The twist

Imagine you are in a group or training situation and you are given the following task: “Name your animal.”

What would you answer?

Many years ago I was in this situation and struggled to find the right answer. What was my animal? What does that question even mean? I was considering the attributes typically associated with a specific animal. Owls are wise, foxes are sly, snakes are false, and so on. What attribute did I want to be associated with?

Having everyone’s eyes on me and the trainer ready to put my choice on the flip chart, I felt the pressure mounting. Time slowed down and I finally blurted out my choice.

I even can’t remember what I actually said. What I can remember is I blurted out my choice only to add „I’m not sure if that’s the right answer“. Whereupon the trainer said: „Nobody asked for the right answer, just to name an animal.“

Oh.