No right answers

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.

I assumed there was a right answer to this question, but of course there wasn’t. Back in school an answer to any question could be right or wrong. In real life many questions might have an answer. A question is also not necessarily asking for a fact. It might also be there to trigger associations.

It is similar to being asked for your favorite meal. I don’t have a favorite meal, so how can I answer this question properly? I could list several meals I like. Or just say the first meal that comes to mind – and then another.