#6: Juxtaposed Pairs

Introduction to Concept:

Babies have populated the earth since man (and woman, of course) first appeared on it. Vegetables have probably been around just as long. Not until the 1980s, however, has a photographer decided to put the two together. In so doing, Anne Geddes created an empire and has been crowned, however unintentionally, its empress.

When we juxtapose seemingly unrelated entities, we create the unexpected. To develop the skill of being able to move fluidly between two elements and make connections between things that seem to have no connection at all, you only need to practice.

Procedure:

1. Ask participants to jot down on a sheet of scrap paper the first word that comes into their heads. Call on two people at random and, using their two words, make a short essay presentation that relates to the program being presented. For example, if the two words were “tired” and “behind,” you might connect them with a monologue like the following:

I know how demanding your jobs are—some of you are probably doing the work of one-and-a-half or even two people. Many of us probably came to this training session today quite tired, worried about the work that continues to pile up on our desks, even when we are not there. Such concern is normal. In fact, it bespeaks your conscientious nature. Why? Because if you are thinking about work, you are not thinking about the training. And you are being paid today—not to work, but to learn. Secondly, you will always be behind. In fact, I used to work for a supervisor who told me, “The day you find yourself all caught up is the day I fire you.” The average American employee has 37 hours’ worth of untouched work sitting on his or her desk on any given day. So… knowing that the work you have to do will always be there, and knowing that you are expected to acquire knowledge today, I invite you to sit back, take notes, participate, and absorb as much as you can.

It is important to begin talking as quickly as possible, for this exercise calls upon all three of the elements comprising critical thought: speed, creativity, and logic. (If you should flub your chance, use your less-than-perfect performance to illustrate [1] how difficult it is to engage in this kind of thinking; [2] that more practice brings us closer to the ideal; and [3] that participants can do no worse than you have done.)

2. Distribute three 3″ × 5″ cards to each person in the four-person groups. Explain that each member will evaluate each of the other members’ presentations using a number from 1 (low) to 10 (high) to evaluate the presentations made in the small group. After each presentation, the three evaluators will fold their cards in half and present them to the speaker, who will average the scores.

3. Distribute the handout strips. Ask each person to select one pair and make as creative and logical a mini-speech as they can, making certain to use the two words as the basis of their presentation. While the first person is speaking, the others should be listening—not looking at their handouts and/or preparing their own remarks. (You may choose to give a handout to each team member just before he or she speaks in order to prevent advance preparation.)

4. Determine who has the highest score(s). Ask that person(s) to come forward and repeat their stellar performance(s) if they are willing to do so.

Extending the Activity:

1. Make another sheet of juxtaposed pairs. This one, however, should include words that have some relationship (albeit not too obvious a connection) to the material being studied. Conduct the procedure in the same way.

2. Call aside one member of the class at the very beginning of the training session. Ask him or her to make a list of words equaling twice the number of participants as the class proceeds. (If there are 15 attendees, for example, the person making the list would need to have 30 words.) The words should be ones that come up frequently during class discussions, or words the list-maker finds interesting in relation to the class, or perhaps words that were not understood by class members, or words the facilitator uses frequently.

At the first break (or during lunch), write the words on a flip chart. Then, in the afternoon session, periodically call upon a participant to choose two words from the list and unite them in a logical fashion. When he or she finishes, cross off the words so the next person will not repeat them.

Workplace Connections:

1. Ask for volunteers to make a brief presentation at the next training session. As they address participants at the beginning of the next class, the volunteers will use as their prepared remarks a refined version of the extended activity.

2. Ask those who seemed to especially enjoy this activity if they would be willing to prepare a signed one-page (maximum) statement about the course that you can distribute to future participants.

Questions for Further Consideration:

1. When was the last time you were at a loss for words?

2. What impressions do others form of us when we are unable to articulate our thoughts easily?

3. Initially confusing input, rescued by critical thinking, often yields significant outputs. Can you think of a time when you were presented with ideas or situations that caused chaos at first, but ultimately resulted in valued insights?