Category: Learning

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back…

Is still progress.

Pick any project—it doesn’t matter if it’s something you’ve assigned to yourself or something your boss has given you. It could be a huge, long-term project, or something that should take less than a week.

Chances are, that project will turn out to be harder than expected.  It will require effort that nobody saw during the planning process (whether planning consisted of a 5-minute conversation, or a multi-month series of meetings and discussions). 

Here’s something else about projects: even when we’re given full ownership, most of us will try to find ways to make sure we’re not fully responsible for the outcome.

But no matter what, the project remains. We own it. We also own the goal of getting it done right.

“The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” – Chinese Proverb

Progress is made through consistent effort, one step at a time. Then another. Then another. It’s the steps toward the goal that matter, almost as much as the goal itself. 

What if some of the steps we take are the wrong ones?  What if we have to go back and redo some of our work?  What if somebody sees us make mistakes along the way?

Each of these are (almost) guaranteed to happen. 

Embrace it.  Learn from it.  Carry on.

Keep stepping forward.  Learn along the way and give yourself permission to take a step (or two) back from time to time. 

The progress you’re making is the reward.    

Photo by NEOM on Unsplash

The Power of Multiplying Yourself: Why Training and Supporting Your Team Leads to Success

The belief that doing everything yourself is faster can limit growth. Training and empowering your team leads to expanded capabilities, time for strategic initiatives, and a strong organizational culture.

p/c: Andrea Gian – Unsplash

“It’ll be faster for me to just handle this task now and get it done.”

“It’ll take me more time to train someone how to do this than it will take me to do it myself.”

“I’ll just take care of this task myself and get it out of the way.”

Sound familiar? 

It’s easy to fall into this trap of thinking that doing everything yourself is the most efficient way to get things done. This mindset not only limits your own growth and potential but also minimizes your team’s and your organization’s potential.

Investing your time in training and supporting your direct reports is not just beneficial—it’s essential for long-term success.

Here’s why:

  • Trust and Empowerment: When you take the time to train your team members, you show them that you trust their abilities. This trust fosters a sense of empowerment, motivating them to take on new challenges and responsibilities with confidence.
  • Expanded Capabilities: By preparing your team for their next levels of challenge, you expand their capabilities and push their limits outward. Consider this: Instead of just solving today’s problems, imagine if your team could handle tomorrow’s challenges without you needing to intervene. As they tackle new tasks and acquire new skills, they become stronger and more versatile contributors to the organization.
  • Time Management: While it may seem faster to handle tasks yourself in the short term, investing in training your team ultimately frees up your time for higher-level responsibilities. Imagine if you could focus on strategic initiatives, process improvement, and growth opportunities for the organization, rather than being bogged down in day-to-day tasks.
  • Cultural Impact: Creating a culture of learning and growth within your team not only boosts morale but also strengthens the entire organization. When your team members feel challenged and supported in their professional development, they’re more engaged and motivated to contribute their best work.
  • Preparation for Growth: By nurturing the skills and talents of your team members, you’re preparing the organization to adapt and grow. A team that is continuously learning and evolving is better equipped to handle the new challenges that are just around the corner (whether you see them coming, or not).

Neglecting your team’s development can have serious consequences. Employees who feel stagnant and unchallenged are more likely to become disengaged. Disengaged employees will leave, or worse, they’ll choose to stay and become seat warmers—adding nothing valuable to the organization.

People want to learn. They want to be challenged. They are most engaged when they’re pushing the boundaries of their capability, taking on new skills, and becoming more valuable to their organization.

The adage of “it’s faster to do it myself” is short-sighted and will limit your career growth.

Take the time to train and support your team. You will multiply your effectiveness and create a powerful culture of empowerment and continuous improvement within your organization.

The Delicate Balance of Telling and Teaching

Your role as the teacher and mentor is to prepare your mentee to work independently and effectively…

“I can’t believe she can’t tie her own shoes.  She’s old enough to know by now.”

My friend was talking about his 5-year-old daughter at the time. 

I asked if he’d ever taken the time to teach her how to tie her shoes.  He stared at me and said that wasn’t his job and that she should have figured it out by now. 

Why tell this story (which really happened!)? 

To illustrate how important it is to teach and mentor others…whether they’re our kids, grandkids, employees, family, or friends. 

It should be obvious that if you don’t teach, your student misses out on the chance to truly learn and grow.  By choosing not to teach, you’re short-changing your mentee of the lessons you’ve learned through hard-earned experience.

In moments of urgency or simplicity, direct instructions are most appropriate, providing a clear roadmap for immediate action (telling).

But true teaching is the art of imparting understanding – the “why” behind actions. It requires a commitment of time and energy, and showcases the significance of tasks, the interconnections between steps, and the importance of specific approaches…usually through storytelling.  

What kinds of stories?  Stories that provide a personal connection, illustrate key points, and allow your learners to connect emotionally to what you’re teaching.  Stories also help students drop their defensiveness toward receiving new information.

Another great teaching method is to ask questions. Questions encourage critical thinking.  Ask the student why they think something is important, or how they view a situation.  What would they do in the situation?  What’s happening that may not be obvious? If their answers are incomplete or miss the nuances of a situation, you can provide additional perspectives and help them understand what to look for.

How can we tell stories and ask questions about something when it’s urgent?  We already learned that in urgent situations, telling is often the most appropriate way of getting the right action quickly.  To create truly teachable moments resulting from an urgent event, it’s critical that you take the time after the urgency has passed to discuss lessons learned, and maybe even how to avoid the urgency next time.  

Your role as the teacher and mentor is to prepare your mentee to work independently and effectively.  Not only how to tie their shoes, but why it’s important to tie them in the first place. 

I have one favor to ask:  If you find this information useful, please forward and recommend it to someone else.  Thanks! 

You are the Observer: Using the Hawthorne Effect for Self-Improvement

The Hawthorne Effect refers to a psychological phenomenon where humans modify their behavior in response to being observed or studied. This effect was first observed in the 1920s and 30s during a series of studies conducted at the Western Electric Hawthorne Works in Chicago, hence the name.

The studies were designed to investigate the relationship between lighting conditions and worker productivity. But researchers found that regardless of changes in lighting, workers’ productivity improved when they knew they were being observed. This meant that the mere act of being the subject of an experiment or receiving attention could influence individuals to perform better.

It also means this powerful personal growth tool is available to you. It turns out that you are the observer you’ve been waiting for, the catalyst for your own transformation.

“You can’t learn to swim by reading a book about swimming. You have to get in the water.” – Unknown

The Burpee Quest

Funny thing about burpees:  watching someone do a burpee makes it look super easy (barely an inconvenience).  If a Crossfit guy tells you that a good warmup is 10 burpees per minute for 10 minutes, you might think that’s totally doable…until you try it.  You’ll learn about muscles you haven’t used in years.  You’ll be reminded that gravity is not your friend, and that you’re not as coordinated as you thought.

What if you start by doing 10?  Not 10 per minute for 10 minutes.  Just 10.  Each day.

That’s a tangible and doable goal to start.  You can observe (there’s that word) your progress and set incremental milestones for more.  Maybe you move up to 20 per day the second week, 40 per day the third week. 

A great way to keep track of your progress is to track your progress.  Sounds simple…but most people skip the tracking.  Tracking is your way to observe (there’s it is) your progress, and lets you become your own motivating force.  Write the date and burpee count down on a piece of paper, in your favorite journaling app, or maybe in an Excel spreadsheet. 

You are incrementally moving toward 100 burpees in a day.  You’re tracking your progress and will start to see the significance of each step toward your goal.

There’s something else you can observe (that word again).  Your body’s responses while you’re doing the exercise.  It will get easier as you go.  Easy?  No, just easier.  Your body (and mind) will begin to move to a higher level of performance.  Your baseline capability will increase.  Gravity still isn’t your friend, but you’re starting to learn how to partner with gravity to do the next burpee.

“Learning without reflection is a waste. Reflection without learning is dangerous.” – Confucius

It’s been 4 or 5 weeks since you started this quest.  You’re now able to do 3 sets of 25 burpees each day.  You haven’t reached 100 burpees yet, but you’re well on your way.  If you’re like most people, you might observe (there it is) that you can lighten up a bit at this point.  You’ve totally got this.  You don’t need to push as hard to improve from here.  Your goal is in sight.  Don’t fall into this trap!

This is the moment to refocus your goal…push it out a bit…extend the finish line.  You’ve already mastered the movements, now you need to apply discipline and blow past your original goal of 100 burpees per day.  Parlay this achievement into the next goal? 

Maybe actually using the 100 burpees as the warmup that Crossfit guy described.  You’ve been working on just getting to 100 burpees in a day, but what’s the next exercise you can do after your burpee warmup?    

Same process.  Take it in increments, track your progress, celebrate your milestones, welcome to another new baseline, continue to improve, set the next goal.        

How can you apply this to your profession? 

Actively seek opportunities to acquire new skills. Embrace the awkwardness of not knowing exactly how to do something…and do it anyway.  Remember that the satisfaction of learning and growth is uniquely yours. You, as the observer, choose the path of continuous learning.  It’s the best way (the only way) to adapt to the evolving demands of your profession.

Improve your value in increments, track your progress, establish new baselines, continue to improve.  Sound familiar? 

Solicit constructive feedback from colleagues and mentors, appreciating external input as valuable guidance. However, remember that you are the only one who can internalize and implement these insights.  Nobody will do it for you.

“Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterward.” – Vernon Law

Your Keys to Self-Improvement

  1. Consistently integrate self-observation and improvement into your routine, recognizing that only you can chart the course of your personal growth.
  2. Reflect on your experiences, setbacks, and successes, understanding that the satisfaction of improvement is a personal journey. You are the sole interpreter of your progress.
  3. Remain flexible and open-minded, adjusting your methods based on feedback and new insights. As the observer, you continually determine refinements to your approach.
  4. Embrace setbacks as opportunities for growth, understanding that the satisfaction derived from overcoming challenges is a deeply personal experience. Stay committed to your objectives, recognizing that only you can appreciate the significance of your efforts.

The Hawthorne Effect is your friend (unlike gravity).  Use it and always remember that you are the observer, the driver, and the one who benefits most from your continuous improvement journey. 

Aggressive Confusion

What happens when someone leads with their confusion?

It’s easy to be confused.

To be unclear about new information.

To ask for more explanations.

To need more practice.

But what happens when someone leads with their confusion, defending themselves behind a shield of doubt and uncertainty?

What if they wield their confusion like a weapon, merely to strengthen their grip on the status quo?

Is their objective to understand an idea or to avoid any responsibility for it?

Exploration (of anything) is a journey into the unknown and unexpected.  It can be overwhelming, even confusing.  It should be.  Finding our way through the confusion is how we grow.

We make the choices:

  • Will we decide to push through our confusion?
  • Will we put in the effort to find new clarity?
  • Will we choose to grow?

Or, do we prefer to hide in our comfortable bubble of confusion?

Photo by Hans-Peter Gauster on Unsplash

 

The Dance of Light and Dark

I originally wrote this poem eight or nine years ago.  It was an exercise in using contrasting words, contrasting rhythms, active and passive voices, sensory symbolism, and a few other style toys that I thought would be fun to try (for a hobbyist writing nerd).

As often happens when I write, the theme I had in mind when I started was quickly overtaken by other ideas.  The words and symbolism began pointing the way.  A new theme slowly emerged.

Then, just as I was gaining momentum, some shiny objects interrupted, and I set this poem aside.  A whole bunch of amazing life events started happening and years (eight or nine to be exact) came and went.

This poem sat on the hard drive of what would become my “old” computer.  When I moved over to the new computer, somehow all the data didn’t get transferred properly to the new computer (or to any of the cloud storage locations I use today).

I forgot about the poem until a couple of weeks ago when I was looking for a fictional story I’d written.  After some searching, I realized the only place it could be was on that old computer that we hadn’t turned on in years (and that we kept for some reason).  Imagine my surprise when I was able to boot it up and look around on the hard drive for some of my old (nearly lost) work.

I found that fictional story I was looking for (maybe I’ll publish it in some form in the future), along with a bunch of other work I had forgotten…including this poem.  Again, shiny objects intervened, and I didn’t get around to re-reading this poem until today.  The toys I’d been playing with so many years ago were just lying about where this big kid had left them.

I picked up my writing toys and continued playing with the words, the styles, and the symbols.  The theme that was there so many years ago was showing itself but in a new way that I hadn’t quite seen in the past.  Again, the words and symbols pointed the way (just like Mr. Cox told us in eleventh grade English class).

I hope you enjoy it.  Let me know what you think in the comments.

 

The Dance of Light and Dark

Lengthening shadows descend across the forest floor.

The perpetual dance as day gives way to night.

Glorious palettes of color and light,

Surrendering to shadows in the growing darkness.

 

The air grows cold with the smell of decay.

Death wins a battle in its forever war on life.

 

Your heartbeat echoes behind your ears.

A quiet rhythm of life.

You hear the mournful wail of a distant companion, howling for a moon not yet risen.

 

Stars shine like pinholes through a curtain.

The moon rises in the distance, casting new light in the dark.

 

While creatures of the night toil in the shadows,

Hunting and evading, hiding and pouncing, dying and surviving.

They don’t know what their future holds.

Pain or comfort.

Life or death.

 

Trees moan quietly as they sway against the wind’s unending assault.

Each is alone in the crowd to persevere as they must.

These trees know without knowing that morning will come.

A distant dream in the long cold night that’s just beginning.

 

Morning brings new light.

An eternity of hope.

Wistful breezes carry the freshness of this glorious day.

The sun lends its brilliant glow to all that it touches.

 

A new day, with promises to make.

Promises to fulfill.

Promises of life, of love, of laughter, and joy.

 

This dance of light and dark,

Of hope and despair,

Of life and death.

An eternity before,

An eternity after.

This dance is our journey.

This dance is each of us.

 

Photo by Casey Horner on Unsplash

 

 

What We Don’t Know

What do I know?  I know that I don’t know much, even though I know a lot.

Consider everything you know…

All the things you’ve learned since you were born.

All the things you’ve forgotten…in the last five years.

The capital of Vermont.  Montpelier.  I remember that one from 5th grade, even though I’ve never been to Vermont or Montpelier.  I like the way it sounds, and the word Montpelier always makes me think of potato peelers.

“I” always comes before “E,” except after “C” and in weird words like weird.

Over ninety-eight percent of the population of Australia lives within 25 miles of the country’s coastline.  I learned that from a tour guide.  I assume it’s true.

Now, consider everything you don’t know.

Like, how to sew.  Or, how to find top dead center on a Volkswagen engine.  What about the method for calculating the orbital decay of a satellite?  The percentage of nitrogen and oxygen in our atmosphere?

How about the exact weather forecast for a month from now?  What your customers will want or need or expect one year, two years, five years from now?  The truth is, they probably don’t know either.

I’d venture to say that what we don’t know is “Infinity minus One” larger than what we do know.  Sounds hopeless.

But it’s the unknowns that make our little journey interesting.  Discovering the secrets of an unknown is the reward for our curiosity.

How does cruise control work?

How and when did someone decide it was a good idea to pick certain red berries, dry them in the sun, then put them over a fire for just the right amount of time (whatever that is), then grind up what’s left and run hot water over it to make coffee?

Where does castor oil come from?

Curiosity and the humility to admit our ignorance, in pursuit of new knowledge is the key to learning.

Understanding that our decisions will never have the luxury of complete or perfect knowledge.  We’ll never know everything before making the decision.

In fact, taking that risk and making the (uninformed) decision is another way we learn.  If our decision is wrong, we learn from it (hopefully) and make a new decision that is less wrong.

Knowledge is power, and ignorance is bliss.  Both are right.

But I believe ignorance can have more power.  The power to try.  The power to seek.  The power to chase the unknown.

What do I know?  I know that I don’t know much, even though I know a lot.

Knowing that I don’t know drives me to ask the dumb question(s), to search for answers, to seek the unknown, to leap, to discover, to practice, and most of all, to never stop learning.

Photo by Raj Eiamworakul on Unsplash

 

 

 

Iteration is Everything

Iteration is the journey…

Iteration knows none of us know.

Iteration recognizes our first try isn’t our only try.

Iteration feeds innovation.

Iteration is fueled by our commitment.

Iteration is the only path to knowing.

Iteration overcomes our Resistance.

Iteration makes the mysterious familiar.

Iteration makes the impossible possible.

Iteration makes mistakes.

Iteration requires failure to find success.

Iteration sheds light on the darkness we fear.

Iteration is the journey to greater understanding.

Iteration always gives us another try.  The question is:  Do we have the courage to try again?

 

Photo by Tommy Lisbin on Unsplash

 

 

The Book on Pushups

…the most important choice each of us can make is the choice to step into the game. 

Surely, reading a book on pushups is the best way to learn how to do them.

The proper techniques.  The most effective forms.

When should you do your pushups?  How often each week?

While doing your pushups, what should your mind be doing?

What’s the proper number of pushups per set?  How many sets should you do?

What are all the available variations of pushups?

Why should you do pushups in the first place?

Are there any risks associated with doing pushups?  What about the rewards?

What if the author also provides weekly blog posts and podcasts about pushups…or YouTube videos of people doing pushups?

All of this is helpful. None will match what you learn by doing your first pushup.

That first one will be awkward.  It’ll shock your system.  It’ll be much harder than you imagined after seeing all those happy people doing them on YouTube.

Your technique will be terrible.  Your body will scream in protest.  Your wrists will ache, your shoulders will burn, you’ll probably feel muscles in your lower back you haven’t felt in a while.

Now that you’ve done that first one, what about the next ten?  The next hundred?  Will you make this a habit?  Will you do pushups every day, every-other-day?

Maybe you’ll decide they’re too hard and just skip them altogether…

It’s the same with most things in life.  Reading about it, talking about it, or watching it provide only one dimension of understanding.

Doing is an entirely different thing.

Doing brings the risk of failure, the risk of embarrassment.

Doing requires discipline and endurance for the journey you’ve chosen.

Doing requires personal drive and motivation to push through the awkward (and sometimes painful) beginning.

It’s easy to sit on the sidelines of life, casually watching and listening to what everyone else is doing.  But, the most important choice each of us can make is the choice to step into the game.

Step in and do the thing you’ve been watching.

It’s the only way to truly learn.

 

Photo by Lopez Robin on Unsplash

 

I’m not afraid of heights…

The real question isn’t about fear of heights or fear of ladders.  It’s about your definition of the higher ground…

…but I am afraid of ladders.

When I heard someone at the gym saying this to his workout buddy, he was referring to the reason he doesn’t put up Christmas lights.  He hates climbing on ladders.

For the record, I’m not too keen on climbing ladders either.

My immediate thought was how easy it is to dream of and visualize reaching the heights of our chosen field.  The hard part is the ladder.

Choosing the right ladder, or series of ladders.

Our ladder needs to be sturdy enough to take our weight and the weight of everyone else making the same climb.

It’s easy to pick the nearest ladder or the one where we can see the top.  But that’s not always the right one.

And, once we choose, how long should we climb before jumping to another ladder?

The real question isn’t about fear of heights or fear of ladders.  It’s about your definition of the higher ground.  Your definition of success.  The “why” for your climb.

Are these easy questions to answer?  Definitely, not.

Here’s the tricky part:  your answers to these fundamental questions of why will morph over time.  Something you thought was important in high school isn’t important when you’re 25, or 30.  Similarly, something that’s important when you’re 30 isn’t so important when you’re 50, or 65.

Our answers also adapt to our surroundings, to the people we see the most.  It’s human nature.  We adapt to survive.  We compromise to fit with those around us.  Our perceptions are shaped by what’s closest.

The good news is that with the internet, blog sites, news sites, books, videos, and podcasts, the definition of “closest” has changed.  While it’s true that we still work closely with the ten people that are near us, we have access to a universe of ideas and perspectives far beyond our “local” reach.  All we have to do is choose to look.

What about heights and climbing ladders?  They matter.  But not as much as why you’re climbing in the first place.

“Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall.”  –Stephen Covey

Photo by Samuel Zeller on Unsplash