Odyssey - Dynamic Learning System: An Innovative Approach to Inspirational Learning Experiences: An innovative approach to inspirational learning experiences

By Leon Conrad and David Pinto

Imagine you’re in a room, looking at a colourful grid of many different shapes spread out on a wall. There’s something intriguing about it—something almost magical. There are triangles, circles, squares, stars. Each has something on it—a word or diagram. There’s one shape of each colour … placed in a strange formation … what could the underlying pattern be? It's as if each shape is a door or window to another world; the whole display a chocolate box for the mind—a magical carriage to take you on a journey through your imagination. Get ready to embark on your very own Odyssey journey—a unique journey unlike any you’ve ever gone on before.

• Language: English
• Publisher: John Hunt Publishing
• Release date: Jan 30, 2015
• ISBN: 9781782792956

Leon Conrad

Leon Conrad is co-founder and lead trainer at The Academy of Oratory and teaches communication skills for negotiators for The Negotiation Lab. He lives in London, UK.

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versions

Leon’s version

A treasure revealed

Picture this …

Imagine you’re in a room, looking at a colourful grid of many different shapes spread out on a wall. There’s something intriguing about it – something almost magical. There are triangles, circles, squares, stars. Each has something on it – a word or diagram. There’s one shape of each colour … placed in a strange formation … what could the underlying pattern be? It’s as if each shape is a door or a window to another world. It looks like a chocolate box for the mind, or a magical carriage to take you on a journey through your imagination.

Get ready to embark on your very own Odyssey.

It won’t be like any journey you’ve ever gone on before.

Want to find out more? Read on!

Welcome to the wonderful world of the Odyssey Grid. My version has three distinct sections: a top row with black shapes, a multicoloured grid in the middle, and a bottom row with white shapes.

Look at the top row:

This row contains one example of each shape used in the grid. All the shapes in this row are black. Each shape has a heading word in it. I call it the ‘Heading Row’. It provides a key that tells you which category relates to each shape.

In the next section, the shapes in the Heading Row reappear in different colours, arranged randomly across a grid of six rows and seven columns. If you look closely, you’ll see they’re arranged rather like a Sudoku puzzle, with as little similarity in shape and colour between neighbouring pieces as possible.

In my version, colours are used simply as navigation devices. They don’t relate directly to the content of the grid pieces.

Each piece has an intriguing word or diagram on it. Look at this one, for example:

Take a look at the star in the Header Row. This happens to have ‘Story’ written on it. A story about ‘Juice’? What’s that about?

And what about this?

Take a look at the teardrop in the Header Row. This happens to have Wisdom written on it. Best wisdom? What’s that?

And what’s that row of shapes at the bottom?

I call it the Destination Row. It contains the same shapes as in the top row, but they’re blank, and in a different order. Why?

The only way to find out is to embark on an Odyssey journey – right now. Once you’ve tried it on your own, try going on an Odyssey journey with a friend, or in a group. Once you’ve done that, you’ll be ready to facilitate an Odyssey journey for others.

Go on an Odyssey with Leon

Take a look at this Odyssey Grid:

The black Heading Row indicates what each shape stands for, and is used for reference only.

The aim of this journey is to work through the grid, and end up on one of the blank shapes at the bottom in a set number of moves (in this case, you decide how many), to reach a jewel of discovery, as yet unknown. The unknown quality of this goal is what makes an Odyssey journey so exciting. We’ll reach it by ultimately linking the experiences of the entire journey back to the category to which the chosen destination shape belongs.

How does it work?

Always start at the top left corner of the grid. (In this example, the blue circle marked Opportunity.)

You can move to an adjacent grid piece vertically, or horizontally, but not diagonally; or you can move to a piece of the same colour anywhere on the grid, or to a piece of the same shape anywhere on the