Never did I ever think that out of a battery of mind-boggling and brain-teasing activities of the previous the OBT, what would really get the participants’ goat was a Jigsaw Puzzle
The participants were divided into teams and simply asked to put together the puzzle. That’s it! And, much to everyone’s surprise, only 1 team could get it right.
Why?
One side of the piece was a shiny golden metallic finish and the flip side of it was a rusty grey finish. No brief was given as to which was the front and the back side.
The Participants’ POA:
Most teams, within themselves decided that the most obvious front side is the golden side and the rusty grey was the backside. And they aimlessly, frustratedly toiled and tussled to get the pieces to fit together.
The winning team’s POA:
They watched the other teams struggle and became wary of their POA. They decided to try and flip some pieces and try to put the puzzle together. Et voilà! Within a few minutes the entire puzzle came together!
The Message:
To me, this was the epitome of the ancient adage “all that glitters is not gold” – just because it was bright and shiny, doesn’t mean it’s the front /correct side! And on the flip side, just because it was grey and unfinished and rusty, that side was deemed to be the back/incorrect side!
How many of us have been guilty of this judgment call? Life isn’t black and white, there’s always a Grey!
We’re all guilty of being conditioned into seeing / believing things a certain way. And we fail to acknowledge another perspective. Guess we all have some un-learning and re-learning to do!
When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at, change.
