Framegame: Envelopes

From Evernote:

Framegame: Envelopes Clipped from: http://www.thiagi.com/pfp/IE4H/november2009.html#Framegame

Framegame

Envelopes

It took me just 10 minutes to design Leadership Envelopes, the training game featured earlier in this issue. It took me the same short period of time to design Stage Directions (October 2009),Participants from Hell (September 2009), Reaction Envelopes (July 2009), and Strength Envelopes (May 2009). All of these games were designed with the help of a framegame called Envelopes.

What is a framegame? It is a learning activity that is deliberately designed to allow easy loading and unloading of content. Just as you can mount different pictures in a frame, you can load different training content into a framegame.

Here is the simple idea behind framegames: All games have both content and procedure. In Leadership Envelopes, the content is leadership principles. The game procedure involves reviewing a principle written on an envelope, and identifying how this principle can be applied to on-the-job decisions. The participants then write these application ideas on cards, place them in the envelopes, and exchange envelopes with other teams. They repeat these steps several times.

If you remove all the content from Leadership Envelopes, you are left with the skeletal procedure. This content-free framegame is called Envelopes. You will find generic instructions for this game below.

How To Facilitate Envelopes

Prepare the envelopes. Create a set of envelopes, writing on the front of each envelope a stimulus (for example, a problem to be solved, a question to be answered, an issue to be discussed, a task to be completed, a graphic to be drawn, or a clue to be examined). Each envelope should have a different stimulus; however, every envelope should have the same type of stimulus.

Prepare a rating scale. Create a checklist that identifies the criteria for comparing and evaluating different responses to the stimuli. In some games, you may skip this activity and ask the participants to conduct an overall evaluation of the responses using any criteria they prefer.

Organize the participants into teams. To play Envelopes, you need at least three teams. Divide the participants into teams of more than two members and fewer than seven members. Teams should be approximately the same size. With fewer than six participants, play Envelopes as an activity among individual players.

Seat the teams. Arrange the team tables in a roughly circular configuration. Explain that during the game, each team will pass an envelope to the next team in the clockwise direction.

Brief the participants. Present (or review) the background facts and principles. Explain to the participants that the game requires them to apply these principles to different problems, issues, or questions.

Distribute the stimulus envelopes and response cards. Give one envelope and several index cards to each team.

Conduct the first round. Ask the members of each team to review the stimulus presented on the envelope and to think of a list of responses.

Specify a time limit. Within this time limit, each team writes its responses on an index card in a brief but understandable form. The team is limited to a single card, but it may use both sides of the card. Each card will eventually be evaluated for both the quality and quantity of the responses it contains.

Conclude the first round. Announce the end of the first round. Explain that each team should place its response card inside the envelope, leave the envelope unsealed, and pass it to the next team. Also, emphasize that the teams should not open the envelope they receive.

Conduct the second round. Ask the teams to read the stimulus on the envelope they received, but not to look at the response card inside the envelope. Tell them to repeat the procedure of writing a list of responses on an index card. After the time limit is up, ask the teams to place their response cards inside the envelopes and pass them to the next teams.

Repeat the procedure. Continue with more rounds of the game as time permits. Ask the teams to use the same procedure of inspecting the new stimulus, recording the response, inserting the card inside the envelope, and passing it to the next team. Conduct at least two rounds, and always stop at least one round short of the number of stimulus envelopes.

Ask the teams to evaluate the response cards. If you have a rating scale for evaluating the response cards, distribute it. Ask that each team open the envelope, pull out all the response cards, and evaluate them. If you do not have a rating scale, ask the team members to use any appropriate criteria they want. With or without the rating scale, the team members should evaluate the responses on a comparative basis and distribute 100 points among the cards to indicate their relative merits. Scores should be recorded on the cards. Announce a suitable time limit for this activity.

Ask the teams to announce the results. Randomly select a team to make the first announcement. Ask the team to read the stimulus on the envelope and the items from the response cards, beginning with the card that received the lowest score and progressing through the cards in an ascending order of scores. Finally, the team should announce how it distributed the 100 points and briefly explain the criteria it used. Repeat this procedure so that all teams get a turn to announce their results.

Identify the winning team. Ask the teams to place the response cards on a table at the front of the room. Now call for a representative from each team to collect the appropriate response cards, and ask teams to compute their total score. Congratulate the team with the highest total score.

Debrief the participants. Ask the participants to comment on the similarities and differences in the responses from the teams. Also ask them to identify which stimulus was the easiest to work with and which one was the hardest. Discuss the similarities and differences in the criteria used by the different teams for rating the response cards.

Assign follow-up activities. Ask the participants to complete an assignment that requires the application of selected items from the response cards.

Envelopes Game Plan

Here is a summary of the flow of the generic Envelopes game:

Step	Facilitator	Participants
1. Brief the participants. (5 minutes)	Present background facts and principles. Explain that the game will require participants to apply these principles to different contexts.	Listen and take notes.
2. Organize teams. (2 minutes)	Divide the participants into as many teams as you have different stimulus envelopes.	Join your team and introduce yourself to the others.
3. Distribute supplies. (1 minute)	Distribute an envelope and response cards to each team.	Study and discuss the stimulus found on the front of the envelope.
4. Conduct the first round. (5 minutes)	Give instructions. Keep time.	Write a set of responses on a card. Place the card inside the envelope and pass it to the next team.
5. Conduct the next round. (5 minutes)	Give instructions. Keep time.	Write a set of responses to the stimulus specified on the envelope that you received.
6. Conduct more rounds (as needed).	Give instructions. Keep time.	Keep exchanging envelopes and writing more responses.
7. Evaluation round. (5 minutes)	Give instructions. Keep time.	Review the responses on the cards inside the envelope. Compare and evaluate the cards.
8. Present results. (3 minutes)	Give instructions. Keep time.	Ask teams to announce the results. Identify and recognize the winning team.

Your Turn Now

You have a complete set of generic instructions for playing the Envelopes game. You also have several sample applications of the framegame in this issue of TGL and in previous issues. You have enough background information to rapidly create your own Envelopes game. So go to it now!

Jonathan Zittrain: The Web as random acts of kindness | Video on TED.com

I can see why so many people have flocked to social networking sites. Very interesting and humorous look at how people are spreading kindness through the web.

Jonathan Zittrain: The Web as random acts of kindness | Video on TED.com

What random acts of kindness can you spread?

Shared via AddThis

Storying Around

“‘Thou shalt not’ is soon forgotten, but ‘Once upon a time’ lasts forever.”
- Philip Pullman (1996 Carnegie Medal acceptance speech)

Have you noticed that theatre touches the audience? That’s usually done by creating recognizable situations. Audiences naturally laugh when they recognize things they do, or things they know others do. Hence keeping things truthful is pretty powerful and the truth is often funnier that fiction. Absurdity is usually cheap and not very interesting.

Try “Storying” around: Tell stories walking down the hallways, riding in the elevators, going up or down the stairs. But you must stop the story when you arrive at your destination. You can pick it up again when you leave. This is great for enhancing your story telling ability and adding humor and adventure to everyday situations. And, it’s FUN! People get hooked and interested.

Life as Play

“People do not quit playing because they grow old. They grow old because they quit playing.”   
         - Oliver Wendell Holmes

• How often are you really “In the Moment” with your experiences? How would your life be enriched by being more present to the moment?   

Plato said, “Life must be lived as play.” Many of the philosophical and religious traditions (ie. Zen) stress the value of living more fully in the moment. You may have heard people say, “Be Here Now!” When you think about it, “now” is all you really have, and life is a series of “nows.” But most of us spend our time caught up in upsets and disappointment about the past, or anxieties about the future. Some people even go through life asleep, with no real joy or passion of any kind. In the film, “Awakenings”, Leonard says at one point, “We don’t know what it’s like to live. We’ve forgotten how to experience joy.”

Make a Joy list of things you have fun doing and do two them each day. Doing things that are fun puts you into a playful mood. So do one thing in the morning and one thing in the evening. And keep your Joy list with you at all times as a positive reminder of why your here.

Using Aikido Humor

Communication Moment

Aikido Humor

 

“Laughter removes the burden of seriousness from the problem, and often times, it’s that very serious attitude that is the problem” 

                                                                                    (Bob Basso)

 

Do you encounter challenges in your communication with others that you wish you could turn into an opportunity?

Try practicing the art of Aikido Humor. Aikido is the martial art where you take an attack and redirect the energy.

To give you an example, Say you’re dealing with an angry customer who is being a jerk.

 

Customer: “Can’t you help me, stupid?”

You: “I’m trying, sir.”

Customer: “What’s the matter with you people, stupid?”

You: “Sir, please be patient.”

Customer: “That does it! What’s your name, stupid?”

You: “Well, I guess it has to be STUPID.”

Customer: (Laughing)

 

You can see how this neutralized an uncomfortable situation Think of some of the ways you get verbally attacked and think of some and create some  Aikido humor with them. Here is a couple to get you started.

 

      (Attack)                                             (Aikido Response)

-Are you serious?                                  Sometimes I’m parallel.

-Your skirt is too short.                       No, my legs are too long.

 

That’s Aikido humor. So the next time someone attacks you instead of attacking back, redirect it using humor if at all possible.

Being ‘In The Moment’ with My Dad

 

My Dad!

Until my father passed away  years ago we used to work together. We always enjoyed laughing and talking about a lot of things other than just our business. My father was someone who really enjoyed being “In the moment” with people. People that were around him used to comment how appreciated and respected they felt around my father.

A Fresh Look at Measuring Learning Retention in Training

I just read this interesting article on Measuring learning retention. I often think the “smile” sheets for training evaluation don’t do justice for seeing the real value of training. In order for training to truly be effective you’ve got to make sure there is management involvement before, during and after the training. Post-training evaluations are most effective when they ask specific, thoughtful questions relevant to the exercises and materials covered during the classes. As one training manager points out, it is unfair to expect valuable feedback from employees when they are supplied with a generic questionnaire form that fails to ask valuable and challenging questions.

A Fresh Look at Measuring Learning Retention

Meanings Are in People

Wait, don’t words have meaning?

When scholars first tried to model communication, it was envisioned as a simple procedure of one person sending a message to another. It would literally be like me filling up a syringe with my message and injecting it into you. You’d get the meaning of the message exactly as I intended it. There would be no misunderstandings because the words in my message held consistent meaning for you and for me; we’d see the same picture.

But the truth is, we are the ones who assign meaning to language. Letters and words are only symbols of our shared meaning. Consider this:

DOG

There is nothing about that word that looks, smells, or acts like our furry friends. But growing up, we saw pictures of this animal in books, and displayed proudly underneath the picture was the symbol for it: DOG.

Thus, we learned to bring meaning to the word. When you see this, what meaning do you bring to it? What kind of dog do you picture? Heathcliffe? Marmaduke? Old Yeller? The Taco Bell dog? Lassie?

Now, consider what happens if we simply rearrange two letters:

GOD

There’s a whole new meaning for this set of letters. I bet the meaning we bring to this word varies even more wildly than with DOG. In fact, people bring so many different meanings to this word that we have built entire organizations around defining it, exploring it, and reinforcing it!

Let’s rearrange our symbols one more time:

ODG

Now that’s interesting. This is a nonsense word. In the English language there has been no assignment of meaning to this arrangement of letters.

So, you can see why the old way of thinking about communication breaks down. If I filled up a syringe with DOG (while picturing a little black canine) and injected it into you, chances are you’d visualize a DOG from your own unique experience.

Instead, we can only hope to STIMULATE the appropriate MEANING in others using our words. When we write or speak, we are offering up symbols that we hope will bring to mind for you the same message we are intending. How can we improve our chances of being on the same page?

1.       Consider your audience:  What is their experience? Are they sports fanatics? Then, you may try using sports analogies to get across your meaning. Speak in their terms, and you will get closer to stimulating the right meaning.

2.       Listen for feedback: Listen for cues that the other person has understood your meaning correctly. Ask them to summarize. Watch for confusion.

3.       Turn down the noise: If your listener is distracted by something (whether it’s hunger or loud music), chances are greater for misinterpretation.

4.       Use two examples: When explaining a challenging concept, use two different examples to help them understand. One example may be misunderstood, but with two your listener can find the pattern.

The bottom line is: MEANINGS are in PEOPLE

Do people understand YOUR communication correctly?

Copyright 2009; In The Moment Productions, Inc., all rights reserved

 

Afraid to Have Fun at Work?

“Most of the time I don’t have any fun.The rest of the time, I don’t have any fun at all.” (Woody Allen)

A funny thing is happening in American companies these days. From very small companies to Fortune 500 corporations, businesses are learning to put fun to work. According to the CEO of Rosenbluth International, Hal Rosenbluth, it is “almost inhumane if companies create a climate where people can’t naturally have fun . . . Our role and responsibility as leaders and associates is to create a place where people can enjoy themselves. I know our company is doing well when I walk around and hear people laughing.”

Give a man a fish, and he’ll eat for a day, but…..

Give a man a fish, and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and He’ll eat for a lifetime. Get a man hammered and you can talk him into eating a fish… Right out of the aquarium.