We learn a lot about ourselves by permitting us to view our situation from another perspective than our own. This post
Background:
Sun Tzu’ ancient book The Art Of War is an approximately 2500 year old and has inspired leaders of war and peace for centuries. Even if you are not planning a battle with a neighboring army, the ancient Chinese philosophy of Taoism that Sun Tzu’ strategies are build on, is an interesting read. Is is especially popular amongst those who wish to gain a better understanding todays business and organizations though metaphors of war and peace.
For those of you who would like a sneak peek into the wisdom of Sun Tzu and Taoism without reading the book, here is an old tale that sums of one of the main principles, selected by translator T. Cleary (and below an idea on how you can use it to learn retrospectively):
Materials
Only the story in the picture above – or another story if you have a good one. Please share it with is in the comment or by contacting us, so that we can add it here 🙂
Pros
- Easy and short – especially if it is only used as an energizer or to set the mood of a meeting
- Requires no preparation
- Speaks to the imagination and invites us to see things from a different perspective
- Can spike interest since it is taken from ancient theories of peace and war
Cons
- While it invites us to look back and learn from previous experiences, it does not directly ask us. It might be be necessary to address this as a follow-up question. The same thing goes for actions – you may need to ask the team – should we do some actions in order to remember what we’ve realized or learned from this?
- Some teams might find it too abstract and metaphoric
Duration
5-45 minutes
Preparation
Open this site. Or if you fancy – find your own little story.
Step-by-step
- Introduce the story and set expectations:
- Are you going to discuss the story afterwards?
- Will you let people reflect themselves for a minute and then move on to todays agenda?
- Read the story out loud or ask a team member to do so. Everyone else listens.
- Be quiet for a minute.
- Ask the team: Does it inspire anything we need do discuss?
- Either you say “okay, now we’ve got something to think about. Lets move on then – we can always talk about it” or you can ask follow-up questions.
Examples of follow-up questions: - What thoughts does the story invite to?
- What does it teach us of war and business?
- Is there any way it can inspire you to act or think differently in every day life?
- Which of the brothers do you see yourself in?
- Do you have any critique or reasons that the story does not apply to our situation?
- In what situations can we learn from this?
- In order to put learning into action: What should we do differently?
- Does this inspire any actions we should take?
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