The Iceberg of How
A model to help reflect on projects & group work.
This is part of a series of write-ups I have been meaning to write for a long time, seven years to be exact. This was something that especially was on my mind during Project of How, an online bank of methods that we made 2011–12. During the project we used the Iceberg metaphor to develop our ideas on the Art of reflection. This post is my development of those ideas.
/Ola Möller (@olamoller)
Founder & Designer at MethodKit, Co-founder of Project of How.
With help from Jordan Lane (@herdingideas).
The Model
What was done? How and why it was done?
The iceberg is a metaphor, I often use when thinking about how things are done (to be able to do it better the next time). But “HOW” can be misleading and shallow at times. Below I explain why.
The What(s)
“The Whats” are tangible, often quantitative and clearly visible parts of a project. For example:
- Deadlines?
- The team (Who?/How many?/Roles?)
- Client?
- Outcome / product?
The How(s)
“The How(s)” are practical ways in which you get things done. These are often familiar and are not reflected upon. For example:
- Briefs & Meetings
- Division of tasks
- Planning
- Sourcing funding
- Writing
- Exhibiting
The hows provide a process description. They may appear ordered and logical because they happen chronologically, but this is rarely the truth. To better understand the nature of “The Hows”, be sure to cover the “Whys” at the base of the iceberg.
The Why
“The why” is what we have come to describe as the real HOW, as it gives an explanation of why something happened the way it did; the reasoning behind a process and an outcome. WHY is the foundation of your thought, the reasons you built and composed the process in a certain way.
The why guides your thinking during the creative process.
The why is focused on insights and learnings. The result is only interesting to reflect upon if it gives insight on how the process can be made more effective.
- Why did you plan the project it in that way?
- What can you learn when planning a new project?
Seeing them altogether to understand the process.
By understanding the hows (your process) you can visualise the whats. Illustrating your process helps you to understand the way things were done, so that you may start to reflect upon and understand why.
Below is a process description (flowchart) of a previous project The Photo Book about Sweden. Steps are laid out chronologically, but there are no conclusions drawn as to why something happened, what worked, what was chance and what should be done different to next time. It is simply a description of the process and order of events.
When drawing a process description keep in mind these main questions:
- How can the process be described?
- Can it be describe in a flow chart?
- Who made what?
- How did you produce what was made?
- How long did each task require?
What does your flowchart look like — which decisions were made and why?
Use a flow chart (describing your project) to talk about how things went and why the came to be.
- What was the reasoning behind different decisions?
- Were decisions you made conscious?
- Did it turn out as planned?
- What are the learnings on making important decisions in the project?
What held the group’s focus in different parts of the project?
How did the group focus change in different parts of the project.
Something that I’ve been doing in some projects is to describe the focus of the group to be able to discuss how events in the project affected the process of getting towards a result.
Read a dedicated post about this: The Walnut explains group dynamics.
How thought patterns and approaches were used in the process
Metacognition describes how you think about thinking. Reflecting on how you thought during the project.
- How where you thinking during the project?
- How did your thinking affect the project performance?
- Which ways of thinking works in different parts of projects?
Summary
Reflection is non-prioritized and overlooked as it does not create direct tangible results. However, a deeper understanding of how things work can raise the level of productivity and wellbeing in the long run. According to professor Stephen Heppell you can achieve around 20% better performance if you reflect on how you learn/produce. That’s basically one day a week in improved productivity.
Reflection allows better understanding of how to design new processes of working and not only travel on tracks already built. And even though reflection might not create results in the moment it sure affects the creation of the future.
Related
Famous icebergs throughout history
There are a few interesting use of the iceberg metaphor that intersect with psychology and metacognition.
Iceberg of Systems Thinking
Thoughts in Psychology
This model is similar to how Cognitive Behavioural Therapy explains action & behaviour.
In short:
- Events/Action. What has happened
- Behaviour. Recurring events
- Structure. Describing the underlying reason for certain behaviours
- Mental Models. What kind of thinking re-enforces the structure
Hemingway’s Iceberg Theory
“I always try to write on the principle of the iceberg. There is even-eigths of it underwater for every part that shows.” - Hemingway
Freud using the metaphor
The mind is like an iceberg, it floats with one-seventh of its bulk above water.”
- Sigmund Freud
Sinking the unsinkable
I don’t know about you, but I intend to write a strongly worded letter to the White Star Line about all of this.
-Jack:
Links on reflection & creativity
How do you design? (aka The Bible) by Hugh Dubberly
Metacognition on Wikipedia
Blood samples & creativity by Ola Möller
Facilitating Reflection
Project of How
Gamestorming by Dave Gray
Creating Minds and Changing Minds.
Books:
Art of Facilitation by Dale Hunter
Feedback
Would love comments, thoughts and feedback! Feel free to comment here in the post.
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Published in MethodKit Stories on Medium.
This is a part of The Creativity Series.
Previous: Part 1. The Walnut, Part 2. The Double Diamond
/Ola Möller (@olamoller)
Founder & Designer at MethodKit, Co-founder of Project of How.
With help from Jordan Lane (@herdingideas).
