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Dixit - creativity meets storytelling

2/18/2017

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Created by a child psychiatrist, Dixit is a communication game with beautiful artistic cards. The goal of the original game is to choose associations for the cards that at least some of your co-players will guess, but the real beauty of the game lies in its versatility, making Dixit cards a great tool for many trainers.
 
Each pack of Dixit cards includes 84 evocative images and they can be used in many creative ways. Some of the more straightforward ones are in storytelling, presentation skills, self-awareness development and team building. They can also be used for goal setting, personal planning or anything else where the power of visualization and imagination can be beneficial.
 
Dixit cards are also great for getting-to-know-you and icebreaker activities, encouraging sharing with a visual prompt. Because of their dreamlike artwork, the cards can be inspiring, playful, stimulating and even relaxing.
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Ideas for application
Story Time
 
Have participants pull out a random card and tell a story about it. You can set a time limit for the story (e.g. 3 or 5 minutes) or give complete freedom to the storyteller.
To make it more challenging or encourage more creativity, the same can be done with 3 random cards.
If you prefer to make it a team effort, have each participant in a group of 3 or 4 pull out a random card. Their group goal is to collectively build a story using their cards. For an additional challenge, they can do it in silence, using only non-verbal communication. After a certain time (set by you) or once they have agreed on a story, they line up according to their story order and tell their part of the story one after another.
good for: storytelling, icebreaker activities, teamwork
 

Answer a Question
 
Each participant chooses one card and shares why they chose it as an answer to one of the following questions (depending on your goals, training topic and timing of the exercise):
"How am I feeling at this very moment?"
"What would I like to be?"
"What do I fear the most?"
"How was/is this event for me?"
"Which card do I relate to the most?"

good for: icebreaker activities, getting feedback, sharing
 

Prompt a Solution
 
When faced with an issue, use one or several of the cards as random stimuli to generate more ideas. You can pull out a card and think of ways it is related to the problem, or think how the card can be presented as a solution.
good for: brainstorming, problem solving, ideation
 

Storytellers & Artists
 
Choose one person who will be the «storyteller», with all the other ones taking the role of «artists». The storyteller chooses or is given a card and has to describe it for the artists to draw the image following the description. You can allow or forbid the artists from asking additional questions. This activity can also be done in pairs, with the storyteller and the artist sitting back to back.
good for: teamwork, communication, challenging assumptions
 

Action Plans
 
When used for closure of a training or an event, participants can choose a card representing them or their actions in the future, creating anchors for their action plans.
good for: goal setting, inspiration, visualization
 
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Agile Dixit
 
Dixit cards can also be used with agile teams during retrospectives. Each team member chooses a card representing something that happened during the sprint, and other team members write what they think the card represents.
Find more instructions by Chris Sims at the link: http://www.agilelearninglabs.com/2013/07/dixit-sprint-retrospective-game/
 good for: creative thinking, goal setting

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Where can you get the Dixit cards?
You can buy the cards at most places stocking board games, either online or in a physical store.
Currently there are three editions that include the whole playing set for the actual game (Dixit, Dixit Odyssey and Dixit Journey) and additional expansion packs containing 84 cards each:
Dixit Odyssey (expansion) (same cards as Dixit Odyssey)
Dixit Quest (Dixit 2)
Dixit 3: Journey (same cards as Dixit: Journey)
Dixit: Origins (Dixit 4)
Dixit: Daydreams (Dixit 5)
Dixit: Memories (Dixit 6) 
Dixit: Revelations (Dixit 7)
Alternative similar tools
Many of these games can be done with a set of diverse printed photos or even art personally drawn on cards.
 
P.S. Not sure which edition to start with?
Our personal favorites are the Odyssey and Origins editions – just beautiful!
About authors of the article
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Eva Simona Kulenović
A psychologist by trade and organization enthusiast by nature, Eva's mission and hope is to help others bring more color, play and joy into their everyday lives. In this quest she draws inspiration from her experience working in higher education, managing the HR department of an IT company and delivering youth trainings.

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Mirna Šmidt
Founder of Trainers Toolbox, trainer passionate about learning,  getting things done, creating great training content and delivering it in an enthusiastic and energetic way.  Being trainer since 2008, Mirna developed rich knowledge in positive psychology, NLP, evidence based training, coaching, and many other innovative trainer's tools and techniques. ​Next to Trainers Toolbox, she is also a founder of Happiness Academy, project aimed at educating and inspiring people to lead happier and more fulfilling lives. Read more about Mirna at www.mirnasmidt.com. 

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Points of You® creative tools for training and development

2/1/2017

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Points of you® tools are innovative, inspiring tools for training and development grounded in principles of working with photography as a “vehicle” for expanding perspectives, opening possibilities, inspiring action.
 
The Coaching Game is an easy to use tool that brings a fresh spirit of creativity and out-of-the-box thinking to every encounter. The game contains 65 cards, a 165-page book with stories, quotes and coaching questions, 4 process charts and a focus-notes pad.
 
Punctum uses colorful and stunning photos, life topics and powerful questions to create a playful atmosphere of learning and exploration. This game includes 33 photo cards, 33 word cards, 33 question cards, a cloth process-chart and a user guide.
 
Why to use it?
“Viewing any photograph begins an associative and emotional process in each viewer, and each viewer sees a unique reality inside the photograph’s borders. Thus any single photograph can hold numerous meanings simultaneously. The borders of every snapshot form both a window into the image and also a window into the viewer’s mind” (Judy Wiser, “Photo Therapy techniques”)

How to use this tool?
What I love most about Points of you® is the wide variety of potential uses. It’s magic works effectively both in one-on-one setting and in a conference environment with hundreds of participants. Those are different processes of course, and require different facilitations skills and styles – but the tools never fail in energizing the group and inspiring insights buy inviting and embracing multiple perspectives.
The tool offers countless different ways for application – once you understand the method and the key principles of working with Points of You® cards (e.g. the benefits and drawbacks of working with cards Face-up or Face-down) it is up to you how you integrate it into your process design.
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The Points of You® method is a four step process that starts with an invitation to participants to first meet themselves in a Pause, then Expand their perspective by exploring one or multiple photos (typically guided through an unexpected but precise conversational process), Focus on their most important insight and conclude the process by designing their next steps -  the forthcoming Actions.
Let me share couple of examples of how I use the tools:
  • In one on coaching conversations (combining the use of photography, words, stories and powerful coaching questions helps the coachee to dive deep faster, feel more resourceful, inspired, empowered and accountable to act)
  • In team coaching processes when assessing team dynamics I often use Points of You tools combined with other frameworks like Lencioni’s Team effectiveness pyramid or the Four rooms of change
  • In group coaching sessions, using a dynamic conversation process combining dyads, small group conversations and personal reflection. The process can involve exchanging cards, building group puzzles, working with photo albums, word association charts, etc.
  • In leadership development training to facilitate feedback and self-reflection (exploring one’s own leadership impact, communication style or people engagement skills) – the exercise is based on using a photo album, fast paced speed dating process and silent observation recording from multiple observers
  • In innovation and creativity workshops – to foster breakthrough thinking, practice non-judgement, ignite new perspectives
  • In strategic planning – as a visioning tool, cultural assessment tool, strategy assessment tool
  • As an energizer or a networking tool in large conference environment
 
If you wish to check the tool in action, see the video with pictures from diverse workshops using POY:
Where to get it?
On www.points-of-you.com you can experience playing with Points of You cards; buy The Coaching Game and Punctum; search for Trainer Certification program information, and also find numerous inspiring “goodies” (Journals, downloadable Postcards, inspirational quotes, music … and last, but not least - several ready-to-use workshop facilitation manuals, downloadable for free)
About author of the article
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Adrijana Strnad, PCC, CPF, Points of You® Certified Trainer 
Adrijana works as an organizational development consultant, coach trainer and facilitator. Specializes team coaching. Works globally, supporting leadership teams leading their organization through large scale transformation. Adrijana is most passionate about innovative experiential training design.
 
http://www.points-of-you.com/find-a-trainer/ADRIJANASTRNAD

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TwentyOne Toys - Toy for Empathy

1/12/2017

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My adventure with the empathy toys started by a TEDx video; one during which Ilana Ben-Ari presented the outcomes of a school project which turned into a business idea.

The original assignment was: design a navigational aid for the blind and how a visually impaired person might get others to help them answer them. By making the toys, they realised that from a tool meant to engage conversation and bridge blind and sighted folks, they actually created a learning tool designed for people of almost any ability and age, as well as a facilitation tool for workplaces of every shape and size.

Toy for empathy, from TwentyOneToys, is a blindfolded puzzle game that can only be solved when players learn to understand each other. The company elaborated guidebooks to help game masters, facilitators, to carry on the activity ensuring participants would get the maximum out of the experience.

For students, the games proposed are designed to reveal the relationship between empathy, creativity, and learning. For organisation, it’s a toolset which generates discussion about the role of empathy and communication in the workplace. They expected insights’ domains are in creative dialogue, teamwork & collaboration, making connection, improved performance, and more authentic interpersonal communication.

About incorporation in training, it's a communication game by excellence. For trainers, it’s a great tool to use in a classroom. I personally used them as: 
  • get-to-know activity: a moment during which some participants were invited to put themselves, even for few minutes, in other person’s shoes;
  • Connection enhancer: one of the benefit of the activity is that eventually people succeed. So by removing time constraint, you encourage participants to communicate on a good enough level for them to succeed in communicating;
  • Knowledge transfer practice: how to communicate what you know to someone else. I tweaked a bit the rules, giving more time for the one having the information to prepare how s/he would transmit it to the other side;
  • Communication practice: by enforcing the time pressure, the participants had to master their communication skills to ensure the task would be successfully done;

This could be used on Conflict solving, Innovation, Intercultural communication, Emotional Intelligence to name a few from their manual for organisations. One can adjust the rules according to the point s/he wants to make. 

I used my set on trains, busses, Leadership Summer School, YTA and other NGO events. Of course, the key to all the game lies in the debriefing, when participants extract their own learning from the experience. It is quick enough to be able to repeat the experience and most of the times, the second time happened to be significantly better than the first.

Here is a video from 2013:
I have been lucky enough to be in touch with the TwentyOne Toys team, providing feedback at the launch of the product. We also discussed elements such the advantage or not of playing in mother language and other findings. They are pretty cool fellows.

You can find more details about the tools here: http://empathytoy.com/
About author of the article
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Herve is  an IT Development Engineer, Life Coach and Freelance Trainer with broad experience in managing IT technical projects, strategic development and organisational transformation initiatives in international environment.

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    Mirna , initiator of Trainers Toolbox, is a trainer in love with training tools and innovative games, positive psychology, NLP, and everything that makes learning more impactful and engaging. 

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