discovery beats answers
Transcript of this video:
One of my favorite toys from childhood was a kaleidoscope,
a little cardboard tube with two mirrors in it,
and at the bottom, a number
of little plastic crystals.
And as you rotated it,
different patterns merged and emerged.
And I’ve been thinking a lot about
that kaleidoscope recently
because I think when we try to teach people things,
for example, by telling people five point lists
of the key steps to something,
what I think we’re doing is we’re taking one pattern
that you might see in the kaleidoscope
and taking away all the movement
and the surprise that one experiences with the kaleidoscope
as you rotate it and as new patterns emerge.
And, I think this is quite important too, as you get
to see each pattern for yourself
and enjoy that moment of having discovered it.
And so much training
and development tries to sort of bypass
that process in the name of efficiency.
And what I’m interested in doing in my work is to, is to try
to steer away from effectively presenting single,
snapshots of the kaleidoscope and try
and create an experience more like the playfulness
and wonder that I experienced as I actually played
with a kaleidoscope.
Photo by Malcolm Lightbody on Unsplash
