The #Blimage Challenge

For a bit of fun this afternoon my colleague Jane Hart set a few of us a #Blimage challenge.

I hadn’t come across this particular game before but having subjected myself to an iced water dunking along with millions of others last year I was reasonably pleased to see that this one only requires a stream of consciousness and a blog post rather than a stream of cold water.

Steve Wheeler (@timbuckteeth) explained the #Blimage Challenge this way:

“You send an image or photograph to a colleague with the challenge that they have to write a learning related blog post based on it. Just make sure the images aren’t too rude. The permutations are blimmin’ endless.”

This is the image Jane sent.

My first thoughts were ‘am I looking at a tunnel or the sun?  Is the tree heading down a rabbit-hole with its branches reaching into the long bright tunnel (or even along a yellow brick road) or are its branches holding the sun in its yellow sky?

So what sense and inspiration could I possibly draw from this psychedelic image and make meaningful on a learning blog post?

The three key messages that this little reflective exercise produced for me were:

1. Context is king in life. When we look at a 2D rendering of our 3D world we often need additional information to make sense of it. Even when we see a ‘real’ 3D rendering we can be tricked. The street artist Slinkachu demonstrates the essential part context plays perfectly.
2. Context is also king for learning. We learn best within the context where we are going to use that learning. Workplace learning is generally more effective than simulations which, in turn, are generally more effective than being provided with information using a traditional ‘knowledge transfer’ learning approach.
3. If we don’t have all the information we can easily draw false conclusions. The great Peter Drucker once said ‘the most important thing in communication is hearing what isn’t said’. If we don’t understand the unsaid, then we’re operating in a half-known world. If we are not inquisitive and explore the (half) learning from our classrooms or workshops in the 3D world of our workplace(s) we are likely to be only half-equipped to use that learning.

So if we don’t have a 3D view of the world (the full context) – and, correspondingly, if we try to learn without knowing the full context where our learning is to be used – then the learning will be providing the equivalent of a 2D picture for us.

Having the full, unambiguous, context-critical picture is essential for effective the learning which will lead to high performance.  That’s what learning is all about. It’s only really useful when it can be put into action in the 3D world. Passing a written exam doesn’t necessarily mean that learning has taken place. It’s only when the learning can be applied do we know if that has happened. Roger Schank explains that brilliantly in a recent blog post titled ‘reading is no way to learn’.

Not having all the information can, and will, lead to critical mistakes. A 2D rendering, or learning without context, can easily lead down the rabbit hole. Watch out. Many people have fallen into that trap.