Do we really agree? Let’s See.

Michele Martin and I had a long discussion over the phone yesterday. It was part of an ongoing conversation we have been having over the last few months. We have used email, wikis, IM, face-to-face, and phone. The point being, this is not a new conversation. It has been developing over time.

And the conversation is not about images, rather about the use of social media as learning professionals. It’s an interesting topic, and I would encourage you to go over to Michele’s blog for the conversation about the content.

This post is about how we each saw the image we were talking about.

It started with Michele sending me a tall pyramid. As we were talking I said I thought it was more of a spiral, and we talked about what I meant by that. From the conversation, I would have guessed we were aligned and were seeing the same things.

Michele’s Image

This morning, Michele posts this spiraling image on her blog. Wow, really? A tall skinny spiral? A tornado spiral? When I think about it, aspects of the lower levels do kind of get sucked up into the higher level areas. And bits and pieces of the top levels filter down and layer on top. I can get there, but it was surprising when I first saw it.

Christine’s Image

I was seeing a flat spiral. Different, and more so than I would have guessed.

Does this matter?

Are these differences that matter? In this context, maybe not. This was a conversation between colleagues, one where we were challenging each other to expand our thinking. But what if we had been taking action based on this conversation? Would these different perspectives matter then? Especially since we thought we had come to alignment?

How images can make a difference

If we had been able to see what we were each scribbling down while we were talking, we could have had a deeper conversation about why we were seeing these differently. Or if we really were. Or was it just the way we were sketching? I suspect from these drawings that there are areas where we could tease out more differences in our understanding, places where we each could learn more from each other.

Because we relied on just words in the moment, we limited the depth of our potential conversation because we assumed we were in agreement. And we have a tendency to search harder for the places we agree. It affirms our connection, and feels good.

This is happening all the time, all around us

Words are wonderful. But we bring all of our unique experiences and understanding to them. How many times a day do we think we are saying something that is in alignment with someone else? How many times are we sure?

Not that visuals are the answer. If you show a picture to five people they will often tell you five different things. But there is a concrete starting point in the image. You can see more of the thinking, you can ask questions. Added to the words, you might be a step closer to really understanding each other.