September 24, 2009

Role reversal

I've always believed that role reversals are great ways to see the world with different eyes.  Many years ago, I took part in a role reversal process with our advertising agency which was a wonderful experience.  

Last night, my wife and I went to a PTA meeting at our local Waldorf School.  Our second grade teacher surprised all the parents with a role reversal session.  Parents were asked to line up to go into the class and we spent two hours going through a class routine.  I loved the exeprience in many ways.  It was very engaging.  First, it made me feel closer to what our 7-year-old goes through.  As the teacher talked us through the learning objective of each exercise, I felt that the experience will certainly raise my awareness on how I can help our daughter learn even more. 

As a marketing professional, it made me think that there is so much we can learn if we get out of our ordinary role and temporarily live a completely different one.

Role reversal....  certainly a powerful concept in any innovation process.


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