Part I: the retreat
The theme of the retreat, though not explicitly stated, was clearly evidenced by the continued reinforcement of a particular concept. That concept was, however you wish to state it, the importance of cooperation.
With regard to bringing what we learned back to real life, the most significant application in my own opinion comes in achieving objectives. In the "see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil" game (game reads better than exercise to me), each person on the team was vital to the team's overall function, and the team as a whole performed according to how effectively each person contributed their piece.
See, speak, hear was interesting in that each person's responsibility was to one other person; except between rounds, there was no room for a someone to decided they wanted to try and run the themselves. This structure was also beneficical because it didn't allow for time to be wasted on voting on titles and delegating power, which is something new groups often struggle with.
The trust game, on the other hand, was open for those wonderful possibilities. There was structure in that the person with the head was the one who called out directions; otherwise, it had the air of a classic team building excercise, with such questions to be answered as: Who is going to step up first and organize everyone? Who is going to have a good idea to contribute? Whose idea are we going to go with? Who was going to jump in first and get the gears turning?
As for the balloon game, I undersand it conceptually, but I question it's motivations. The balloon game's message was that being cutthroat is not always the best approach - sometimes success is more readily attainable through working together. If the motivations are for creating positive relationships with a strong moral compass, that's cool. But if you go into the big bad world thinking that this is the norm and people are always looking to help you, that naivety is likely to leave you disappointed. Look at it from a revenue point of view; if you are the only company in an industry, you don't have to split the revenues of that industry with anyone - customers have to shop with you. The existence of another company is someone stealing the money that you deserve. I'm sure it is more fun being a monopolist.
You could delve further into each game if you wanted. The see, speak, hear game can be seen as a commentary on several things - people applying their strengths and need to put people where they will be most effective, the importance of experience and the development that comes with it, making the best of a less-than-ideal situation (a person is not well-suited for a certain role) and working through difficulty to help the team succeed. The trust game was a more literal application of individual strengths.
For the big picture, this is my most poignant takeaway: achievements through teamwork are often easier, faster, done at a higher level, or even simply possible when compared to attempting the same achievements solo. But on the other hand, teams are just people who steal your glory, right?
Part II: (in progress)
