Perspective

There’s a lot going on in this picture. I’d like to talk about the painting.

Thanks to PMI Tasmania for the screen shot from my Four Ws of Workshop Design mini-masterclass 

It’s my latest favourite.

What do you see?

When I showed it to a friend they saw energy.

Another saw circles.

My local café owner saw colour. And he stuck it up on his bare walls, along with a few of my others (join me for a coffee there if you’d like to see the rest!)

One painting, three different responses.

Perspective is fascinating, isn’t it?

We see things differently and each perspective is valid. Henry David Thoreau puts it beautifully:

“It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.”

While this is interesting for my painting, it’s can have more challenging implications for a workshop.

Every single person in every single workshop I facilitate sees things differently, whether it’s:

• the topic that’s brought them together

• what they want to achieve

• the people in the group

• how the group works together

• me, their facilitator

They are often trying to reach consensus or make a decision, in a limited time frame.

It can get tricky.

So I take care creating a structure for people in my workshops to feel safe to share their views and to appreciate each other’s perspectives.

I aim to help them expand their perspectives for better conversations, even if they disagree.

The most effective way I do this is with my photo walkshop. It doesn’t matter if it’s just for 15 minutes at the start of an onsite or online session or for 90 minutes or 3 hours. The feedback is the same.

‘You'll see the world differently.’

‘…a great technique to increase stakeholder engagement at the beginning of any workshop.’

‘A technique that forced me to look at things differently. I’m going to do it more.’

‘A great way to help participants think about surfacing what they want to say.’

Thanks for reading this far.

Stay (fl)awesome!