With External Challenge positive interdependence, the group’s goal is to work together to overcome some outside obstacle. That obstacle can be another team, as when groups compete against each other. However, some teachers worry that too much of such competition may cause bad feelings among members of competing groups. An alternative to competition between groups could be to compete against a standard.

An example of a standard as external challenge would be in extensive reading, sometimes known as SSR (Sustained Silent Reading). With extensive reading, students read large amounts of books or other materials, usually of their own choice and usually at approximately their current reading level. Perhaps last year, the average group of four students in a particular class read 33 books. Therefore, the goal for the groups this year is to beat that standard by reading more that 33 books in total. To achieve this goal, students will need to check with each other on their reading and suggest books for each other to read.