Lessons on Learning LO10009

BrooksJeff@aol.com
Mon, 16 Sep 1996 20:13:07 -0400

Replying to LO9935 --

Margaret,

I responded to Jack's reponse to Gayatri, by making some comments on his list
of suggestions. I'd like to do the same with your list:

> Thanks for the heartwarming story of your learning to swim and the
> breakthrough you had. It reminded me of an experiment in a client company
> of mine with approximately 100 people. The company was challenged to
> learn to juggle within three months.
> ....
> Lessons included:
>
> 1) Part of the learning process is listening to the internal converation
> about learning and shifting those to a conducive mood to learn.

(We need to be aware of our mental models about learning, and changing them,
if necessary.)

> 2) Get help! ....

(Outside sources can help us articulate and remember mental models.)

> 3) Create a feedback mechanism to keep the progress visible.

(Sustaining our belief in our mental model is helped by real-time
reinforcement.)

> 4) Create a structure for practiciing - space and time

(Remembering to, and carrying through on practice is necessary.)

> 5) Support each other ....

(Other people can provide reinforcement for attaining sub-goals.)

> 6) Persistence ....

(Part of the mental model of learning is that practice is necessary.)

> 7) What was interesting to me was the lack of being proactive, those with
> the bad moods were waiting for someone else to come support them rather
> than taking the initiative to get the team together.

(This seems part of a larger mental model about self-efficacy. We do better
if we believe that our actions will result in positive results.)

> 8) Time seemed the biggest barrier, everyone complained they were too
> busy to take the time.

(Remembering to take the time is important. However, valuing the specific
learning is important to actually taking the time to practice. If we find
that we are not practicing as we say we want to, we have to look at why we
are choosing not to practice.)

I think that your inclusion of the self-efficacy and valuing issues is
right on target. Learning is not always an easy, "1-2-3" process, it
happens within the larger structure of our lives. If we are not able to
look at this larger context, many of our learning efforts will fail, and
we will tend toward more negative attitudes about learning and ourselves.

- Jeff

--

Jeff Brooks <BrooksJeff@AOL.com>

Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>