Why are we still forcing each other to play icebreaker games?

One of the most hated phrases in the English language is, “Let’s go around the room and introduce ourselves”. For whatever reason, the “name game” is one consistency that lasts from kindergarten to your last day at work, and it never gets better. In The Know spoke with psychiatrist Chris Norris about why we can’t stand participating in these icebreaker games. “The reason we hate or dislike icebreakers is mostly attributed to the anxiety … of exposing ourselves to people we don’t know,” Norris explained. “They are the quickest way to set a mood of ease mentally, and physically get the blood pumping in preparation for the content of the main activity,” he said. ultimately, icebreakers are successful at achieving the bare minimum, which is to foster “psychological safety” within the room. You might be miserable sharing two truths and a lie, but everyone else is also miserable saying theirs. Together, you are all miserable, but you have a vague sense of community that wouldn’t have been established otherwise