The Desert Survival Situation provides a unique opportunity to quickly and objectively measure whether your group is achieving synergy. Using the activity to demonstrate the elusive concept, synergy occurs when the interactive efforts of two or more people produce a solution that is superior to their independent solutions. By measuring the quality of both individual and team performance on the single task of ranking 15 items, groups are allowed to quickly calculate the extent to which they are fully utilizing their resources—and doing so in a way that achieves synergy and enhances team development.