#14 How to engage both young people and senior managers in learning

Client Enquiry:

Two separate but related enquiries:

1. Can I use your material with senior managers?

2. Are you seeing certain age groups respond to the topic of Resilience more than others..for example...my work with millenials in Ireland/USA is showing a very superficial type of resilience compared to other groups. Any particular advice on working with those folks ?

RSVP Design Response

1. Even senior managers like to get engaged with their learning, and using non-threatening cartoon imagery is an excellent way to get high quality dialogue established. Senior managers often need to learn to be more playful in their approach to problem-solving, and more genuine in their communication. We have used cartoon imagery for many years with senior managers - provided the context and learning outcomes sought are business-related there is no problem in using experiential learning methods. We have often seen major breakthroughs using these methods where more traditional learning approaches have failed Images of Organsiations Experiential Learning Activity - using a set of cartoon images like Images of Organisations is a great way to quickly get to the core of organisational issues that require to be addressed by senior management.



2. Young people also engage well with metaphor, as they often gain confidence in building on what they instinctively see in the imagery. Developing resilience is essential to build learning capability - many young people don manage to develop their resilience during formal education and so it often requires further development in an organisational setting. Using challenging experiential learning activities can be an easily accessible way for young people to develop their resilience, and tools like Images of Resilience can be useful in coaching and supporting people with a topic that is individual, fluctuates daily and is context specific!



Tip #14

Use metaphor and imagery when it is important to build strong dialogue to develop learning. Both ends of the organisation engage easily with it - either it builds confidence and develops communications skills in young people; or removes jargon and platitudes and helps Executives develop honest and deep dialogue. It is often easy to build in reflection time when using metaphor and imagery in learning - take advantage of the opportunity to build this important factor in learning to learn!

If you are interested in the subject of Resilience click here for further information