The next step:
Bombers return from war covered in bullet holes, and military engineers think they know exactly where to add armor. One mathematician looks at the same evidence differently.
Everything changed when Abraham Wald asked what the planes that never returned could reveal.
WHAT I SEE IS THE WHOLE STORY.
We tend to focus on the information in front of us and assume we're seeing the whole picture.
WHAT I DON'T SEE MAY CHANGE EVERYTHING.
Wald challenged the obvious conclusion by considering the planes that never returned, the missing information that changed everything.
Breaking the pattern is how students put Future Skills and Life Skills into action.
Future Skill: Creativity & Problem Solving, Critical Thinking
Life Skill: Understanding Information
Future Skills help us prepare for the future.
Life Skills help us use them in everyday life.
THE VANISHING CARD
Time: 90 seconds
Format: Whole Class
Materials: None
A MAGIC TRICK!
Remember it. Keep it secret.
Watch closely. Your Card is about to disappear.
YOUR CARD HAS DISAPPEARED!
Now look again. What else changed?
ALL THE CARDS CHANGED!
You focused on one card, and missed what happened to the others.
Sometimes, what we don't notice changes the whole picture.
In the airplane story and the card trick, what did everyone focus on, and what did they miss?
In the airplane story, the engineers focused on the bullet holes on the planes that returned. They missed the planes that never came back.
In the card trick, students focused on their chosen card and often missed that all the cards had changed.
In both cases, focusing on one part of the information made it easy to miss something important.
AUTOMATIC PATTERN
WHAT I SEE IS THE WHOLE STORY.
We often focus on what's right in front of us, assuming we're seeing the whole picture, while missing what isn't obvious.
PATTERN BREAK
WHAT I DON'T SEE MAY CHANGE EVERYTHING.
Before deciding what something means, ask yourself: What am I missing?
What might you be missing because you're only looking at what's obvious?
Where could looking more carefully at the information help you this week?