Training Films and the Imaginative 'Leap'

Following my recent blog on using movies as 'homework' for the managers I train, I have had some very supportive comments sent to me at my website: www.coaching-coaches.com about using movies in training and executive coaching. A few were about whether I use actual actual training films demonstrating management development techniques and what I thought about them. Well to be honest I don't often use them - a) because they are very expensive and b)because they often over-exaggerate the issue to be learned by making the point far too obvious - the learner is left with no work to do. Also executive coaching doesn't have a great need for these things. In films and movies where it is not obvious, observers are forced to make the imaginative 'leaps' themselves rather than be told directly as training films commonly do. The learning from this I find is much more effective and motivational than being spoon fed all the answers!