It is approximately 10:00 a.m. in mid July, and you have just crash landed in the Sonora Desert in the southwestern United States. The light twin engine plane, containing the bodies of the pilot and the co-pilot, has completely burned. Only the air frame remains. None of the rest of you have been injured.
The pilot was unable to notify anyone of your position before the crash. However, ground sightings taken before you crashed indicate that you are 100 km off the course that was filed in your VFR Flight Plan. The pilot indicated before you crashed that you were approximately 110 km south-southwest from a mining camp which is the nearest known habitation.
The immediate area is quite flat and except for occasional barrel and saguaros cacti appears to be rather barren. The last weather report indicated that temperatures would reach 43°C which means that the temperature within a foot of the surface will hit 54°C. You are dressed in light-weight clothing — short sleeved shirts, pants, socks, and street shoes. Everyone has a handkerchief. Collectively, your pockets contain $2.83 in change, $85.00 in bills, and a ballpoint pen.
Before the plane caught fire, your group was able to salvage 14 items. Your task is to rank these items according to their importance for survival. You may assume that the number of survivors is the same as the number on your team, and the team has agreed to stick together.
Activity adapted from Cooperative Learning (1994) by Dr. Spencer Kagan. Publisher: Resources for Teachers, Inc.
The Expert Ranking
Here is the ranking determined by survival experts, along with their rationale:
1. Cosmetic Mirror. Of all the items, the mirror is absolutely critical. In the sun, the mirror can produce bright light and be seen for several miles. It is the most effective signaling device available.
2. Topcoat / Raincoat. Used to restrict airflow around your body to decrease water evaporation that leads to dehydration and death.
3. 1 litre of water per person. You can probably survive the first three days with just the first two items. Although the litre of water would not significantly extend survival time, it helps hold off the effects of dehydration. It’s best to drink the water as you become thirsty so that you can remain clear headed during the first day when important decisions have to be made and shelter created. Once dehydration begins, it’s impossible to reverse it with the amount of water available. Rationing would not be a good idea.
4. Flashlight. The only quick, reliable night signaling device. With it and the mirror you have 24-hour signaling capability. The reflector and lens can be used as an auxiliary signaling device or as a fire starter. The battery container can be used for digging and as a water container in the distillation process.
5. Pocket Knife. Can be used for rigging a shelter and cutting up cactus or vegetation.
6. Parachute. Can serve as both shelter and signaling device. Create a shade cover using trees or cactus as poles and parachute lines to tie the shelter down. By doubling or tripling the fabric, you can reduce the temperature by as much as 30%.
7. Pistol. Noise signaling. By the end of the second day, speech would be seriously impaired and you may not be able to walk (6-10% dehydration). The pistol can be used as a signaling device (audible for 3-5 km) and the bullets can be used as a fire starter. The international distress signal is three shots fired in rapid succession. However, it is a dangerous item to have because of the physical and emotional stress of the group.
8. Sunglasses. In the intense sunlight, photophthalmia and solar retinitis (both similar to snow blindness) could be serious problems by the second day. However, the dark shade of the parachute shelter will reduce the problem, as would darkening the area around the eyes using soot.
9. Compress Kit with Gauze. Not needed since no one is injured and you should not be leaving the crash site. Because of the low humidity, the desert is considered one of the least infectious places in the world. And because blood thickens with dehydration, there is little danger from bleeding unless a vein is severed.
10. Compass. Not needed since you should not attempt to walk from the crash site.
11. Air Map of the Area. Not needed since you should not attempt to walk from the crash site. The map might be useful to start a fire with, or for toilet paper. You could also use it as shade for your head. It is essentially useless because it might encourage members to try and walk out, and that is the deadliest of all options.
12. A Book Entitled “Edible Animals of the Desert.” You should not expend energy attempting to leave the crash site to hunt. The problem is dehydration, not starvation. Desert animals are rarely seen and may take too much energy to kill for the proposed gain. Protein intake increases dehydration because much of it is needed in the digestion process. The rule of thumb: if you have lots of water, eat. Otherwise, don’t consume anything but water.
13. 100 Salt Tablets. Will actually rob your body of moisture. With dehydration, blood salinity increases. If salt tablets are ingested, blood salinity continues to rise to dangerous levels and may become deadly. It has the same effect as drinking ocean water.
14. Alcohol / Soda. Little value since alcohol draws water into your system to absorb it. Rubbing alcohol is deadly if ingested and looks similar to water. It can be dangerous as dehydration sets in and causes irrationality. Rubbing alcohol is flammable and may be used to start a fire, but the flame is dangerously invisible.
The bottom line: unless your team waited at the plane to be rescued, you likely perished because of the heat and lack of water.
What This Teaches About Leadership
I’ve used this exercise with teams for years. The rankings are always surprising. The rationale behind them teaches something deeper than desert survival — it teaches how to think under pressure. Here’s what I’ve learned.
The Most Important Item Does Not Look Important
The mirror wins because it’s the most effective signaling device. But almost every team ranks it near the bottom on first pass. It looks trivial. It doesn’t fit the mental model of “survival gear.”
What works better: Challenge your assumptions about what matters before a crisis hits. In engineering, the most leveraged investments — clean abstractions, good documentation, monitoring, testing infrastructure — often look like nice-to-haves until they’re the only thing that saves you. They are the mirror in the desert.
Stay Put
The compass and air map rank near the bottom because walking out is the deadliest possible decision. You’re 110 km from help. Walking increases dehydration, reduces visibility to rescuers, and almost guarantees death. The instinct to move is strong. It feels active. It feels like progress. The correct move is to stay put, signal, and wait.
What works better: When things go wrong, the first question should not be “what should we do?” It should be “should we do anything at all?” Many incidents are made worse by teams that start moving before they understand the situation. The leaders who can resist motion bias — who can say “let’s observe for 10 minutes before we touch anything” — consistently outperform those who jump to action.
Water Is Third — Not First
Water ranks third because staying clear-headed in the first 24 hours matters more than extending survival by a few hours later. The expert guidance: drink when thirsty, don’t ration.
What works better: Front-load your resources. Invest in getting the first decisions right rather than spreading thin. A clear-headed first day in the desert is worth more than extra water on day four. A well-architected first sprint is worth more than budget spread across a delayed project.
Some Items Will Kill You
Salt tablets and alcohol aren’t just useless — they’re actively harmful. The book on edible animals is dangerous because pursuing it distracts from the real problem. These items feel like they might help. They make things worse.
What works better: Actively identify what will make things worse, not just what will help. Adding headcount to a late project. Rewriting the codebase before you have product-market fit. Optimizing performance before you have users. These feel productive. They are the salt tablets of engineering leadership.
How Groups Make Decisions
The best teams in this exercise are the ones where the quietest person speaks up with an unconventional idea and the group listens. The worst teams are the ones where the first suggestion sets the frame and everyone builds within it.
What works better: Explicitly invite the counterintuitive perspective. “What’s the mirror in this scenario — the thing that seems trivial but could be the most important?” Create space for the idea that doesn’t fit the frame. That’s where the best decisions come from.
What I’ve Learned
The mirror lesson. The most valuable resource often doesn’t look like one. In engineering, the highest-leverage investments — documentation, monitoring, clean abstractions — look optional until they’re all that saves you.
Stay put. The instinct to move is almost always wrong early in a crisis. Motion feels like progress. Often it’s just noise. Leaders who can resist motion bias make better decisions.
Water is third. Front-load your resources. A clear-headed first day in the desert is worth more than extra water on day four. A well-architected first sprint is worth more than budget spread across a delayed project.
The items that will kill you. Some moves feel productive but actively harm — adding headcount to a late project, rewriting before product-market fit, optimizing before you have users. Learn to identify them in advance.
Group decision making. Groups converge on the obvious and miss the critical unless someone creates space for the unconventional idea. That quiet person with the mirror? Make sure they get heard.