One Response

1. F it!
   Still one of the best exercises I have come across for highlighting the ease with which mistakes are made and ‘factions’ form is the “F’s” exercise (sorry, I don’t know who originated it so I can’t attribute).

   If you have not done this exercise, then try it now.

   Read the following once and then write down how many F’s there are:

   FINISHED FILES ARE THE
   RESULT OF YEARS OF
   SCIENTIFIC STUDY COMBINED WITH THE
   EXPERIENCE OF MANY YEARS

   So, how many did you count?

   The answers in a group of 8+ generally range from 3 – 6. Sometimes the range is greater.

   The answer is 6. We tend to ignore the ‘connection’ word ‘of’.

   When I run this exercise, I tell the group to read the card once then turn it face down on their table. I will ask the ‘3’ group to go to one corner of the room (watch for the social pressures emerging), the ‘4’ group to go to another and so on. This is a very visual way of demonstrating the dangers of assuming ‘rightness’ and of getting it wrong.

   Without telling the group the correct answer, I will then have them return to their chairs and read through once more and then separate them again into ‘3’, ‘4’ etc. groups. Even on a second run through their will still be groups generally.

   If there is a ‘correct’ person or group, then have them show where the F’s are. One of the great learnings is that listening to everyone in the group can be very valuable.

   A second thought that struck me is that there is a 99.9% list which indicates what would happen if we were 99.9% accurate (how many plane crashed would occur daily etc.). The list is staggering really. It can be found in More Games for Trainers, I believe.

   Hope this is of benefit.

   Enjoy your session.

   Royce Munday
   Anderson Munday Associates
   01469 574894