CHALLENGES

#1: Novozymes purpose is to find biological answers for better lives in a growing world. But the first two words of your purpose are “Together we”. That's because you can't do this alone. So this challenge will test your ability to work together. Get to any grassy outdoor space and take a video of your team completing the Group Sit & Stand Challenge. Basically, your team members will all be standing shoulder to shoulder in a tight clump/circle with your backs all facing in and your arms interlocked. Slowly lower the entire interlocked group to the ground until you are in a seated position with your butts on the ground, and then slowly stand all the way back up while remaining interlocked the entire time. To watch a video of a group successfully completing this challenge click HERE.

#2: With over 4,000 bottles of hot sauces, Ashley's Hot Shots here in the Old Market has the largest collection around the three state area. Get your team to that location and find a hot sauce with a fun (or painful) name that everyone on your team is willing to try. Then take a video introducing the name of the hot sauce right before everyone at the same time consumes separate spoonfuls of it. Be sure to record a long enough video to capture everyone’s reaction. Disclaimer, this will likely not be pleasant, which is exactly the point. Because a team that suffers together, grows together.

#3: Novozymes has been collecting microbes since the 1960s, and now has one of the world's largest proprietary strain collections. To help expand upon that collection, get your team to the oversized human nose seen HERE. Once there take a fun team picture with your fingers up the nostril, collecting samples, of course. And if anyone gives you a strange look just explain that your company is the world’s largest provider of microbial technologies.

#4: Get every team member a large (16 ounces or so) open-top paper, plastic, or foam cup and fill it with water. Then somewhere outdoors, line up shoulder to shoulder and have each team member balance a full cup on their head. Once everyone’s cups are balanced, hold hands with the team members on either side of you and take a video of your team working together to all take 10 steps forward without anyone touching their own cup (or another team member’s cup) or having it spill. If someone’s cup spills make sure to encourage them and then refill any spilled cups and start again as a team. After your team successfully travels 10 steps together dump the cups to prove they were full, and celebrate!

#5: On Monday we honored Memorial Day and those that have given everything for our freedom. Anywhere around the area find an active military person or a veteran. They could be wearing some form of military or veteran attire, have a military ID, or they could simply describe their military background while you’re completing your challenge. Then take a video of them watching your entire team doing 10 push-ups, sit-ups, or jumping jacks to honor their strength and courage. After you’ve finished recording, spend a few minutes learning more about their time in the service as a small gesture of appreciation.

#6: Get to any clothing or apparel store and find two different items with enough in stock that every team member can be wearing the same two items in their own sizes. Then take a fun team picture with everyone wearing those items. For example it may be a wacky shirt, and a pair of shorts. Or maybe some cozy slippers and a large sun hat. As long as everyone is wearing the same exact two items but in their own sizes.

#7: Located somewhere around the Old Market is the same type of object that was featured on the cover of the second studio album by British-Irish boy band One Direction. Once you figure it out, find the one located around this area and take a fun team picture with it while everyone on your team is stuffed inside (if possible).

#8: Research is increasingly supporting the positive role of probiotics on mental wellness and cognitive health, and Novozymes is uniquely positioned to meet the needs of the growing brain health supplement market. This challenge will test just how healthy your team’s brain health is! Click HERE to get to the brain puzzles and then select “Memory”. Then, anywhere along the way have at least two team members achieve a score of 50 or more points. Once you have your two super focused teammates, take a celebratory picture of them while they’re displaying their phone screens and the point totals are clearly visible. You can also take a second close-up picture of the two devices to clearly show the point totals if necessary (for bragging rights amongst the other teams, of course).

#9: Get your team to Arches Playground, which is part of the newly renovated Gene Leahy Mall. Once there, work together as a team to climb up and over any of the bright orange arch-shaped climbing structures. Each one is different so choose one that will challenge your group. Then travel through the structure together as a team, helping each other along the way. Once you all get to the peak take a fun team selfie celebrating what you’ve accomplished, while still recognizing that the journey is not over. Yes that’s a metaphor.

#10: Novozymes is focused on developing effective and microbiome-friendly products to maintain oral health. To celebrate the potential in this growing market, find any two youth (or more) around the area and take a video of them teaching your team members how to “Floss”. And no, it has nothing to do with your teeth (but they will show you what to do with your arms and your hips).

#11: Anywhere around the area take a team picture with any public digital clock (not a cell phone or personal watch) when the digits add up to Taylor Swift’s lucky number. For example, if her lucky number were 12 (it’s not) then 11:46am would be acceptable because 1+1+4+6=12. Similarly, 3:09pm would also be acceptable, or any other time where the sum of the individual digits equals Taylor’s lucky number. This will be a good method for uncovering who on your team are true Swifties!

#12: During aviation’s earliest days the Omaha Aero Club was able to entice Glenn Curtiss (who earned the first pilot’s license in the United States) to Omaha by offering him $10,000. In the summer of 1910 he and several other well-known pilots participated in the Mid-West Aviation Meet, where thousands of local spectators could view the present development of aircraft and witness record breaking flights. To celebrate this city’s place in aviation history, take a video of your team completing the "Omaha Paper Airplane Challenge". Basically send some team members to the 2nd level of any building, balcony, or parking garage and have them toss paper airplanes out into the air in front of them (not just dropping it straight downward). The rest of your team should be on the ground level below. Any of your team members at ground level need to catch just one plane before it hits the ground. All team members at ground level can be attempting to catch planes, but only one plane needs to be caught.

#13: The first fire station in Omaha housed a hand drawn fire truck that the firefighters pulled to the fire then formed lines and used leather buckets filled with water to put out the fires. Initially the fire department relied strictly on volunteers from the community to provide the manpower for any fire. To honor the brave firefighters that have protected this city over the years, and protect it currently, take a video of your team completing "Stop, Drop, and Roll" while any regulation/operable fire extinguisher is visible in the background, or you are standing in front of an actual fire station. Be sure to yell each step of the fire safety technique as you all do it together and make sure the fire extinguisher or fire station is clearly visible at some point in your video.

#14: At the core of Novozymes is a community of people who are uniquely dedicated to find biological answers for better lives in a growing world. This can only be achieved by listening to the people you provide products for and understanding the stories that make them who they are. Take a video of your team and any stranger that has a tattoo while they explain what that tattoo means to them or why they got it. The tattoo must be visible at some point during the video.

#15: Tomorrow is “National Say Something Nice Day”. As the saying goes, “people may not remember what you do, but they’ll certainly remember how you made them feel.” Find a postcard that features this area in some way, or a fun greeting card, and purchase it. Then click HERE to go to the Love For Our Elders project, which is focused on fighting loneliness with love, one letter at a time. As a team, choose someone from their list whose story or background resonates with you. Then on your card include a fun or uplifting message and sign it. Stamp your card and take a picture with it to show you've completed your Act Of Kindness and then drop it in the mail along the way or after your event ends.