Category Archives: Learning

All We Need to Know

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Lawrence looked fatigued. “Long day?” I asked.

“Beat,” he agreed. “The kind of tired that makes you feel burnout.”

“How so?” I wanted to know.

“I’ve been working with my team all week on a new process based on some new technology we are integrating next month,” he replied. “They just don’t get it. It is not that they make mistakes, they just don’t seem to grasp the concept. They don’t understand how much will change and why we are doing this. If it were up to them, they would drag back the old technology and do a work around. In fact, behind my back, I think some of them are doing just that.”

“Some people think they have learned all they need to know. Some, all they need to know for the rest of their lives. You will never have the power to teach them anything, your curriculum is useless. It is not a matter of memorizing facts, a specific sequence or a skill. Your work is now a matter of transformation. This is a transformation of the spirit. Until this person becomes a person who does not know, will there be a person with the capacity to learn. Until an organization becomes an organization that does not know, will there be an organization with the capacity to learn.”

Industry Knowledge

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“We just made a great hire,” Evelyn announced. “We have been trying to recruit this guy for the past two years. Finally, he’s on our side.”

“So, what is so attractive, that you think he would make a good fit for the organization?” I asked.

“He is the break-out king,” she replied. “Every time we go to a conference in our industry, he is always one of the break-out leaders. His industry knowledge is top flight. On the lecture circuit, he is absolutely solid.”

“Given a problem to solve?” I squinted.

“He knows the answer before you even state the problem,” Evelyn was quick to respond.

I nodded in some agreement. “You told me that things in your industry were rapidly changing. What used to be, isn’t necessarily so, going forward. How open is your candidate to new ideas? Just curious.”

“That’s the thing,” she started. “He is so far ahead of the curve, he already knows what moves we should make.”

“How do you know?”

“Because he says so. Before you can even get halfway through explaining the problem, he can clearly state the solution.”

“What if he doesn’t understand the problem?” I smiled. “What if he solves the wrong problem? What if his solution worked somewhere else, but doesn’t work here? What if his solution is correct, but he can’t enroll people to execute? What if his solution works for the current problem, but creates unintended consequences later in time? There are some other things I want to learn about this person, his methodology and the frame from which he sees the world. It is wonderful to know everything, but that usually only works as a history lesson.”

Choices Already Made?

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“I don’t think my team is ready,” Ellis warned me.

“How so?” I asked.

“This new project landed in our queue this week with an impossible deadline,” he explained, hoping his explanation would let him off the hook.

“And?”

“I told the team that we could either choose to be successful in this project or we could choose not, it was up to them.”

“Do you think the team can suddenly decide success, or is success, or failure, determined by the decisions and choices that have already been made?”

Whose Plan is It?

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“I just finished working on my team’s Professional Development Plan,” Elena announced.

“Impressive,” I replied. “You identified the basic skills, advanced skills, initial training, advanced training, along with timelines. All necessary components in a plan.”

“Yes, I got tired of new recruits coming to work, doing only what is required not to get fired,” she lamented. “Maybe this will get them off their collective asses.”

“I see,” I nodded. “I don’t have a problem with defining the skill levels, the corresponding training available. But, I am curious about the plan. Whose plan is it?”

Elena stopped to think. “You’re right. It’s my plan, not their plan.”

“I mean, you can have expectations, performance standards and timelines, but those are yours. And, if they don’t meet your expectations, they may have to part ways. But the professional development part is on the team member. As the manager, you can communicate your expectations and timelines, but the plan, and the execution of the plan has to be theirs.”

Simulation and Real World

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“That’s the missing link in most training,” Madison continued. “We send people to training, thinking if they are just exposed to information, they would take the appropriate action. But having information, or data or watching, does not mean a person understands.”

“So how do you redesign training so that someone moves from seeing, or hearing to understanding what they see or hear?” I asked.

“Some people learn visually, by seeing something,” Madison started. “Some people learn through auditory, by hearing something. Some people learn kinesthetically, by feeling something. I think you have to hit all three, visual, auditory and kinesthetic. That’s why, during training, I think it’s important to embed some experience exercise. I want my team to feel it, touch it. Reading a book doesn’t mean you understand something. I want my team to feel it.”

“But, just because a person understands something doesn’t mean they are going to take action,” I said.

“Exactly,” she replied. “Even taking action in an artificial exercise in a classroom does not necessarily translate to taking action in the real world. Most training is ineffective because it doesn’t push people into the real world.”

Gratitude for Past Mistakes

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“You look happy this morning,” I said.

“Indeed,” Amira replied. “It’s a new year. We get a clean slate. Our mistakes are in the past. We can go forward with a renewed sense of optimism.”

“But didn’t the past deliver you here, to where you are today? Didn’t the mistakes you made teach you lessons not to repeat? Didn’t the struggles you had with the problems you solved put you a step ahead in the grand scheme?”

Amira paused her thinking. “But that was in the past. Can’t we forget and move forward?”

I shook my head. “No, we cannot forget. More important, those things in the past were great teachers if we listen. Tell me, Amira, if you really look back, what are you grateful for? What happened to land you in this place of optimism today? Yes, it’s a fresh start, but built on a platform of gratitude for the part of the journey we have already completed. What are you grateful for?”

Is It the New Clubs?

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“How’s your golf game?” I asked.

That was Nathan’s favorite question. “My favorite subject,” he replied with some delight. “I got some new golf clubs last week, lots of fun.”

“How was your score with the new clubs?” I wanted to know.

“You had to ask that question,” he looked at me sideways.

“Well?” I pressed.

“Well, probably the worst score I’ve had in the last year,” Nathan admitted.

“Maybe they are just lousy clubs,” I searched for an explanation.

“I know where this is going,” he replied. “If I want to get better at golf, I can either buy new clubs or work on my game. New clubs are nice, but maybe I should spend time working on my game.”

Questions and Stupidity

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“Instead of telling my team what to do, you want me to ask them questions?” Eliana confirmed.

I nodded.

“But, won’t that make it seem like I don’t know the answers?” she protested. “I don’t want to look stupid.”

“Better to ask a question, and appear stupid for a little while,” I replied, “than to never ask the question and be stupid for a long time.”

What We Know

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“But, what am I supposed to do with what I know?” Eliana prodded.

“Ask better questions,” I replied.

“Isn’t it easier just to tell the team what to do and how to do it?” she wanted to know.

“Yes, easier, for sure. But, the problems we face today were caused by what we knew yesterday. What we knew yesterday, if we stick to it, will prevent us from solving the problem today. As long as we are stuck in what we knew yesterday, we continue to be part of the problem, today.”

But, I Know the Answer

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“Yes, we have this meeting, once a week, where I get the team together to ask me questions,” Eliana explained. “We bring in pizza, I call it Lunch and Learn.”

“Learning is good,” I nodded. “In that session, what are you learning?”

“I don’t think you understand,” she replied. “They are the ones with questions. I am providing the answers. I am not the one in the meeting who is learning.”

“I think I get that,” I smiled. “They have questions and you know stuff. They come to learn, in learning mode. You stand at the front, in knowing mode.”

“Of course,” Eliana flatly stated. “They are young and I have more experience.”

“But, my question was – what are YOU learning?” I asked. “More importantly, when you are in knowing mode, what are you NOT learning?”

“But, shouldn’t I share my experience of what I know?” Eliana pressed.

“The purpose of experience, or expertise, is not to demonstrate your knowledge (knowing mode). The purpose of experience is sharpen your mind to ask better questions (learning mode). Better questions that lead the team to mission, vision and purpose.”