#2: Rhymed Reductions

Introduction to Concept:

Students of psychology know that Zipf’s Law of Least Effort promotes the condensing of knowledge: the more effort required to express a thought, the less likely that thought will be expressed. And, of course, when thoughts are not expressed—inwardly or outwardly—they cease to exist. Added to this cognitive thrust is William James’s assertion that the essence of genius is “to know what to overlook.”

This advice is echoed by author Mitchell Posner, who urges us to become “information ecologists”—individuals who keep their mental environment free of garbage (unreliable, irrelevant, or redundant information). Given the amount of information to which we have access on a daily basis, it becomes more and more important for us to find our way amid the overflow and the overload of data.

Examples:

1. Deliver the following instructions:

I am going to show you on the overhead projector a paragraph that tells a story. I am going to flash it very quickly, so you will have to skip over most of the words and let only the truly important words penetrate your consciousness. You will feel uncomfortable doing this at first. But as you become used to the technique, you will grow more and more appreciative of the efficiency it produces.

Look at this paragraph, but now select only the key words, so you can tell me what the gist of the paragraph is. [Show Transparency #2-1 now for three or four seconds.]

2. Ask the class if, after only a few seconds’ exposure to the paragraph, anyone is able to distill its essence. If someone can, offer the appropriate praise and ask that person how he or she learned to read so efficiently. If no one is able to paraphrase the key point, show the transparency again and underline these key words or phrases:

“Manhattan,” “deceptively simple home,” “deceptively simple man,”

“Mr. Cowles,” and “evil.”

3. Continue with this mini-lecture:

In the example, we reduced the verbiage to a few essential phrases. In longer passages, such as the one I am about to show you, you can still improve your comprehension, storage, and retrieval of information by reducing a dense passage to its most critical components. In the second exercise, I am going to ask you to reduce the essential points to four words—and I want you to make them rhyming words!

4. Distribute Handout #2-1. After participants have had enough time to read it, divide them into groups of five or six and allow about ten minutes for them to capture the essence of the passage in just four rhyming words.

5. Call on each group to share what has been done.

6. Summarize the lesson by pointing out that hundreds of books have been written over the years on the topic of teams and teambuilding, yet most people recall very little of what was read. Those who do are likely to use a four-word rhyming phrase coined more than thirty years ago by consultant Bruce Tuckman to describe the stages of team formation (which is basically what the handout described). The four stages are Form–Storm–Norm–Perform. Everyone remembers Mr. Tuckman’s condensation. And with this four-word embryo, most people can then expound upon the nature of teams and the dynamics evinced by team members.

[Note: If class members are already familiar with Bruce Tuckman’s descriptors, have them select four other rhyming words that are equally effective at capturing the salient points of the passage.]

Extending the Activity:

1. Take a newspaper article and use it to engage participants in the same process. Ask them to reduce the paragraphs to a few salient points—rhyming ones at that. Several hours or several days later (depending on the length of the course), supply them with the rhyming words and ask them to recall the details of the article from which they were derived.

2. Collect other examples of how a synthesized version made the longer version much easier to remember. Encourage class members to do the same. Have a volunteer distribute examples to class members and discuss them.

3. Instead of information on team formation, select lengthy textbook passages of material relevant to the course you are facilitating, and ask participants to reduce the information to the most essential knowledge.

Workplace Connections:

1. Before the training session has ended, ask for a group of volunteers to review at least one instructional or user’s manual to see if important steps can be reduced to an easy-to-remember memory trigger.

2. Advise participants to work collaboratively when they return to work in order to help one another become more skilled at using rhyme or other mnemonic devices as prompts to recall large chunks of information they are expected to have at their fingertips.

3. Ad writers are especially adept at conveying the most meaning in the fewest possible words. Ask participants to rewrite their organization’s mission statement (which few people, typically, can recall) into an easy-to-remember phrase (or advertisement) that captures the essential thrust of the statement.

Questions for Further Consideration:

1. What slogans or advertisements come quickly to mind? Why?

2. Speed readers know that 90% of the time, the main idea of a paragraph is contained in the first line of the paragraph. Thus, they are able to skim newspaper or magazine articles and understand the gist of the message without spending undue amounts of time absorbing the facts. What other techniques do speed-readers and speed-comprehenders employ?

3. Management guru Peter Drucker coined the phrase “knowledge workers” to describe the American workforce as it evolved from an industrial economy to a service economy. What evidence do you have that we are dependent upon the sharing of knowledge, organizationally, nationally, and globally, more than ever before?

4. Do you ever feel you are drowning in a sea of information? What can you do to overcome this feeling?

5. What can organizations do to help employees cope with information overload?

In the middle of a long, tree-lined street in a quiet residential neighborhood in that oft-praised metropolis known world ’round as Manhattan stood a deceptively simple home. Its simplicity was belied by the exquisite detail that had been devoted to its gardens, reminiscent of English labyrinth walkways. Inside the home lived a deceptively simple man known to his neighbors as Mr. Cowles—known to his victims as “Evil.”

The Natural Evolution of Teams

When team members first convene as a group, they come to the meeting with considerable trepidation. They are really not certain what they can expect. They turn to the leader for information, for guidelines, for introductions, and so on. At this stage, team members are guarded, uncertain, not willing to reveal much about themselves. They are filled with questions but probably not willing to ask them. Their behavior is polite, but not really congenial. They are probably experiencing some nervous tension. The leader must work hard at the beginning to thaw the cold exteriors that strangers typically show one another.

As the meeting progresses (or perhaps by the second meeting), members begin to open up. Along with this openness, however, comes a willingness to disagree. As time goes on, members seem more willing to rebel against decisions that go against their individual grain. In this second stage, there will frequently be confrontations, which are to be expected if the team is to learn about its composite membership and grow as a unit. The team leader lets eruptions occur in this stage, but does not let them get out of control. He or she allows others to take leadership positions as the occasion warrants. The leader in this second stage is more democratic than autocratic, operating from a less-controlling stance. He or she, however, does not completely relinquish authority. The leader works hard to achieve group harmony.

The third stage in the evolution of teams is marked by the beginning of commitment. Team members start to offer their talents; they recognize the importance of the task before them. The leader consults with members and willingly shares the leadership role. The importance of the task starts to override the importance of individual needs as members become more committed. Team members now begin to find ways to accomplish their shared task more efficiently. They agree to abide by common ground rules. They exhibit a desire to share, to experiment. The pride they are beginning to feel in their accomplishment is matched by the enthusiasm they feel for the mission and for the opportunity to work together.

The final stage of teambuilding represents the idealized version of the process. The leader has virtually abdicated his or her role, now serving primarily as mentor or resource. As the team becomes more self-directed, the leader essentially works as an equal member. The team leader knows the team has become powerful as an entity and that he or she can relinquish power as a leader. Team members at this stage care about one another; they display commitment to the common goal; they cooperate. Their disagreements are caused by concern for the goal rather than concern for self-aggrandizement. At this stage, team members demonstrate that they have learned how to give and take criticism. They enjoy working with one another and can see the light of accomplishment at the end of their common tunnel. They are living proof that “united we stand; divided we fall.”