The Beach Ball – The brilliantly simple metaphor for getting reality on the table

Prefer to watch on video?  Just click here (3 mins with captions)

Philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein questioned whether there is such a thing as private language.  Can something that can only be understood by one person be considered to be real?

Beach Balls

Well…good news…we don’t need to figure that out. Instead, we can use the brilliant metaphor of the beach ball from Susan Scott, author of Fierce Conversations.

It goes like this – if I hold up this ball – what colour is it?  Blue and white.

But I would point out that the ball is in fact red, white and yellow, as you can see below when I show you what I see:

(if the images aren’t appearing…you get the idea!)

Now before you shake your head with such obviousness…remember, you already know the reality of the beach ball.  That it can be viewed from different sides.  In fact, we are so used to it, that we don’t notice that we are giving each other equal respect that the other’s view might also be true, and in doing so….we see a ‘beach ball’

Tyrants

As Professor Michael Detmold argued when I did Philosophy of Law back in 1996, our world is particular.  Meaning one that is made up of parts.  And we know this because no one can get outside of it – you can’t catch an elevator to the top and get up above it all.  You can’t get out!

To carry on as if somehow you do have the ability to get out – to act as if “what I see is THE truth” is technically called tyranny!   Might seem full on, but it explains why we get so frustrated when we are on the other end of this.  It goes deep.

Acting like this means we run the risk of making decisions based on the beach ball being only blue and white.  We might not even identify it as a beach ball given that they usually have multiple colours.  And remember – most of your discussions about work are not looking at a physical thing but are looking at numbers and words which are abstract representations.

And this is the world of perception.  The piecing together of ‘what’s going on’.  Let alone the world of desires and thought where we can put together different angles of what we need and what we think might happen.  Which are definitely not yet a physical thing!

Don’t get me wrong – this doesn’t automatically lead to a consensus show.  Decisions can be rightfully made by those with the authority to do so.  You don’t need to bust out your Holacracy manual yet.    It’s just about making better decisions, however you do them, by being able to tell you’re dealing with a beach ball and not a bowling ball. Because they’re different.

Bringing it Home

Putting this into action is so simple.  You just say out loud…

“are we constructing the full beach-ball here?”. 

Remember, acting as if “what I want and what I see is the truth” is the mark of a tyrant.  It is not true to the nature of the world.

If you’re the talkative type – make sure you’re not arguing too hard that your side of the beach ball is the whole thing.  If you’re the quiet type, don’t deprive the group of your view.  They need it. 

And if you’re facilitating, bring a beach ball in.  Seriously!

Nothing makes the point better, and discussion will have every chance of turning from an endless debate about which colour the ball is, to an adult discussion that actually constructs just enough reality to make a smart decision.

Besides, beach balls are fun.