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I was fascinated by this work of outdoor art in National Harbor, Maryland. I clearly wasn't the only one who was fascinated - I saw many people climbing on the giant hand or standing by a giant foot.And while I was enjoying the sculpture, it also occurred to me how much of the art was created in our own minds. When you looked at this, you immediately filled in the missing pieces. You didn't see a head and a hand, instead you saw a complete person, with the missing parts buried in the sand.

I have to admit, this was a bit problematic when I tried to take the photo from the opposite end of the giant figure, with my camera pointing from his feet up to his head. I suddenly realized exactly what portion of the body lay in the "space between." That's when I decided to relocate to the upper portion of the body. 

I wonder how we could apply this principle (the space between one, not the one about the missing body part) to presentations. What could we omit to give our audience a chance to fill in the missing pieces?  I use questions in my presentations but maybe there are some answers that should be left unresolved in order to make a point. Maybe I can craft slides that take advantage of more white space and leave more to the imagination. 

On my way to this conference in National Harbor, I was reading "Leaders Make the Future" by Bob Johansen and he made reference to the idea of the "space between" several times. My favorite quote is this one "The space between judging too soon (the classic mistake of problem solvers) and deciding too late (the classic mistake of academics) is a space leaders of the future must love -- without staying there too long."

Just imagine what we can do if we make the most of "the space between."
 


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