Pages

▼

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Here a Dot There a Dot...

Businesswoman using touch screen, smiling
(Photo credit: Altrendo Images/Thinkstock)
At its foundation, communication allows us to connect—to express our thoughts and feelings. As a child, I used dots to connect to my friends. We shared DOTS candy and played games like Connect 4, Twister and Eenie Eenie Aye Over (you know, "Send Timmy right over!"). Dots were also used to reveal a picture through dot-to-dot puzzles and actively communicate using Morse Code.

Another childhood memory of dots revolves around judgment and bias within communication. Max Lucado's book "Are You Special" comes to mind. In his book, the Wemmicks (small wooden people) "marked" each other with gold stars if they thought another pretty or talented or with grey dots if judged dull and needing paint. We make snap judgments about a person by how they look or sound when they speak. We allow these distractions to impede the flow of communication and damage our relationships.

But what if we could use a precognitive (before thought) communication technique to help be communicate with one another. The type of labeling I am referring to is intending to build up our connections instead of breaking them down.

Watch Amy Scott speak on the DOTS™ method developed by David Dickson and Chris Boon of New Zealand.



The DOTS
Purple dots (the visionary)—Purple dots are vocal. They want to know the WHAT.

Red dots (the thinker)—Red dots tend to be quiet and thoroughly think things through. They want to know the WHERE.

Yellow dots (the detailer)—Yellow dots turn words into detailed pictures. They want to know the WHEN.

Blue dots (the feeler)—Blue dots are peace makers and doers. They want to know the WHY.


To find out the specifics about each color type, visit DOTSCommunication.com.

About the Author:
Pam McDonald is a writer/editor for BLM Wildland Fire Training and Workforce Development and member of the NWCG Leadership Subcommittee. The expressions are those of the author.
at

No comments:

Post a Comment

********
The WFLDP seeks to build and support an online community in which wildland fire professionals can interact.

We invite respectful discussion; however, the realities of online culture is such that anonymous posts and posts from children under the age of 13 are not accepted.

All comments are monitored by our editorial staff for appropriateness in meeting the mission of the WFLDP prior to posting to the blog. We do not discriminate against any views, but we reserve the right not to post comments.

Individuals posting comments are fully responsible for everything that they submit.

Comments submitted after hours and on holidays/weekends will be reviewed as early as possible the next business day.

Our complete blog policy can be found at http://www.fireleadership.gov/committee/reports/Blog_Policy_Jan2010.pdf.

A yellow box will appear after you submit your comment notifying you that your comment will be reviewed.