This post is again about the fundamentals of learning – the use of images. I came across the above image on ‘Moneyball of Leadership” video by Charlie Kim. Charlie used it to illustrate his speech on how poor execution can kill even brilliant strategy
When I saw this image, an intervention jumps into my mind. Imagine yourself an intact team sitting in a room. After some check-in, show the image with some silence. Depending on the intended topic of reflection / conversation (without restraining other things to emerge), we can ask the following questions:
Revealing the problem
‘What do you see in the picture?’
‘How would you feel if you are the painter’s supervisor?’
‘In what occasion at work you experienced the similar?’
‘What was the impact to the work performance?’
‘What possibly caused such problem?’
Sharing practices
‘How did you / the others tackle the situation?’
‘What worked? What did not?’
Encouraging self evaluation
‘What was possibly in the painter’s mind when he / she did this? Craft a line to describe the voice in his / her head, like those in a comic book.’
Put all those lines on a flipchart, and then ask ‘Share with your learning partner here an occasion where one of those voices once shows up in your own heads’
‘How did you feel at that time?’
‘If your mind changed at that time, what triggered such change?’
With relevant set-up and questions, one single image can provoke powerful reflection and learning conversation.
