Intended for:
Use this free training game to illustrate that people tend to see what they want to see.
Training course contents:
A two page document containing a short training game activity can be downloaded in Word format from the link at the bottom of this page, or you can follow the notes below.
This training game demonstrates that people tend to overlook facts that they do not consider important.
Resources – one sheet of paper with quote from example section for each participant.
When to Use – to illustrate that people see what they want to see; items of prominence catch our attention while seemingly less important items pass on by.
Hand out face down copies of the quote from the example provided (available from the download at the bottom of this page) to the group.
When everyone is ready, ask them to turn the paper over and simply count how many times the letter “f” appears on their sheet.
Allow only a minute, and then ask, “How many of you have the sheet with the 3 “f’s”?”
“Who has 4 “f’s” on their sheet? … How about 5? … Does anyone have 6?” (About 50% of the group will see only 3 “f’s., and approximately 10% will see all 6 “f’s”. The rest will see either 4 or 5.)
Variation – ask those with 4, 5, or 6 “f’s” on their sheets to raise their hands and let those with 3 “f’s” exchange papers so they too can “see” all 6 “f’s”.
Most will still have a difficult time identifying all 6 of the “f’s”.
Discussion
1. Why can some people not see 6 “f’s” at first?
2. Have you observed situations where you as an organisation can’t see things because you are so used to them?
3. What are things you can do to break people free from not seeing?
The example statement (please download from the pack available at the bottom of this page): FEATURE FILMS ARE THE RESULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIFIC STUDY COMBINED WITH THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS
Objectives:
Use this training game to provide a discussion point and review the consequences of this fact.
