Adventures in living with outward bound

Adventures in living with outward bound

Hera Diani and Tantri Yuliandini, The Jakarta Post, Jatiluhur, West Java

"Is there any toilet around here?" asked a trainee flight
attendant for Garuda Indonesia Airlines to her outward bound
instructors.

What she meant by "here" were the rugged hills of Jatiluhur in
Purwakarta, West Java, a two-hour drive east of Jakarta.

"No toilet? So ... that means we have to do it behind the
bush? But, what if there is a snake?" she said, obviously
worried.

One of her colleagues, meanwhile, was complaining about the
abundant and vicious mosquitoes.

It probably never crossed the minds of the 18 trainees that,
in preparing to take to a life in the skies, they would have to
undergo a bit of the life of Robinson Crusoe.

Living in the wild for three days and two nights, confronting
their fears and problem solving in outdoor activities, including
hiking and canoeing, sleeping in a tent, with no bed and no
toilet, is not what most people would list when it comes to "job
training".

These days, however, it has become a trend for companies to
send off trembling employees on outward bound courses in a bid to
empower their workforce.

Why outdoors? Because nature reveals what a person is really
like, whether they will wilt under pressure or show they are made
of sterner stuff (remember the Burt Reynolds' movie Deliverance?)

"It is aimed at changing the way of thinking. For example,
employees think they have a nice job by working from 8 to 5, that
has to be changed. They have to be ready anytime they're needed,"
said Mulyanto, director of Pelopor Adventure Camp (PAC).

Mulyanto, a former mountain guide, established PAC in the
early 1990s along with fellow graduates of Bandung's Parahyangan
Catholic University.

He first attended personal development programs in Singapore
and New Zealand.

"At that time, an adventure camp, or what people like to call
outward bound, was not popular at all. We were among the very
first institutions to conduct the program," Mulyanto said.

Slowly, the program attracted clients, which include big
companies like Bank Indonesia and Caltex, and also university and
other institution.

The program takes place on 8.5 hectares at the PAC base camp
in Jatiluhur, lasting from three days to seven days. The cost
varies, from Rp 50,000 (US$4.50) to over Rp 2 million per person,
depending on the client's capability.

The program consists of a precourse, the course and
postcourse. The first course is conducted in the office, where
the participants are given information about what kind of
activities they will do.

The postcourse, which is optional, is also held in the
company's office to review the program they have completed.

The course itself consists of several activities, starting
with "breaking the ice".

"We play games which are aimed at building trust among
participants and eliminating the gap between bosses and
employees. When else can a security officer touch a president
director's head if not in a program like this?" said instructor
Hermawan Susilo.

The first activity is hiking, which Mulyanto said was good at
stirring up conflict and seeing how people react.

"The participants are given a map and compass to go to a
point. First, things go well but soon, as they get tired, they
will be frustrated and conflict will arise," he said.

Those deep-down characteristics you can hide in the office
maze come to the fore when the pressure rises. It is clear who
tends to give up easily, who likes to avoid conflict and who is
trying to be the mediator.

The participants are then given a higher challenge: canoeing
in nearby Jatiluhur Lake, an exercise aimed at determining the
group's coordination, problems and what they lack.

"There are employees who don't do their job well, who are lazy
and not disciplined. It will be seen in this activity," Mulyanto
said.

After canoeing, they will sit together and discuss their
experience, criticizing each other if things went wrong.

"There will be some lessons to learn, like authority,
delegating and sharing responsibilities," Mulyanto said.

Other activities are rappelling or descending a cliff and
crossing with high ropes.

The first activities, done individually, are aimed at
controlling fear so that people are able to get out of their
settled situation and find a solution to the challenge before
them.

"If people want to change, they have to dare to take risks,
but also think rationally to count the possible risks," Mulyanto
said.

Crossing the high ropes, meanwhile, is done with a partner, to
learn mutual trust and responsibility.

All of the activities are observed by instructors and a
psychologist. The activities vary, depending on the profession.
An activity is followed by a discussion to review earlier
activity.

At the end of the program, they are given a final project,
which is usually making a raft, rowing it and then building a
tower, with a limited supply of resources.

"It is aimed at having the participants make a good plan, and
then changing one's paradigm from competition to a win-win
solution. It's quite difficult, though, especially for marketing
people as they are used to competiting," laughed Mulyanto.

Some programs work, others fail and there was even a group
which left the location before they finished.

"Well, it really depends on the participant on how to make it
work," Mulyanto said.

Hilda, one of the trainee flight attendants, said that she
believed the program was useful.

"It was quite a shock, frankly. I have never been camping
before, but, you know, accidents can happen, and flight
attendants have to face things like this," she said.

Pelopor Adventure Camp http://www.pelopor-adventure.co.id