How to Coach Yourself and Others Essential Knowledge For Coaching | Page 301
participants can be encouraged also make their own notes,
which might for example contain their mental models and
appropriate revisions of the creative thinking process of others.
In this sense the activity helps open hidden areas of awareness
(self and others), which in turn promotes better understanding,
relationships, communications, team-building and co-operation.
(See and refer to the Johari Window to help explain these
benefits).
5 - Further silent and speaking sessions - the kaleidoscope effect
Further sessions can repeat and extend the silent session so that
participants increase the depth and complexity of their thinking
still more. Specifically participants should now think about and
guess how other delegates are thinking about the ideas of of
others. This again is done silently, together. Each delegate will be
thinking in deeper levels about each of the other participant's
thinking. These complexities of thinking result, for example:
A is thinking and noting down of any of his/her own new
ideas
A is also (as in stage 4) thinking afresh about and noting
down any thoughts as to what B, C, D, E, F and G are thinking
and, A is now additionally thinking of what B is thinking
of A, C, D, E, F and G, plus what C is thinking of A, B, D, E, F
and G, and so on.
Obviously the exercise at this stage has expanded massively.
From a simple individual brainstorming activity involving say
seven people and seven sets of personal ideas (seven
perspectives), the session has expanded to entail seven people
each considering six other people's thoughts about the ideas of
six other people's ideas (that's 242 perspectives!). Clearly it is
not reasonable to expect delegates to formulate 242 lists, so it is
useful to place certain limits on people's activities, which can
include for example:
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