Inside Out » For Trainers

Every Presentation Ever

Sam — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 13:07:45 +0000

If you’ve ever been to, or given, a presentation, this will probably make you cringe.

Big Screen Magic

Sam — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:06:18 +0000

Using a slide-show for reflection

This article first appeared in Horizons magazine, Issue 55 (Autumn 2011)

When was the last time you managed a quiet, focused fifteen minutes of reflection and review with your group? Almost no speaking, just the occasional smile, laugh or tear. A mental journey through the physical one they have just been on.

Unless you are working with Trappist monks, the chances are that this is a rarity for you, as it is for most of us. However, there is one fool-proof way of making it happen.

A slide-show of pictures from a group’s adventures is a beautiful way of rounding off a programme and with modern technology it is easier than it has ever been. If we embrace reflection as a key part of experiential learning, and believe that an image is worth a thousand words, we can help the participants relive the emotions of a programme and reinforce the learning that they bring.

Capturing Images

The key to a good slide-show is having lots of good, relevant images. The days of slide film are almost behind us and, if you want to use the images during the course, you are going to have to go digital. Digital cameras are cheap and ubiquitous and most participants will have one on their mobile phone.

Try to capture all the parts of the programme, remember to pause during activities to take photos and don’t forget about meal times, whether round a table, fire or camp stove. Photograph places you visit, beautiful views, signs for venues you use, and get team photos up on mountains or down in caves. If you can show learning happening, clear teamwork or discussions going on, even better. You are aiming to tell the story of your adventure so the more parts of it you capture the better.

We normally set up a laptop in the corner of a room and every evening download the images of the day from everybody’s cameras and phones. This is also a good time do some basic editing, weeding out blurry images and selecting the best of the duplicates Ten minutes each night can save an hour later in the course when you are under pressure to get your show ready!

Telling the Story

All stories have a structure – a beginning, a middle and an end; your story has one too and a few minutes think about what it is can convert your slide-show from ‘what I did on my holidays’ to a powerful narrative.

If you imagine your story as a Homeric epic or Hollywood blockbuster, the first thing you will need to do is to set the scene and introduce your characters. If you are working with an organisation, try to capture a copy of their logo, you can often get it from the internet but nicer is to photograph it during the week. Look out for it on minibuses, clothing, paperwork or have the group make a copy out of natural materials.

You can ‘introduce’ the group by showing a team photo, perhaps when they first arrived – clean, apprehensive and excited. Even nicer is to ensure that during the programme you capture a portrait shot of each group member taking part in activities and ‘introduce’ them one by one with a photograph they probably don’t remember being taken. However, only do this if you have a face-shot of everybody, missing someone out suggests they weren’t part of the story!

Once you have set the scene and introduced your players you can get on with telling the story. If you want your group to relive the journey they have been on it’s probably best to do so chronologically. It will help them anchor the feelings they have watching the show with the events on the screen.

Try to balance the sections out, the fact it was easier to take photographs during the low ropes course and bushcraft than while kayaking shouldn’t be obvious in your show. Consider also significance of the events in your photo, two or three landscape shots from the summit are usually more important than two or three shots of that pretty rock face you passed on the way up!

If there were key moments during the programme, try to include them, no matter how poor quality or boring the photographs you have. A typical ‘from below’ climbing shot of someone completing their first route may never make it onto a guidebook front cover, but it will be packed with emotion for the person in it.

Aim for a mix of pretty photos, key moments and story telling images. All three have a part to play in evoking feelings and helping the participants to reflect.

As with all good stories, yours must come to an end. If you have selected the right images, there is a real possibility you will have stirred up significant emotions and care should be taken not to just ‘dump’ the watchers back into the here and now.

One way to wind up your show include a group photograph, this time as a dirty, weather- beaten and accomplished team. Another is to return to the organisations logo, or a slide with the title of the programme, dates and names of participants, perhaps drawn in the sand or scratched on a piece of slate or wood. Finally you could emulate the great film-maker Charlie Chaplin and finish with a slide that simply says “The End”.

About 3-4 seconds per slide seems to be about the right timing, any more and it will drag, any less and the watchers won’t have time to process the image before they are whisked on to the next one. If you are using music (see below) then you can frequently find a ‘fit to music’ button to help keep it sound and vision coordinated.

How many slides to use overall is a difficult question. Undoubtedly it is better to leave them wanting more than have them drifting off but use as many as you need to tell the story. If each image is unique and significant, their attention won’t be far away. On a short residential course I might expect to use 20-30 photos per day.

Resist the urge to tamper with your images too much. You are telling a true story, warts and all, not creating a fantasy master piece. Crop and straighten if you feel you need to but the more ‘raw’ your show is, the closer it will connect with its audience. As tempting as it may be to add captions, funny or otherwise, remember that you are helping the participants reflect on their story not telling your version of it. You wouldn’t make a witty quip after everything that was brought up in a discussion review so there is no need to here.

Engaging the Ears as well as the Eyes

Playing music along side your slideshow achieves a number of effects. As well as discouraging too much discussion, the right piece can trigger memories and help elevate the journey from merely exciting to truly epic.

Methods of playing music during the slideshow vary, from the slick integration of slideshow software to the carefully timed pressing of play on the ancient tape recorder. Don’t fret too much, once it’s playing it will do its job. Do make it loud enough to have an impact, no-one wants to strain to hear it.

If there have been particular pieces of music that have been prevalent during the programme, grab a copy and use them. Perhaps every time you got in a minibus the same chart hit seemed to be playing, or perhaps the same CD has been looping round all week. One last time won’t hurt anybody!

Alternatively choose some tracks that fit the story you are trying to tell. Non-vocal pieces work particularly well, after all, they were designed to tell a story. In particular, soundtracks from films can be particularly moving, the ‘Lord of Rings’ theme suits its own epic story well, and there is no harm in letting little of that rub off on your own.

There are a few tracks that seem appropriate to almost any self-development journey, it’s worth having a copy of them to hand, in case you need to improvise. Labi Siffre’s “Something Inside So Strong” and the recent cover of “Don’t Stop Believing” from the television series Glee have both been to known to reduce hardy outdoor instructors to quiet tears in the right circumstances!

Let It Play

Once you have set up your slideshow, give it a brief introduction and then let it play. There is no need to narrate it, the participants were there, they know what happened and it is more important that they visit their version of the events than hear yours.

If you have anything to say to the group, it’s probably best to do it before you start. Once the slide show ends, they will probably need time to decompress and to parse the emotions they have just felt. It is quite common to have participants in tears, hopefully of happiness and achievement, and they may need a short while to compose themselves. Gradually they will start to talk to each other and comment on what they have just seen, which is after all what review is all about!

Post Script: Useful Music to Accompany your Slideshow

Jurassic Park theme – John Williams, E.T theme – John Williams, Harry Potter Theme – John Williams, Lord of the Rings theme – Howard Shore, Don’t Stop Believing – Glee, Something Inside So Strong – Labi Siffre, You’ve Got a Friend – James Taylor, Kodachrome – Paul Simon, Perfect Day – Lou Reed, Proud – Heather Small

Post Script: Distribution

With the advent of digital images, it is easy to distribute your slide-show to the participants to take home, either for themselves or to show family, colleagues and friends. There are a number of software tools that allow you to knit the whole thing together into a neat package. It is worth remembering that there are rights issues surrounding the distribution of images and of music and it is worth making yourself aware of these and making sure you have the permission of the photographers involved. In practice, on a small scale it doesn’t seem to pose much of a problem. Also consider the issue of confidentiality, is everyone involved happy with the photos going out into the world? There is no easy answer but it is something worthy of thought.

Music changes everything

Sam — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 08:07:10 +0000

We frequently make use of music on our courses, to inspire, to calm, to motivate, to represent, to tell stories. It’s one of the tools for what the NLP community call state change.

Music can also change our perceptions of what we are looking at. Here is a great example of that, YouTube user Mscharosch has edited some BBC Life footage to Lux Æterna from Requiem For a Dream and the result is, well…..epic. It is worth putting on full screen and turning your sound up.

Epic Frog

A Brief Introduction to Experiential Learning

Sam — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 09:07:47 +0000

“You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself.”

-Galileo Galilei

Experiential learning is the process of making meaning from direct experience.

Traditional education expects participants to learn about the topic from books, lectures, tutorials and worksheets.

Experiential education places them in situations that provide similar challenges to those they might face and evokes similar emotions, and that require similar skills and behaviours to overcome.

By using an adventurous environment such as the outdoors, we can provide a ‘laboratory’ in which facilitators can create challenging and demanding situations and in which apprentices can experiment with different behaviours, without that behaviour having a negative effect in the workplace.

An Experiential Learning Cycle

This is one of many learning cycles that helps us to conceptualise and understand the complicated, messy process of learning. (For other cycles, see this great article by Roger Greenaway)

In order to learn through experience, it is not only necessary to ‘do something’. After we have performed an Action, three further things take place before that action alters how we act in the future.

First, we Reflect on the action we just took and the experience it generated. This is looking back and thinking about what happened and the feelings it generated, in ourselves and others and the effect it had on the environment we are in.

Then we conceptualise, that is, think about the reasons that it had those effects and understand those reasons. This leads to Learning.

Learning on its own is no use if we don’t then do anything with it, so we then have to Plan. This is about applying that learning next time you undertake that action and, importantly, similar actions in the future.

We all go round this cycle as we learn from experience, sometimes it takes a few seconds to complete a circuit and sometimes it might take us years. Typically, the more intense and complicated the experience, the longer it takes us to go round the cycle.

Different people favour different parts of the cycle, Peter Honey and Alan Mumford have a system for working out which area you prefer to spend your time in, which we occasionaly use on Totem courses.

There is of course, much more to experiential learning that these basic concepts, but they underlie much of what we do. Space to experiment, reflective practice and onward planning are at the core of Totem’s work.

Trust Falls

Sam — Thu, 26 May 2011 10:13:17 +0000

We rarely use trust falls, they come with significant risk and, while they can be fun, the benefits aren’t really clear, except maybe as a metaphor for trust within a team. As usual Scott Adams has his own particular take on on them…

via Brian

Genesis of a Course

Sam — Wed, 18 May 2011 14:19:11 +0000

Most courses evolve. They start as either a client brief, or from an idea by our staff and then move through various conversations and revisions, being changed even as they are being delivered. Looking through my file from a leadership course back in March, I found this piece of paper. It was the outcome of 30 minutes discussion between two of us and it became a very successful “Looking at Leadership” course that finished with the participants rowing the length of Windermere.

The fact that you can read it means the handwriting isn’t mine but I love the fact that, for one course at least, it is possible to pinpoint when all the ideas came together. [Click for a larger version]

Final Words

Sam — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 12:57:56 +0000

Heard on Radio 4 this morning,

…any those are my thoughts on the matter, now go away and make your own mind up.

It struck me that these should be the final word of any training course.

The best way to use the last five minutes of every day

Sam — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 12:54:14 +0000

We use review and reflection a lot at Totem. Experiential learning, which underpins everything we do is not just learning from doing, it’s learning from thinking about doing.

Have you got 5 minutes each day to help improve your life, across the board? This article suggests that it might be a good idea to find the time.

The best way to use the last five minutes of every day.

Via Lorna (again), photo from Slack12′s flickrstream under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Vague briefs do not make tasks harder

Sam — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 13:15:29 +0000

Heard at a conference this weekend:

“…and of course you can make the task harder by giving a vaguer brief.”

No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! and No!

Giving a vague brief doesn’t make tasks harder, it makes them more frustrating. Participants spend more time looking to their facilitators to get clarification about what they need to do than looking at themselves or each other. It puts you in the position of power and takes away their ability to operate without your intervention.

By all means make your tasks harder, but at least have enough respect for your participants to make the briefs clear.

Photo from Martin Kingsley’s flickrstream under CC BY 2.0.

Could your team survive a zombie attack?

Sam — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 10:02:01 +0000

We’ve had a number of odd situations on Totem courses.

We’ve had Mission Specialists from the Welsh Space Agency chasing members of the Ukrainian Warfare Department across the hills of Snowdonia.

We’ve had loyal Comrades of the People’s Liberated Taldovian State recovering gold from the bottom of the Cripsian Sea.

We’ve helped apprentices recover the parts of a top secret battery from across Dartmoor.

(However, unlike one of the organsations we work with, we haven’t, to date, had anyone arrested for impersonating a member of the local CID.)

Yesterday, Lorna, (whose producing some great material at the moment) has come up with a team exercise that makes our situations look humdrum and everyday.

We have a running discussion at work about how we would survive the zombie apocalypse. It all started with a quickly scribbled map to show someone where a meeting was, then someone added a zombie horde and little stick figure colleagues running away. This developed over the course of a couple of team lunches and idle mornings into a full blown plan.

Our plan has been getting gradually more complex. It started off with vague intentions to head to the Isle of White (where a colleague’s mother lives), an easily defensible spot. But then we wondered if that was too obvious, will people continue to flock there until the island sinks? Other ideas involved shopping centres (too many entrances), castles (bit obvious, also drafty) and a colleague’s houseboat (can zombies swim?).

This has the makings of a great team building exercise. What better way to find out the strengths of your team than to think about their very survival! Lorna cites some great examples about members of her team who suddenly revealed an ability to shoot, or to grow vegetables. The humour and fun in the exercise will likely engage your participants and encourage them to push forward their strengths and stop the exercise becoming mired in deep self-reflection.

You can read the whole article here. It’s laugh-out-loud funny and if she ever tells you how to stop Zombies attacking you, don’t trust her…

[Update: This is wonderfully related. Are you Worthless?]

Picture [Updated] from James Kim’s Flickrstream under CC BY 2.0

Reviewing Method : Verbs

Sam — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 15:53:25 +0000

A quick method for starting out a review (or reviving one that is stalling). Go around the room and ask people to tell the group all the verbs they have been doing today.

e.g.

Climbing, Canoeing, Swimming, Falling, Sliding, Catching, Carrying, Paddling, Shaking….

Alternatively, have them collect them on a flipchart, or white board.

I also find this useful in encouraging people to move from “task” to “process”, by guiding their thoughts towards the non-obvious verbs.

e.g.

Sharing, Arguing, Discussing, Leading, Learning, Helping, Supporting, Plotting, Scheming, etc

It’s a quick, lively, thought provoking exercise that can take on a life of it’s own!

Fantastic development and networking opportunity for L&D professionals in the South West

Sam — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 12:28:23 +0000

All other things being equal Sam should be presenting at this event. It would be great to see you all there.

Trainers’ Exchange

South West

Friday 25th March 2011

Woodlands Castle

Taunton

10am-4pm

Trainers’ Exchange is an exciting new quarterly event for trainers, training managers, and anyone else working in learning and development. The meetings are an ideal opportunity to meet like-minded people in the L&D sector, share your ideas and experiences with others, and develop your own skills and knowledge. A programme for the event on 23^rd March is attached.

The meetings will be a friendly, supportive space where everyone can get to know each other, learn from each other, work together, and have fun together. We’ll create an opportunity for you to:

Keep abreast of current best practice in training, learning and development
Learn and practice new approaches and techniques for enhancing training
Share tried and tested tips, techniques and ideas with others
Try out new, untested ideas on the group and receive constructive feedback
Gain support, feedback and ideas from the group

The first meeting is on 25^th March in Taunton and we hope that lots of you will be able to join us. The day costs just £40 + vat each (we’re not trying to make a profit but do need to cover costs). To book a place, or find out more, call Nicki on 01749 687357 or email me at nicki@salt-box.co.uk

10 Questions to Ask Before Conducting a Review

Sam — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 17:37:03 +0000

Review is a key tool for almost all forms of learning. Whether you call it an “after action report” or a “personal reflection”, we must review our actions if we are to learn from them.

Choosing the right form of review is a skilled task, more art than science. Here are 10 questions to ask yourself before you dive into your next review

1. Do we want to review what just happened?

Sometimes it’s important to review as a group, sometimes it’s best to let the action speak for itself. The individual’s reflection over time may be enough.

2. Are we ready to review yet?

Even if we want to review the action, are the participants in a state where it will be useful? Could they do with more time to process what just happened or are they bursting to share their thoughts?

3. Is this the right time to review?

Even if we feel ready to review what just happened, is it worth leaving until we have eaten or are less tired, or do we need to capture the learning now?

4. Are we in the right location to review?

Sometimes it helps to be at the scene of the action, sometimes some distance is useful. Is this setting inspirational, will it help anchor the learning. Are there distractions and are they useful?

5. Are the right people here to ensure a successful review?

Do we need the whole group here? Should we split into smaller groups? Do some people need to reflect on their own? With or without leaders/trainers?

6. What role will I have in the review?

Should I contribute? Facilitate? Sit quietly? Be absent? Observe?

7. What format and structure will the review take?

Options include: Group discussion, written reports, structured notes, questionnaires, presentations, personal conversations, pictures, slideshows.

8. What tools do I have available to me during the review?

Do I have access to exercises, models, pictures and theories that might help explain my points, or help others to make theirs?

9. Are we going to capture the review for further review?

Is the review of interest to anyone other than the participants? Will they want a chance to revisit the review again later? Will they be building on this review?

10. If we are, how?

Sometimes taking notes is useful, what about video? Is there a formal system in place for reflection that needs to be completed?

Suspension of the Vetting and Barring Scheme (or back to CRB checks)

Sam — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 12:28:44 +0000

From Fiona at the Institute for Outdoor Learning

The government today announced the suspension of the introduction of the Vetting and Barring Scheme (VBS) pending the outcome of a comprehensive review which is likely to result in re-modelling and significant scaling back of the scope of the scheme. The scope of the re-modelling process is currently being finalised and will be announced in due course.

Although registration with the VBS (due to begin from July 2010) will not now go ahead, the ISA will continue to make barring decisions on individuals and to maintain the two barring lists.

For more information on the ISA, visit: www.isa-gov.org.uk.

To view the Home Office press release visit: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/media-centre/press-releases/Vetting-barring-scheme

The new safeguarding regulations introduced in October 2009 continue to apply. This is the current advice on the Independent Safeguarding Authority website:

A person who is barred from working with children or vulnerable adults will be breaking the law if they work or volunteer, or try to work or volunteer with those groups.
An organisation which knowingly employs someone who is barred to work with those groups will also be breaking the law.
If your organisation works with children or vulnerable adults and you dismiss a member of staff or a volunteer because they have harmed a child or vulnerable adult, or you would have done so if they had not left, you must tell the Independent Safeguarding Authority.

In the meantime organisations are therefore recommended to continue to implement their existing safe recruitment processes, which should include CRB checks for relevant individuals and posts.

Mapland : Navigation Task

Sam — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 16:41:19 +0000

Teaching map work is never easy and compass bearings seem to be one of the hardest topics for learners to grasp. Given an OS map to work from, there is often too much detail and to many lines that confuse them when they are first taking grid bearings.

I have used a task called Mapland a few times with significant success. By removing much of the confusing information and including only what the learner needs to take their bearing, they can concentrate on getting the technique right before transferring that skill to proper topographical maps.

The PDF for the task is linked below. There are four questions on the sheet which learners can attempt. No mention is made of magnetic deviation (GMA) as this will vary depending on where the learners are, feel free to include it if you think it will be useful.

Also, no answers are given. If you are teaching this it shouldn’t take you more than 5 minutes to work them out!

Mapland Navigation Task [PDF]

It’s licensed under the Creative Commons system so feel free to share it around. Happy Navigation!

Reviewing Technique: Sorry Cards

Sam — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 17:18:11 +0000

“Always seems to me, that ‘Sorry’ seems to be the hardest word….”

-Elton John and Bernie Taupin

We all know it’s hard to say sorry. Even when we know we are wrong, or have wronged someone else, even when we know we should apologise, it can be the hardest thing in the world to do.

Maybe it’s the loss of face involved, the admission that we are fallible. Maybe it’s the fact that we are making ourselves vulnerable to someone else, to scorn or ridicule. Even though we know that most apologies are accepted gracefully, we still have to find some inner strength to find the right words to say.

These Sorry Cards are designed to reduce the barriers to saying sorry. With groups of young people, I introduce them at the start of a course and let them know that they are available should they want them. If they need to apologise to someone they can come and get a card from me, no questions asked and give it to that person. If we have a base to work from I put them somewhere where they can help themselves.

By reducing the need to find the right words for the apology, and by turning it into a simple action, it reduces the feeling of exposing oneself to scorn, rejection or ridicule.

They have a number of different designs to let the giver chose a pattern they like, or think the receiver would like. You could of course create your own, or even get the group to create their own at the start of the course, in case they are needed.

Like all reviewing techniques it doesn’t work with every group, but if you have a fiery group where conflict is common, try it.

PDF: Sorry_Cards

Discussion group on innovative techniques in training

Sam — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:57:50 +0000

Nicki from Saltbox has been running a research project on “the ways in which creative arts, the natural environment, and holistic or healing techniques are used in training, and whether they help people to learn.” After her initial questionnaire, she writes;

We’ve been thrilled with the response – over 50 people have completed the questionnaire and we’ve also had lots of additional contributions via email and telephone. We are also reviewing existing research and good practice, and have amassed loads of really interesting and useful information as a result.

Our next stage is to follow up the initial survey with more in-depth discussions and investigations over the coming weeks, and to this end we are holding a Discussion group on Wednesday 16th December from 10.30am – 1.00pm at the Pierian Centre in Bristol. This is a great opportunity to participate further in this project and to do some valuable networking.

If you design/deliver or purchase training which uses creative or unusual techniques to have an impact, or have experience of this as a learner, and would like to come along and share your views, please email us to book a place.

Those who participate in the discussion group will get a free place at the launch event in the new year, where we’ll disseminate the results of this research in the form of a really useful, practical book or guide. We’ll also run workshops at this event to showcase some of the ideas and techniques explored during the research project, so it’ll be an event not to be missed.

We’ll be there, perhaps we will see you?

Innovation using the Peapod

Sam — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 10:08:28 +0000

When we have to create something new, we need to be creative, we need to innovate. Our thought processes can work in one or two ways, either they can be divergent, generating new ideas out of the ones we already have or convergent, refining the ideas we have into a conclusion.

Divergent Thinking

This is the production of new ideas, building on existing ideas or going in new directions. It should quickly develop a list, many of which will be useless but amongst them should be some gems.
Also known as: brain-storming, imagining, bouncing ideas around.

Convergent Thinking

Convergent thinking involves taking the large number of ideas and sieving out the useless ones, noting those that have potential and reducing the list to a manageable number.
Also know as: refining, sieving, concluding, assessing, deciding.

The Peapod

Almost all creative and innovative thought involves a series of phases, some divergent, some convergent. As you can see from the diagram below, this leads to a ‘peapod’ shape. One idea breeds many (divergent) which are refined to a few (convergent) which breed many more, which in turn are refined onwards and onwards.

Leading Creative Thinking

When leading a creative thinking exercise, the most important thing is ensure that you bring it to an end! The convergent/divergent cycle will continue forever if you let it, decide how much time you have or what you criteria for success are before you start and stop once you have reached them.

Outdoor Training is Just a Tool

Sam — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 14:55:11 +0000

At Totem we believe that outdoor training is a tool, not
an end in its own right.

A carpenter might sometimes reach for a chisel while making a chair, but it’s not the only tool he uses. In the same way, for trainers and training managers, only sometimes the outdoors is the right tool for the job.

We work with training organisations to deliver their learning aims, or parts of them, using the outdoors as the vehicle. We are proud to be a small cog in a larger training machine.

Unlike traditional adventure education, with us it’s not always climbing vertiginous mountains and paddling raging rivers. We frequently make use of the near-doors, that natural area just beyond the classroom where lessons can still be learnt but it’s still pretty comfortable, and a cup of tea isn’t far away. Adventure is, after all, a state of mind.

Our trainers use a mix of taught theory and ‘learning by doing’ (experiential) challenges. This allows the academic learning to be reinforced by practical examples of working with others under exciting conditions.

Equipment and Clothing for the Big Mountains

Sam — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 11:34:51 +0000

Two videos for the alpine climbers, or anyone who spends a significant amount of time in the outdoors.

Steve House goes through the gear he and partner Vince Anderson used on their alpine-style first ascent of the Rupal Face of Nanga Parbat in September, 2005.

Steve House: Clothing System for Nanga Parbat

Steve House: Gear Used on Nanga Parbat

Fortune Cookies and Climbing Mountains

Sam — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 15:47:16 +0000

On the Three Peaks event I ran for Evolution Services this weekend I spent some time talking to one of the participants about the feeling of achievement that comes from climbing a mountain. This feeling is very satisfying, often represents real learning and, importantly from a trainers point of view, impossible to fake.

There is no way in the world that moving some barrels and planks around on a patch of grass to cross a ‘river’ marked out with ropes can ever compare to building a pontoon to cross a real river.

You can climb an artificial climbing wall, lower to the ground and feel pleased with yourself but climb a real cliff and pull over the top and stand on a summit and the achievement will feel so much more tangible.

So while lessons can be learned with barrels and planks and in indoor climbing walls, more powerful lessons can be learnt out and about in the world. Real challenge brings real reward.

Not normally a believer in serendipity or fate, I broke open my fortune cookie in the Chinese restaurant last night to receive the following;

Maybe somebody out there heard my conversation on the mountain…

How many emotions can you name?

Sam — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 15:35:28 +0000

There are more than 6000 words in the English language representing emotions.¹

Can you name more than 30?

How does this affect your understanding of other peoples feelings?

¹Tony Robbins @ TED

Photo from Ben Smith’s flickrstream under Creative Commons

Team Task: Poker Communication

Sam — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 15:40:59 +0000

Takes 20-30 minutes

Resources

A set of poker chips. 200 in four colours works fine, the less you have in more limited colours, the harder the task will be.

Instructions For Tutor

Give the group a box of poker chips. Tell them

“You have 20 minutes to create a means of transferring a message from one half of the group to the other using only the chips placed on the table.

No paper or pencils are permitted.

After 20 minutes I will split the group in two and half of you will be asked to leave the room. I will give the remaining participants a 20-30 letter message that may involve letters or numbers but no punctuation, which you must pass to the other group using only the poker chips”

Facilitate the creation of the code. This is where the bulk of the team dynamics and personal development takes place as the participants try to refine their aim, then develop the code and finally to ensure that everyoe understands the code.

Use whatever means you like to capture this discussion, we have successfully used video, notes, phrases used jotted on a blackboard and having observers taken from within the group.

When they have a code, split the group into two and send half out of the room. Give the other half a short (20-30 letter) message on a piece of paper and help them encode it.

The messages are best if they have several words, and aren’t too easy to guess once you have 2-3 of the words. We’ve used short Shakespeare quotes and the names of the building we are in.

Invite the other half back in to decode it and ensure that there is no cheating.

Swap the two halves of the group over and try with a different message.

Using it elsewhere

We have used variants of this task in a number of places.

On a beach with different coloured stones.
In a forest using sticks.
On a draughts (checkers) board using the pieces.
In a park using “whatever you can find”.
In a mountain campsite using “the contents of your rucksack”.

Doing it outside makes it a much more physical, tactile task and adds whole new areas of discussion such as role allocation “You go and collect black stones” or even “What shall we use?”.

Training for the Unexpected

Sam — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 10:45:41 +0000

This 2002 obituary for Goran Kropp, the Swedish adventurer and mountaineer contains this passage which describes how he prepared himself for the unexpected.

“While doing his national service in a Swedish infantry regiment, he trained for Alpine climbing expeditions by sleeping in a gravel pit. His tough, self-imposed programme included setting his alarm clock at random: if he woke at 3am he would walk 30km in full combat gear; if he woke at 6am, he would walk 60km. “I wanted to get used to living with the unexpected,” he said.”

The rest of the obituary further emphasises how dedicated this man was to both adventure and minimal impact techniques.

“Kropp aimed to tackle each expedition “in harmony with nature”, without support and leaving no trace of his passing. “It is important for me to leave nothing behind me on a mountain,” he said.”

You can read the rest of the obituary on the Telegraph website.

Photo from MountainZone.com.

Stone Soup

Sam — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 16:28:35 +0000

Once upon a time, on a dark and stormy night a traveller arrives at a small village, carrying nothing more than an empty pot. Suspicious of the stranger and in the midst of a food shortage, the villagers hide away in their houses and refuse him food and lodging. Seemingly indifferent to the hostile atmosphere, the traveller fills a large pot with water from the village well, drops a large, smooth stone in it and places it over a fire lit in the village square.

Despite their suspicion, curiosity overcomes one of the villagers and he casually asks the traveller what he is doing.

“Cooking stone soup” comes the reply.

“I’ve never heard of stone soup” says the villager.

“It’s the tastiest soup you’ll ever eat” says the traveller stirring the pot, “would you like some?”.

Food has been short so the villager eagerly reaches out for the ladle. Just as he is about to take it the traveller pulls it away.

“Actually, stone soup tastes even better with a little bit of turnip” he says, “You wouldn’t have a turnip we could add have you?”.

Reluctantly the villager admits he may have and returns a few minutes later with the turnip and his neighbour, who would also like to try the soup.

“It’s pretty good” says the traveller after adding the turnip, “but it would be even better with some potatoes”.

The neighbour sheepishly admits that he has some potatoes stored away and heads off to get them. In the mean time, word has been spreading around the village about the stone soup and the local priest comes by. He asks to try the soup and is told that it is almost ready but, as the traveller explains, it “would be rounded off nicely by some meat”. The priest, who is an honest man, admits to having some dried beef put aside and agrees that, if it will perfect the soup, then he can spare some of it.

The traveller adds the potatoes and beef to soup and with a flourish serves up several bowls. Just as he is ladling it out, the baker comes over to see what is going on. The traveller, quick as a flash says “We were just sitting down with our stone soup, but we have no bread to eat with it”. The baker has never tried stone soup but the neighbour explains that it is the finest soup known and the baker agrees to provide a loaf of bread to eat with it in return for a bowl.

Shortly afterwards the traveller, villager, his neighbour, the priest and the baker are all sitting down around the fire with empty bowls in front of them.

“Stone soup is the finest soup I have ever tasted” said the villager.

“Thank-you” says the traveller, reaching into the empty pot and taking the stone out.

Wiping the stone, he puts it back into his pocket and begins to pack his belongings.

Picture from NeilsPhotography under Creative Commons.

Fried Eggs and Group Discussions

Sam — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 15:09:21 +0000

If you watch any group discussion where more than 3-4 people are trying to achieve something, an interesting effect occurs. The group often start out with everyone contributing but after an initial period of politeness (Tuckman’s forming stage) the group begin to resemble a fried egg. Both physically and conceptually, people place themselves either in the yolk, the white, or outside the egg entirely.

Green people are fully engaged in the discussion that’s is going on. They form the ‘yolk of the egg’ They will be sat at the centre of the group, often with a piece of paper in their hand, contributing ideas, extracting ideas from other green people and attempting to solve the problem or formulate a plan.

Orange people are following the discussion but they do not feel full engaged. They might have ideas but they won’t contribute them or, if they do, will not fight to make them accepted. People for whom the consequences of the discussion will have little effect often sit in this ‘white of the egg’. Also people who aren’t confident or who are overwhelmed by the green people will be here. They often have useful input to the conversation that will be missed unless they can be drawn into the ‘yolk’ and become green people.

Red people are totally disengaged from the discussion. They are sat at the outskirts of the group, barely even following what is going on. They normally feel totally disconnected from the topic being discussed, either because they feel they can’t change the course of the discussion or because they have resigned themselves to going with whatever the group decide. They make no attempt to contribute and often feel bitter about being sidelined.

People don’t stay within one section of the egg but drift between them as the discussion goes on. The important thing as a chairman, facilitator or team manager is trying to stop people drifting outwards into the white or out of the egg entirely.

As a participant you can be aware that the tendancy is to look inwards towards the yolk and you can occasionally glance behind you and see if there are any orange or red people who can be brought back into the discussion.

So next time you are involved in a group discussion, have a think about where in the egg you sit and where the other participants are. You might be able to help bring people back to the yolk.

Leadership Learning Lab Podcasts

Sam — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 13:19:13 +0000

An interesting series of podcasts from The Banff Centre, Canada. Their Leadership Learning Lab aims to explore the connections between the arts, ecology, culture, and the practice of leadership.o T fulfill this goal they have invited various leaders in a wide variety of fields such as music, alternative culture, business and the outdoors to talk about what leadership means to them.

Inevitably some are better than others but at about 20 minutes each, they make great listening in the car or while commuting.

The downside is that they are only available through iTunesU which means that if you don’t use iTunes you might struggle to get them. This use of propriety software is frustrating and unnecessary, if you are willing to jump through hoops, you can get around it.

Link to Podcasts on iTunesU

What’s in your Bag?

Sam — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 09:29:29 +0000

A Wild Campsite

I’ve just returned from four days in the Brecon Beacons, working with Marlborough College on a life skills week for 180 fourteen year old students. My small part in this enormous logistical exercise was to run two 2-day hill walking expeditions for twelve of them at a time.

We were wild camping in remote mountain campsites with no facilities so we had a carry all of our equipment in our rucksacks. Despite being given a packing list, many of the students failed to being essential items or brought inappropriate items and learnt the hard way from their mistakes or laziness. There is nothing like experiential learning to drive the message home!

I was asked many times over the course of the trip ‘What’s in your bag then?’ and so I thought I’d share the contents of my rucksack here, so you can see what I need to survive 48 hours in the hills.

Camp Equipment

52l Rucksack
Tent
Sleeping Bag
Inflatable Mat
Head Torch

Spare/Camp Clothes

Thermal Longjohns
Puffy Jacket
Spare Thick Socks

Clothing

Thin Gloves
Warm Mitts
Fleece Balaclava
Fleece Headband
Pertex Windshirt
Thin Fleece
Softshell Jacket
Waterproof Jacket
Waterproof Trousers

Cooking and Eating

Gas Stove
Aluminium Windshield
Gas Canister
Plastic Spoon
Insulated Mug
Pan and Handle
Lighter and Matches
Sponge/Scrubber
1l Water Bottle

Miscellaneous

Map
Compass with Whistle
OHP Marker (for writing on maps)
Sharp Knife
Sunscreen
Sun Glasses
Insect Repellent
First Aid Kit
Drybag with Phone and Wallet
2 Walking Poles

In addition I would be wearing Boots, Thick Socks, Underwear, Lightweight Trousers and a Wicking Top.

Reviewing Task: Fear Factor

Sam — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 13:57:59 +0000

This is a task for the start of a course, allowing you to guage the “fear factor” within your group and allowing the rest of the group to get a sense of each others fears.

Equipment: Post-Its, Whiteboard/Flipchart/Flat Surface and chalk/markers

Down the left hand side or along the bottom of the board write the numbers 0 to 5. Ensure they are spread out along the whole width to give the maximum room and that they are evenly distributed.

Ask each person to write their name on five post its. Then get them to write five activities or concepts that you have chosen underneath that. These activities/concepts should be things that people are commonly afraid of and should be pertinent to the course you are running or the daily lives of the group. For example, a group about to embark on an adventure week might be given “Deep Water, Heights, Confined Spaces, Mud and The Dark”. There is a list of possible ‘fears’ below but try to think about what fears the group might have already.

Once they have done this, ask the group to bring their post-its up to the board and stick them onto it in the appropriate position. Explain that the numbers have the following meanings.

0 – No fear at all
1 – Mildly Concerned
2 – Apprehensive
3 – Scared
4 – Very Scared
5 – Absolutely Terrified

Once the group have stuck their post-its on the board, you can look at it as a group and discuss the results. Particular attention can be paid to those that have a lot of high or low placements or those who are mostly low with one especially high one.

Done at the start of a course or session, this provides the trainer with a good feeling for both the general ‘fear factor’ in the group and specific concerns of members. It also allows members to make their fears public in a manner which is easy to articulate and reduces the chance of humiliation when those fears surface during an activity/session. By looking at the spread, it also allows others in the group to realise when members might need support.

If possible the arrangement should be left in place and displayed during the course/session so it can be referred to when appropriate.

Possible Follow Up

After the discussion, or after the course, ask the group to move their post-its to represent how they now feel about the fears and whether it has changed at all. If it has, there can be a discussion as to why

Possible ‘Fears’

Deep water, heights, confined spaces, mud, the dark, public speaking, confrontation, creepy crawlies, betrayal, letting people down, getting hurt, technology, flying, spiders, death, crowds, clowns, responsibility, failure

Thanks to David Crombie of Boulder Adventures who had the idea for this originally and to Lorna Robinson for the suggested follow up.