Oh, Dip

I wouldn’t consider myself having a keen eye for art. I am still scarred of getting a B in art class in high school. It’s not to say that I don’t appreciate the arts, it’s just my ability to constructively dissect and analyze a piece is a little less profound than what my high school art teacher had wanted—or so I thought. I came in a little out of my element and a little overwhelmed by the artistic juices just oozing from the walls. But I left with confidence and ownership in what I observed. 

I am a huge sucker for acronyms, so the ODIP lesson really caught my attention—to get a complete understanding of something we have to observe, describe, interpret, and prove. Observing and describing—no problem! We do that subconsciously with everything. But to get the full experience and perspective, we need to actively engage in interpreting and proving.

The workshop for these lessons was really helpful in the art museum because it’s pretty easy to ODIP; choose a piece, look at it, ask why the artist created it in a certain way, and then prove why the artist created the piece. It’s pretty simple in this setting because the piece isn’t physically changing and the interpretation is subjective. Applying this to life gets a little bit stickier because the world isn’t a stagnant piece hanging on a wall and our the lenses which we view the world also change. The mastery of ODIP and critical thinking is a cardinal virtue to development in anything. To successfully gain understanding of how to lead, we have to first observe and describe our strengths, interpret how we can use those strengths and then put them into action.

I came out of the workshop not with a newfound knowledge of art—but with the ownership and skills of systematically breaking down what is presented in front of me, whether that is a painting, a challenge, or myself. If it took us almost a half an hour to ODIP a painting, looking at the world in a critical way will be a never-ending cycle of observing, describing, interpreting, and proving.

For the past two and a half years, I’ve tried to avoid going to North Commons…but with little time to wait in line anywhere else I have unregrettably compromised my morals (I realized the food is actually top notch). So since it has become a new part of my life, here goes ODIP on NoCo, one in the morning and one during dinner.

Observe: North Commons in the morning

Describe: Lots of empty seats, weary and tired students eating or cramming before class, lots of light, pictures of fresh fruits and vegetables on the walls

Interpret: Students who eat in the morning are coming in for a rushed bite right before class and don’t have time to socialize.

Prove: Mostly everyone is sitting alone and reading a textbook, rushing to do homework, or haven’t even taken their jacket off.

Observe: North Commons at night

Describe: Much more crammed, dinners are breaking bread with friends

Interpret: People linger here much longer, having conversations and eating more.

Prove: Tables are mostly full and implicitly, this meal costs twice as much as breakfast.