Time:
This exercise will take about 15 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 30 minutes to complete this module (longer for larger groups or where you want to explore some of the learning in more detail).

The aims of this module are:
1) To check listening skills.
2) To illustrate the dangers of making assumptions.
3) To provoke discussion about prejudices and stereotypes.

This module is suitable for use:
With groups of any size. It is possible to use this exercise in conference situations as well as more usual training interventions like courses and workshops.

It is suitable for:
Staff at all levels.

You'll need the following additional resources:
None if you intend to read the story to your participants. However, working in partnership with Trainers' Library members, Voices for Trainers (www.voicesfortrainers.co.uk), we've added a professional recording of the story, which can really add to the experience. The recording can be downloaded and played as an MP3 file on any compatible equipment, including, for example, a laptop or ipod.

Notes:
This module can be used as an icebreaker or short exercise in a variety of situations. It is particularly effective when used as an icebreaker or short exercise in equal opportunities and diversity training, where it can be used to illustrate how powerful stereotypes can be. The exercise can also be used in other situations too, for example:
1) In a call centre environment, where making assumptions about the nature of a customer’s problem could lead to greater problems finding a solution.
2) To show how important questions are for checking understanding and avoiding assumptions being made.

NEW:We're delighted to be able to announce that this module has been endorsed by Show Racism the Red Card. For more information about the great work this charity is doing to educate against racism, visit www.srtrc.org.

This story can be used to illustrate the point that our own behaviour affects the behaviour of others, and that communication and relationships can too easily enter a downward spiral when things go wrong.

It can be a useful inclusion in any training where:

1) You want to demonstrate the importance of recognising when you have failed to build rapport with another party, or where a relationship has been damaged.
2) Showing the dangers of assuming the blame is on the other side, when negotiations or team relations falter.
3) You want to illustrate how positive action can help to rebuild team spirit, or improve relations with a client, customer or supplier, but that instant results are unlikely, particularly where there has been a breakdown in trust.

This humorous, but true, story demonstrates the power of experiential learning.

It can be a useful inclusion in any training where:

1) You want participants to understand how they learn, and the importance of mistakes in learning.
2) You want to develop your trainers' awareness of the importance and value of experiential learning.

The story in a sentence
I went fishing and caught a horse.

The morale behind this story is that starting a project or task is easy. It is however, more difficult to keep momentum and motivation up, when things get difficult. Starting is natural – finishing requires determination.

It can be a useful inclusion in any training where:

1) You are examining personal motivation and effectiveness.

The story in one sentence:
Man finishes race long after other competitors, but says, "My country didn't send me all this way to start the race; they sent me all this way to finish it".

This short story can be used to highlight the need for organisations to stay ahead of their competitors.

It can be a useful inclusion in any training where:

1) You want to show participants that during difficult times, for example periods of economic downturn, companies that are able to adapt to a changing situation fastest and move with greatest flexibility and speed are the ones that are most likely to survive.

2) You want to show the importance of creativity and innovation to an organisation. The ability to take new ideas from concept to implementation quickly and effectively can create that space between one organisation and the others.

This story can be used to illustrate the need to nurture and explore ideas before evaluating them. The eggs in the story represent ideas – one is bad the other is good. On day one the chicken has no idea which is the good egg and which is the bad egg, but after nurturing both for a few weeks it is very easy to tell.

This story can be a useful inclusion in any training where:

1) You want participants to understand why radical ideas aren't 'getting through' the cultural blocks.
2) You want to discuss the importance of providing a nurturing environment for new ideas.
3) You want to explore the idea that ideas are most vulnerable during their infancy, when they can be destroyed by, as Charles Browder said, "A frown on the wrong person's face." If we explore ideas we can begin to think about how they will work in practice, and how objections can be overcome.

This story highlights the dangers of making assumptions about the needs and feelings of others, whether colleagues, suppliers or customers.

It can be a useful inclusion in any training where:

1) You want to show participants that we all have a different 'map' or perspective of the world, and it is dangerous to assume that others feel the same way as we do.
2) You want participants to recognise the importance of building an understanding of others' needs and feelings, rather than making assumptions based on our own feelings.

This story can be used to encourage participants to think about the nature of fear. It illustrates the tendency to build obstacles up in our minds until they appear insurmountable.

It can be a useful inclusion in any training where:

1) You want participants to challenge their own perceptions about what is, and is not possible.
2) You want to encourage participants to overcome obstacles or face a challenge.

The story in a sentence:
Fear shrinks when fear is confronted.

This is a silly, but fun story that makes a lot of important points about effective meetings.

A full exercise, based around this story, is included under Training Modules/Time Management in Trainers’ Library.

This short (and true) story can be used to illustrate:

1) The importance of integrity in sales calls.
2) The dangers of relying on a script, and not asking questions about the customer's needs or interests.
3) The importance of qualifying sales leads.

This story shows the importance of needs when selling.

It can be a useful inclusion in any training where:

1) You want to participants to see the importance of identifying the customer need and selling to that, rather than listing features and benefits.

The following story can be used to illustrate the point that we all have a different view of the world in which we live, based upon our own personal experiences.

It can be a useful inclusion in any training where:

1) You want to demonstrate the importance of building an understanding of other people's needs and feelings.
2) You want to encourage participants to think about how they make decisions.
3) You want to show how deep-set our beliefs can be, and how they affect our attitudes and actions.

The story in one sentence:
Cultural differences and backgrounds mean that a couple can't agree about which part of the turnip to eat.

The following story can be used to illustrate the point that each of us has our own unique flaws. But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding.

It can provide a useful inclusion in training where:

1) You are looking at the benefits of diversity in a team.
2) You want to encourage participants to avoid judging others.

The story in one sentence:
Because the pot was cracked, flowers grew on that side of the road.

This story can be used in training around teamwork, and in particular attitudes. You can use it as a prompt for a discussion about the effect as our own words and actions ripple out in an organisation.

This story can be a useful inclusion in any training where:

1) Participants talk about 'the organisation', perhaps forgetting that the whole is only a sum of the parts.
2) You want to explore the impact local changes can have on an organisation.
3) You want participants to examine their own attitudes and the power of positive thinking; showing the impact that positive thinking can have on others.