The Case of the Poisoned Culture

a. Famous detectives like Sherlock Holmes and Monk work with partners. Pair the learners for this experience.

b. The “crime” is that a person (or persons) is poisoning the communication culture of this movie company, and no one is likely to admit it, or even believe that they are guilty, unless these learners/detectives can make the case for guilt.

c. First, have them apply deductive reasoning to derive some answers to why the Going North production is going south. Ask that they select from the chapter and use at least one general concept of communication that serves as the premise for explaining underlying causes. The pairs will agree on at least one interpretation of the situation and jot this down (in their figurative detective’s notepad).

d. Next, have them apply inductive reasoning. Here is where they use observable clues like those cited in the preamble to this exercise. They will agree on a short list of important clues, sit back, and come up with a general theory of how the way certain people are communicating is now rapidly poisoning this organization. They will jot down this theory or these theories, if they create more than one.

e. Finally, instruct them to try abductive reasoning. This is going to their gut and making an intuitive leap or leaps about how this communication culture is being poisoned. They jot these insights down in the proverbial detective’s notebook.

f. Now, it is time for each team of detectives to point their fingers at the guilty parties and state their reasons why. Each pair will do this in turn.

g. Complete this exercise with a discussion of how each of the thinking methods helped reveal hidden communication dynamics. See also if there is consensus on an answer to this question: Is it too late for these people to stop the poisoning and save the project?