0:02 Hello everyone, my name is Kagan Singh
0:04 and after about 30 years of corporate
0:07 training experience, I'm here to give
0:10 you a very powerful technique how to ace
0:12 your group discussions. This technique
0:14 if followed truly could help you ace
0:16 almost any kind of group discussion also
0:19 help you in interviews and VAS and this
0:21 is called divergent thinking and
0:23 convergent thinking. Now the meaning is
0:26 simple. Divergent thinking encourages us
0:28 to come up with all possible solutions
0:30 for a given situation for a given
0:34 problem. Example, if the question is
0:36 that someone has to go from Delhi to
0:39 Mumbai, then what are the options? Now,
0:40 if you follow divergent thinking, you
0:42 need to put every possible option on the
0:46 table. You could go by air, go by bus,
0:49 go by cycle, go by road, by car, you
0:50 could go by train or you could even
0:54 walk. So every possible option needs to
0:56 be put on the table and that requires
0:58 quick thinking. So in order to ace your
1:01 group discussions do not get restricted
1:04 by the scope which is being provided.
1:06 For the first about 10 seconds 20
1:08 seconds think through all the options
1:10 which might be there for you to ace it.
1:12 Now once you've done it then comes the
1:14 second technique of conversion
1:16 confluencing to a solution. Here you
1:18 need convergent thinking which requires
1:21 listening to others ideas also coming up
1:23 with criteria of evaluation and then
1:25 coming up with one or two best ways to
1:27 solve it. So going back to the Delhi to
1:30 Mumbai solution if we put in criteria of
1:32 evaluation that the person who wants to
1:34 go needs to reach Mumbai in let's say
1:36 about 20 hours and the budget is about 4
1:38 to 5,000 rupees. Now once that's the
1:41 case probably air travel is ruled out
1:43 obviously walking cycle is also ruled
1:46 out bus too and once we have put this
1:49 criteria an economic travel in a
1:50 shatabdi train a raad dhani train from
1:52 Delhi to Mumbai is the best conversion
1:56 solution this ability to first come up
1:59 with lot of possible solutions is called
2:02 divergent thinking thereafter you evolve
2:04 criterias of evaluation and then finally
2:07 you come up with one test the ability to
2:10 Use divergent and convergent thinking
2:12 together is the strategic weapon to ace
2:15 your group discussions. Today let me
2:17 give you a very popular GD topic which
2:20 is very unconventional and was asked by
2:21 one of the world's greatest quantitative
2:24 investment companies dehaw in a very big
2:26 management group discussion at New Delhi
2:30 and the topic was do fairy tales really
2:33 alter the perception of children towards
2:37 reality? I repeat, do fairy tales alter
2:39 children's perception of reality? I want
2:41 you to take about 10 seconds to think
2:43 this through. So think about few points
2:45 in favor of this, think about few points
2:48 against this, but let your divergent
2:50 horses run all the way and come up with
2:53 points. Now if you think deeply the
2:56 points which could be used in favor of
2:58 the topic that yes, these fairy tales do
3:00 alter their perception and lead them to
3:02 a wrong direction. You could say these
3:05 are about misplaced beliefs that
3:08 fairies, witches, demons, they exist. So
3:11 that's definitely not reality. And by
3:13 forcing children to understand and
3:14 recognize them, it is spreading
3:18 misbelief. Second is very convenient
3:21 facts that by believing in the tale of
3:22 the handsome prince who will come to
3:25 rescue or that angel mother fairy who
3:26 will come to rescue, we are talking
3:28 about very unreasonable solutions which
3:30 are not there in life. So the child is
3:32 getting used to relying on things which
3:35 are not actually going to happen. Third,
3:37 it is making the child think in binary.
3:39 Clearly things which are good, clearly
3:41 things which are bad. But in real life
3:43 there is nothing binary. Most of the
3:46 material is great. There is no absolute
3:47 perfect mother fairy who will be all
3:49 wonderful angelic. At the same time
3:50 there are no witches or demons who are
3:52 all bad. So by restricting the world to
3:55 binary it is again changing the child's
3:58 perception. Fourth, it is leading to
4:00 dread, fear, the fear of dark, the fear
4:02 of witches. Therefore, it alters the
4:04 child's behavior. A child may not want
4:05 to step in the dark, may not want to go
4:08 out alone. So to that extent, this is
4:09 again a misguided fact which leads to
4:12 behavioral transformation. We could then
4:14 talk about reduction of rational
4:17 thinking, complicated problem solving
4:19 skills, negotiation skills. Well, the
4:21 way they portray in fairy tales that
4:23 there is always a beautiful ending and
4:24 some fairy or some prince would come and
4:26 solve it. It doesn't happen in real
4:28 life. So the art of negotiating,
4:30 persuading, these are the skills which
4:32 the child doesn't want to put the effort
4:34 over there. And finally, the most
4:36 dangerous reality alteration is
4:38 stereotypes where it could be
4:41 beautified, reversion of princesses who
4:44 are always good or the ugly witch who's
4:46 cruel. So suddenly you are relating
4:48 beauty, being pretty, being sweet with
4:50 being good. And someone who doesn't have
4:52 good looks is again getting stereotyped
4:55 as wicked. And also there are gender
4:56 discriminations. You'll typically have
4:59 the princess waiting to be rescued in
5:01 trouble, helpless and really great state
5:03 of despair. Well, there is a handsome
5:05 prince who comes like the big macho man
5:08 to solve the problems. So by diversion
5:10 thinking in a matter of about 30
5:13 seconds, you have listed many points why
5:14 fairy tales alter the perception of
5:17 reality. But you don't stop there to
5:19 ease the GD. You move to the second part
5:22 that why they are good for a child's
5:24 true understanding the world. And here
5:26 you think about points like boosting
5:28 communication skills. The child learns
5:31 to empathize. The child learns to
5:32 understand the art of storytelling.
5:35 Boosting oratory skills, language power
5:37 because after all when you're learning
5:38 stories, you're boosting your
5:40 storytelling and language power also.
5:42 Then number three, parental bond or
5:45 teacher bond because after all
5:48 your relatives, your mom, dad. So as an
5:50 infant or as a toddler when you hear
5:52 those stories they are great bond-making
5:54 times. Number four they also make you
5:56 empathetic so that you understand the
5:58 pain of others. You understand the
6:00 struggle of that princess you understand
6:02 the efforts put by that prince. Then you
6:04 move on and say cultural legacy
6:07 heritage. These stories help you
6:09 understand the legacy of the past. The
6:11 jester ears thinks of your own
6:14 civilization and to that extent build a
6:15 spirit of good Samaritan a good
6:18 citizenship values in you and finally
6:20 and most importantly they also boost a
6:22 child's visualization and imaginative
6:25 power. So in a matter of about 30 to 40
6:26 seconds you have written seven or eight
6:28 points for and seven eight points
6:30 against and then the GD starts. Now once
6:33 the GD starts it's very important to
6:36 remember that the person who initiates
6:38 must not take a view for or against the
6:40 topic. So initiator could have numerous
6:42 possible start but I'm going to give you
6:44 two. The first is simply introduce the
6:46 topic and it goes like my worthy
6:48 colleagues I welcome you all to this
6:50 very prestigious GD being organized by
6:52 Disha and the topic given to us is
6:54 extremely relevant in today's soio
6:56 economic political context when we talk
6:58 about demographic dividend the way we
7:00 are shaping the mind of future leaders
7:02 and the topic is do fairy tales alter
7:05 the perception of reality among children
7:07 now we all have grown by hearing various
7:10 tales about Cinderella Snow White and
7:12 numerous others and of course they have
7:13 influence influenced us. However, the
7:15 question is, have they influenced us the
7:17 right way or the wrong way? Now, I'm
7:18 sure all of you must have very
7:19 passionate view about the topic.
7:21 However, time is limited and we must
7:23 come up with two to three consensus
7:25 points to report to the jury. So, I like
7:27 to propose that let us look at the plus
7:28 points through the criteria of
7:31 intellectual growth of the child, the
7:32 psychological growth of the child and
7:33 emotional growth of the child in terms
7:35 of being able to build bonds. So, I
7:37 welcome you all. Let's have a fruitful
7:39 discussion like this. The person who
7:42 introduces does introduction of the
7:44 topic. But let me give you a second very
7:46 powerful introduction method which is
7:48 tough and that is storytelling. So here
7:50 the person who introduces gives a small
7:53 story. Hello my friends and with your
7:55 permission I'd like to introduce the
7:57 topic through a small story. I want all
8:00 of you to imagine a young teenage girl
8:04 about 16 17 Cinderella. Very fair but
8:06 really lot of injustice done to her by
8:08 society. She's really struggling because
8:10 of lack of people who support her.
8:12 Terrible family situation. But then one
8:15 fine day she happens to go to a ball.
8:17 Her sandal goes missing and a big hunt
8:18 is launched because the prince really
8:20 loved the dance with her. And then one
8:22 fine day the prince finds her and she
8:25 lives happily ever after. That one
8:26 dance, that one missing sandal
8:29 completely changed her life. So my
8:31 friends, this is what a typical fairy
8:33 tale goes. That one small incident and
8:34 all the miseries of life are gone. And
8:36 the question which dish wants us to
8:39 address is does it really affect the
8:40 child? Does it really change their
8:43 perception of reality is it how they are
8:45 going to view the future and whether if
8:46 it does does it do in a good way or a
8:48 bad way. Now my friends this is the
8:50 second way of introducing the topic and
8:53 please remember if you are introducing
8:56 don't judge don't pass the judgment and
8:58 then as the GD progresses someone would
9:02 like to then summate and say that when
9:03 it comes to fairy tales they have their
9:05 plus points also they have minus points
9:08 also however when we were to summarize I
9:10 think there are some great things which
9:12 are happening over here that a child is
9:14 learning to empathize with those who
9:16 struggle a child understands the value
9:19 of resilience perseverance. However,
9:21 there are minus points that the child
9:23 may end up thinking about existence of
9:26 witches, demons, ghosts which could have
9:28 certain biases and which could at times
9:30 make the child look at all of this in a
9:32 matter of convenience. So, we would like
9:34 to conclude this GD by giving three
9:37 summary points. Number one, the group
9:39 largely believes that fairy tales of
9:42 course do alter the perception but to
9:44 the extent that the child gets higher
9:46 moral values. Number two, but it's very
9:48 important for parental guidance, teacher
9:50 guidance to ensure the child takes them
9:53 in the right way. And finally, it's very
9:56 important that a child's subsequent
9:58 behavior, day-to-day actions should be
10:00 encouraged to use the good values to
10:02 become a better citizen. So, as we
10:04 conclude, yes, to a certain extent, the
10:06 perception of reality gets shaped by
10:09 fairy tales. However, whether we use
10:12 that influence positively or negatively
10:14 is based on external intervention which
10:16 comes from the school, the society,
10:18 parents and relatives. So like it or
10:20 dislikely, fairy tales are a very
10:23 important role in a child's life and we
10:25 encourage our society and the parents to
10:27 use them as a very vital teaching tool.
10:30 This is how somebody needs to summarize.
10:32 So as I conclude this video, my
10:34 important message is to ace your GDS.
10:36 Use divergent thinking to quickly come
10:37 up with multiple points and then
10:40 converge to come to a logical solution.
10:42 I love you all and may the power of
