Mosaic Diversity Activity

Mosaic Diversity is an excellent leadership training activity that helps people truly understand that others can have different perspectives and insights based on viewing the same situation. It then provides opportunities to help them build strategies to cope with this realisation.

Participants are provided with Viewpoint eyewear (like 3D Glasses) to view a mosaic pattern image that they must exactly reproduce using the tiles provided. The eyewear provided to view the mosaic image encodes two different patterns for the viewer— simulating different perceptions, interpretations and points of view for the viewer. Participants will not initially be aware of the existence of the two available patterns.

Multiple teams of 4 to 8 members are seated at separate tables with coloured mosaic tiles and some Viewpoint eyewear (like 3D glasses) activity materials.

Each team, in turn, views an encrypted image at the front of the room, revealed to them for a short time by the facilitator. Team members must wear Viewpoint eyewear to view/decode the image.

Team members then return to work at their table to construct a mosaic, using all the red and blue tiles provided, that precisely replicates the coloured image they just observed. Every few minutes, a different member of each team will be allowed to come to the front of the room and view the image again.

The teams face a significant challenge in constructing the mosaic as one of the rules suggests they must use all of their mosaic tiles to correctly create the required pattern. A second constraint is they cannot talk to each other until the discussion phase of the activity.

What may become apparent is that half of the participants have a different type of eyewear from the other half. This results in some seeing a predominantly red mosaic shape while other members see a different blue shape.

How can they combine these alternative points of view to complete the task? 

Learning Objective:

Individuals will explore the nature of diversity, personal values, assumptions and biases and their limiting effect through working on this practical leadership training activity. It can be used to ask individuals to explore strategies for challenging their own thinking processes and also to consider sensitive and positive ways of doing this in group situations.

• Recognise individual points of view and explore diversity of thought and insight 
• Explore principles of effective team working 
• Develop creative and critical thinking skills 
• Develop leadership skills
• Challenge deeply held assumptions and consider the effect of changing these 
• Explore how to challenge others in sensitive and positive ways