members using the Team
Assignment form. (Attached). Members should be assigned on a logical type basis using
Personality Type or Temperament as a guide. Some groups might be type or temperament
dissimilar. Others might be made up of similar personalities. Experience with this exercise
reveals that groups made up of more diverse personalities perform better than groups made
up of similar personalities. That is they more often than not solve the crime accurately.

Helpful Hint:
Use the Profiler Map form to construct a typological view of your group and use this to
configure your Murder Mystery Task Ôorce Teams.

2. Large Group Instructions. We should usually add in a bit of theatrics to the introduction by
saying
that ³I was supposed to be joined today by another colleague by the name of Ramesh Tyagi
Unfortunately, Ramesh couldn¶t make it! I was informed by the Lokhandwala police
department that he had been found murdered yesterday. Hearing form me that I was going to
be with a group of highly intelligent people they asked me to enlist your help in solving his
murder.´
Y| A team coordinator is identified and announced for each group is provided with a
complete set of clues (Attached).
 Y| The large group will be divided into small groups of 4 to 6 people and assigned a
group space to work. News print and markers can be provided to write down their
answers. The group will identify a member to make the presentation of their findings
to the large group when completed. Ôor fun name the Task Ôorce Teams after famous
crime investigative teams.
Y| The coordinator separates the clues and passes them out randomly and equally to
different group members of the team. The team coordinator participates as a member
of the team and maintains and equal number of clues form him or herself. Group
members may share their clues verbally, but may not show them to other group
members or write them down. It is the coordinators responsibility to manage this
process and enforce the rules.

3. Explain to the team what the purpose of the exercise is - solve the murder mystery within
the time allowed and to the best of their ability identify the:
Y Scene of the crime
Y Murder weapon
Y Time that the crime occurred
Y The murderer
Y The motive is left out and revealed after the group presentations have concluded. ü

  
  



     

  
 
 
 
     
4. Give the groups 30 minutes to complete the exercise and report back prepared to present
their findings.
5. Identify an observer for each group and give them observer feedback form (attached) to fill
out as they are observing their groups. The observers will review their observations of the
group. The observer keep their mission private from the group and do not engage as a
member of the group

ë 

When he was discovered dead, Mr. Tyagi had a bullet wound in his calf and a knife
wound in his back
Mr. Joshi shot an intruder in his apartment building at midnight
Mr. Tyagi had virtually wiped out Mr. Joshi's business by stealing his customer
The elevator operator reported to police that he saw Mr. Tyagi at 12:15 a.m.
The bullet taken from Mr. Tyagi's calf matched the gun owned by Mr. Joshi
Only one bullet had been fired from Mr. Joshi's gun
The elevator man said Mr. Tyagi did not seem too badly hurt
A knife found in the parking garage had been wiped clean of fingerprints
Mrs. Sharma had been waiting in the lobby for her husband to get off work
The elevator man went off duty at 12:30 a.m.
Mr. Tyagi's body was found in the park
Mr. Tyagi's body was found at 1:20 a.m. According to the medical examiner Mr. Tyagi had
been dead for about an hour when his body was found
Mrs. Sharma did not see Mr. Tyagi leave through the lobby while she was waiting
Bloodstains corresponding to Mr. Tyagi's blood type were found in the basement parking
garage
Police were unable to locate Mr. Joshi after the murder
Mr. Tyagi's blood type was found on the carpet outside Mr. Joshi's apartment
There were bloodstains in the Elevator
Mrs. Sharma's husband did not appear in the lobby at 12:30 a.m., the end of his normal
working hours. She had to return home alone and he arrived later
At 12:45 a.m. Mrs. Sharma could not find her husband or the family car in the basement
parking lot of the apartment building where he worked
Newly Uncovered Clue Mrs. Sharma had been a good friend of Mr. Tyagi and had often
visited his apartment
Newly Uncovered Clue Mrs. Sharma¶s husband had been jealous of the friendship

Group Leader: Distribute these clues randomly and equally to group members.
Clues can be discussed openly, but members are not to pass clues between themselves or
write them down.




Each Crime Ôorce Task team presents their conclusions and findings back to the entire large
group. No solution is provided until all groups have presented and observers have provided
their remarks. Explain after they present their conclusions about who done it

Y| Teams were assigned based on personality profiler type with the expectation of
observing predictable behaviors.
Y| Observers provide feedback regarding their observations as they have noted on their
observation sheets.
Y| Sensing types rely on facts and data to collect information and make decisions based
on that data. To solve the mystery you need data.
Y| Intuitives intuitively find the answer to a problem - in this case find the solution to the
mystery. They are naturally able to generate other alternatives not supported by data.
Y| Sensing types, who rely on data, will normally and discount Intuitive's solution
because they don't have the data to prove it. They rely on data and therefore continue
to analyze the clues trying to find the motive for the murder - even thought there is
not enough data to find the motive ± sometimes given up on, sometimes ignored the
Intuitives, but in most cases never considering the possibilities that the Intuitives were
offering.
Y| Intuitives continued to generate other possibilities - thinking outside of the box. In all
of the clues there existed the correct solution to the question of motive, but no data to
prove it.
Y| Introverts do not participate very much in the face of the Extraverted dominance. As
long as the Extraverts are talking, Introverts are reticent to jump in and tend to just
observe.
Y| What other outcomes might be experienced that are Type or Personality Related?

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Two clues have been purposely left off of the clue list. To add to the theatrical nature of the
presentation and suspense to the experience, announce to the group that ³while you were
working on the exercise the Lokhandwala Police Department emailed me and informed me
that they had uncovered two new clues.
1. Mrs. Sharma had been a good friend of Mr. Tyagi and had often visited his apartment.
2. Mrs. Sharma¶s husband had been jealous of the friendship.
   
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Y| Mr. Sharma had been insanely jealous of his wife¶s close friendship with Mr. Tyagi.
Y| After receiving a superficial gunshot wound from Mr. Joshi, Mr. Tyagi stepped on the
elevator. Mr. Sharma (the elevator man) killed Mr. Tyagi with a knife at 12:30 a.m.