When I heard some for the first time, it was in the context of a training program that I was myself going through. My first reaction was: ‘Wow! That sounds incredible.’ In the enthusiasm of the collective wows that were generated, I accepted the myths as truth.

But I soon realized I was not comfortable believing in them. Intuitively, I knew they could not be true.

Now all these myths seemed to be backed up by solid research though. So I wondered if I was being my usual arrogant self by questioning these supposed universal ‘truths’.

But I started my probe anyway and what I found really warmed my heart! These were myths for sure, very similar to urban legends that get popularized without any sound basis. Read on and join me in smashing them.

You remember 10% of what you read, 20% of what you hear, 30% of what you see and 90% of what you do.

This is a widely repeated statement by trainers all over the world. Maybe you’ve been subjected to this statement at some time as well. I hope you have not made it though! The round figures are easily remembered but completely wrong.

The findings can be traced to one D.G. Treichler, an employee of Mobil Oil Company, who put forth these figures in 1967.

However, the NTL Institute for Applied Behavioral Science has laid claim to the figures, saying they are based on research in the early sixties and bizarrely adding that ‘we no longer have – nor can we find – the original research that supports the numbers’.

Though, there are many arguments against these figures, one that is most obvious is that all the percentages are perfectly round. What research into human behaviour ever resulted in four different round numbers?

In communication, only 7% of the meaning is conveyed through the speaker’s words, 55% through his facial expressions and the rest 38% through tone of voice.

I am sure you have come across this lulu too, especially if you have attended communication or NLP programs. In one sweeping statement, words are reduced to an insignificant role in the great game of communication.

Yet, when we think about this deeply, the fallacies start becoming obvious. Is it really possible that if I get lost in Shanghai and ask a passer-by for directions, I’ll have to work out the correct route mostly from their facial expressions and tone of voice, and not from the words they use?

The findings are attributed to research done by Mehrabian but, in reality, they are just a distorted version of what Mehrabian himself has to say on his website. He expresses the results of his research in the form of an equation:

Total liking = 7% verbal liking + 38% vocal liking + 55% facial liking

He explains that “this and other equations regarding relative importance of verbal and nonverbal messages were derived from experiments dealing with communications of feelings and attitudes (i.e. like-dislike). Unless a communicator is talking about their feelings or attitudes, these equations are not applicable.”

We use 10% of our brain (or anywhere from 1% to 15% depending upon where you have read it).

This one is so popular, even Albert Einstein is usually roped in as one of the endorsers! The media too has played a role in orchestrating this myth. Many of us therefore look at it as given.

Scientists have tried for years to change this misconception. They have clearly stated that there is no scientific evidence to suggest that we use only 10% of our brains. In fact it is very hard to say what using just 10% of your brain means.

It could mean that I could cut 90% of my brain and be just fine or that I just use only one out of every ten nerve cells at any one time. Let’s attack this one with common sense.

First of all, it is obvious that the brain, like all other organs, has been shaped by natural selection. Brain tissue is metabolically expensive both to grow and to run.

It strains credulity to think that evolution would have permitted squandering of resources on a scale necessary to build and maintain such a massively underutilized organ.

Secondly, losing far less than 90 percent of the brain to accident or disease has catastrophic consequences. Various medical tests reveal that there does not seem to be any area of the brain that can be destroyed without leaving the patient with some kind of functional deficit.

Likewise, electrical stimulation of points in the brain during neurosurgery has failed so far to uncover any dormant areas where no percept, emotion or movement is elicited by applying these tiny currents.

Having dug hard and deep, I find no evidence at all to support this myth.

The most powerful lure of the myth is probably the idea that we might develop psychic abilities, or at least gain a leg up on the competition by improving our memory or concentration.

All this is available for the asking, the ads say, if we just tapped into our most incredible of organs, the brain. It is past time to put this myth to rest, although if it has survived at least a century so far, it will surely live on into the new millennium.

The next time you are subjected to this one, just ask the speaker politely “Oh? What part don’t you use?”

Read these interesting articles to find out more about these myths and other myths related to training and learning.

Myths about adult learning

Myths about coaching

We use 10% of our brain

Myths about communication

Myths about NLP training

Myths about train the trainer

The up-close managers tend to see roadblocks like this as a major problem. They see a hitch in the smooth running of their department. They see things no longer running to time or cost or output. And they see the effect on today’s, tomorrow’s or this week’s bottom-line.

That’s why the knee-jerk reaction of the up-close manager is to step in as soon as a problem is detected and fix it quick.

The let-go managers see it quite differently. When they see their employees hitting a block, they don’t see a “problem”, they see an opportunity. They see the chance for people to learn and grow. And they see the effect of such an opportunity not on the short-term bottom-line but on the long-term development of the employee and the organisation.

That’s why the quiet approach of the let-go manager is to be supportive, to be there and to lead.

On our Leadership Skills courses at ManageTrainLearn, we like to relate the story of The Butterfly’s Wings that perfectly encapsulates this difference.

It goes like this.

A man found a butterfly cocoon. One day a small opening appeared. The man sat and watched the butterfly for hours as it struggled to force its body through the little hole.

Then it seemed to stop making progress. It appeared as if it had gotten so far and could go no further.

The man decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and snipped the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily.

But something wasn’t quite right. The butterfly had a swollen body and shrivelled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly expecting that at any moment the wings would enlarge and expand to support the body.

Neither happened. In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with its swollen body and deformed wings. It was never able to fly.

What the man in his kindness and haste had not understood was that the struggle for the butterfly to get through the small opening in the cocoon are Nature’s way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.

We’re all a bit like butterflies. We sometimes come to a stop in our development when the next stage is a major step in our growth. But we need to do it ourselves. Because when we do, we don’t just get to where we should be; we also learn how to cope with “problems”, how to face up to life’s difficulties, and how to learn about ourselves.

If you manage people like the man in this story, why not take a deep breath next time someone in your team has stopped and is struggling. Be there for them but learn to let go. And, you never know, they too might learn to fly.

It starts at the top. Too many times managers blow off the session because they don’t need it (of course). This sends a strong message to all their followers: this training is not worth my time. If leaders haven’t attended the training themselves, how can they reinforce the message? I see this in medical environments all the time – the nursing staff has to attend customer service training, not the doctors – they are way too important. Guess who treats both the nurses and the patients poorly? The doctors. What kind of message does this send to the nurses? No wonder they don’t want to go to training.

Make it better: If you are going to have training for your people, you should go through it yourself. When you are there, support the trainer and your learners.

Exception: The only time you may want to consider not attending is if you want your people to interact freely with the trainer without your possibly intimidating presence. This is a very valid reason for not being there. If that’s the case – tell your people. Tell them you think the training is important and why you are not going.

No one likes boring training. Make sure the training is good and has value for the attendees. I know this seems obvious, but something horrible has happened to people. They have had to sit through boring sessions and they hate it. There are enough good presenters out there that you can find someone with high energy, humor and great information. Take the time to check out your trainers. If you are using internal trainers, make sure they don’t get burned out and bored with their own material. Take good care of them‚Äîthey have a big impact on your employees.

Make it better: If you people are laughing, they are not in pain. Good training can help with morale and retention. Don’t settle for boring.

They don’t want to be embarrassed. Make it fun, but don’t make attendees feel stupid or uncomfortable. I do a lot of customer service training. Very few attendees are excited about coming. Leadership is seldom there and it’s often held after hours. People think they are somehow being punished for not doing their jobs. It’s a tough crowd and I know I have to win them over and get them to drop their defenses fast. That’s why I have my Elvis theme. Right away they know this isn’t going to be like any customer service training they’ve had before. And before they know it, they’re laughing. I do not make them do any Elvis impersonations; they are never embarrassed or made to do anything that would make them uncomfortable. It’s interactive without putting anyone on the spot. If anybody acts silly, it’s me.

Make it better: Most adults are terrified of looking like idiots. Training should be fun and safe or your people will dread it.

Attendees‚Äîyou are not off the hook! You should come with an open mind. Hey, if you have to be there, you might as well have fun! Most of us have never been to a class where we learned nothing. In this life, you’re either growing or you’re dying. Take the chance to grow and learn. It’s the best way to improve.

————————

Denise Ryan, MBA, is a Certified Speaking Professional, a designation of excellence held by less than 10% of all professional speakers.  She is a blogger http://motivationbychocolate.blogspot.com
Her website is http://www.firestarspeaking.com

The term outbound has been adopted from the Navy, where a ship is said to be outward bound when it leaves its shores to sail into the unknown, rough sea. Similarly when we go out in a camp, we leave our shore, i.e., the comfort zone of our home and work place and travel to a new, open place in a natural environment with minimum comforts.

Experiential learning is a process of transformation when, as a result of experience, one is inspired to apply in life, what emerges as a revelation or self-discovery. We generally follow the Kolb Cycle, which states that in life we have an experience, we think about it (reflection), then we talk about it or write it (recording) and finally we analyse (processing), leading to another experience where we may apply the learning. Therefore it becomes a spiral of learning. This can also be described as the whole learning wheel, from goal setting, to experimenting and observing, to reviewing, and finally action planning.

You remember how you learnt cycling? Someone helped you support the cycle. You fumbled, fell down several times till you ‘got’ it. That was how you learnt the balance. I call it the ‘aah’ effect. You discover it and then it stays with you for life. Whether it was a burn which you experienced as a child, or tasting of honey, or learning swimming or cycling, they stay with you for life. You do not need to relearn it. That’s not true for academics or subjects you learnt in the classroom.

Leadership and team building are two such subjects that are best learnt on the ‘experiential learning’ platform. You may read books on leadership and team building, but to be a good team player or an effective leader you have to experience it, just as a cook needs to cook in the kitchen. Reading recipes and learning by heart may help, but does not substitute the act of cooking.

In our camp we provide the experience in the form of a team activity. It is an interesting outdoor game. Participants enjoy a new experience, generally one they have never experienced before. After the activity is over participants reflect on the activity by writing down their emotions, their feelings, their sad, mad and glad moments. This is followed by a small group discussion in which teams go through the entire sequence and record what happened, what did not happen, and why. Then we facilitate the process of drawing out lessons from their experiences. What they learn from such experiences gets filtered into the subconscious mind and settles down as a way of life. To reinforce this we conduct a follow-up session after two to three months of the programme.

Experiential learning is extremely effective. We create an environment which lends itself to a new and interesting experience where all participants are at par in their knowledge about the tasks and projects that they face. There is nothing at stake. Your reputation, job security, promotion, a salary increase, nothing is affected. A unique set of projects and situations requires people to draw upon genuine team process skills as opposed to just functional ones.

Interacting in close proximity whilst working on new and unfamiliar challenges, makes the entire process very interesting. The interaction, communication and collaboration and efforts that are required to meet these challenges develop wonderful, everlasting relationships in a very short time. It engages people at a more personal level. People may get to know each other better in a single day within this environment than over an entire year of normal working conditions.

In these activities, one’s true colours emerge. One cannot pretend or put up a false front for long. The group projects their communication skills, problem-solving capability, organizing ability, and leadership style into the experience. The experience provides a unique opportunity to catch participants doing what they typically do, in spite of knowing otherwise. The learning arising from this is profound and revealing.

Teams are able to experience chaos, disorder, crisis and changing requirements for success in a safe environment where the consequences for failure are limited. The team can develop strategies and best practices for managing these issues both in this environment and back at work.

The experience allows participants to take new risks, try on new roles and make mistakes with no danger or cost. Each person taking a risk pushes others to take on something outside of their comfort zone. There are always individuals who shine in this environment – whose leadership ability hasn’t been noticed at work.

The team challenges and activities are designed to include a variety of elements that will challenge a range of team role skills. In other words input from all team members will be required to produce outcomes from projects specifically designed not to suit just one team role style or behaviour. One person cannot possibly succeed alone and so the interdependence of the team is highlighted along with the importance of diversity within the team.

The entire learning happens while having fun. We create a highly interesting and enjoyable learning environment in which participants learn about and develop team and management process skills with ease and in comfort.

Experiential learning is effective both indoors as well as outdoors. Yet, the outdoor environment with the terrain, weather and environmental challenges make it more challenging and therefore can result in more effective learning. Teachers in schools and colleges can reinforce their classroom teachings with experiential education. Learning is more effective and lasts much longer.
As stated by the ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius, “Tell me and I will forget, show me and I may remember, involve me and I will understand.”
Brig. Sushil Bhasin is Chairman and Managing Director of Empower Activity Camps.

Ideally, like all wheels, the line joining all the rating points needs to form a circle. The smoother the circle, the more well balanced it is. The more jagged the outline is, the less of a balance is there in the work-life situation. Of course one could still have a balanced wheel but one which is small and might want to enlarge it. In other words, one might want to achieve more in all facets of life. However, care should be taken to ensure that there is overall progression otherwise the balance would be lost.

Once I finished explaining this, this person exclaimed that this method was used often to analyze issues in the office. This set me thinking. We all go through life learning new skills on a regular basis. Then for most, the learning falls by the wayside or is used only in certain instances. An obvious example is the vast number of people in management who learn and practice skills like time management, communication skills, team building, etc. on a daily basis. However, these are usually packed away safely in a briefcase or laptop bag the minute one leaves the office.

In their personal lives these skills are rarely used! I wonder why?

Is it because these are taught in the context of business and work and individuals are confused on how to apply them to their personal lives? Or is there an implied expectation that personal and family life would take care of itself, while work and colleagues need to be managed! Whatever be the reason, this is absurd. I have seen experienced finance professionals whose personal finances are in a mess, renowned leaders of large teams whose children don’t seem to find any common connect with them, and so on.

My view is that as individuals we need to access and inventory each skill that we have as an invaluable asset. Just like how no asset is left to idle and waste away but instead deployed to maximize returns, similarly each skill needs to be used extensively. A simple idea would be to prepare an inventory of skills/competencies and then prepare a listing of all possible areas to apply the same in personal and professional arenas. Once done, this inventory needs to be referred to regularly to ensure that each skill is being utilized in every possible situation and scenario. Needless to say, the inventory would require frequent review and updates.

My guess is that such an approach might not only help bring better balance and well-being in the varied facets of a person’s life, but actually help hone their skills and make them better for it! There are some who might say that this practice would rob personal relationships of their spontaneity and warmth. Maybe, maybe not. But, even that can be managed by using the right sets of skills.

2. Solicit opinions from a diverse audience. Nothing like asking a twenty year old and a seventy year old what they think about your stuff.

3. Solicit opinions from experts. Ask a gifted writer what they really think of your material. Take your CEO to lunch for a preemptive performance review and some tips on how to sail up the ladder. Hire a stylist to eyeball your fashion fabulousness. It may sting, it may be a major gust of wind beneath your wings, but either way, an expert opinion will motivate you to get on top of your game.

4. Stand naked in front of the mirror and don’t leave until you can say three deeply loving things about: your physique, the miracle of your health, and your qualities as good human being.

5. Fire your most annoying client, team member, or nasty friend. You’ll wished you’d done it a long time ago.

6. As the Dalai Lama says, “Love until it hurts.” For me that would mean volunteering at an old age home. I can hardly bear the wastage and scarcity of dignity that makes for most nursing homes. It slays me. I always leave a total wreck.

7. Choose silence. Turn off the TV. Commute without the car radio on or your i-Pod earphones in. The silence may unsettle you. With our addiction to noise and distraction held at bay, our anxiety, painful beauty and genius has room to surface.

8. Underachieve. This is especially for all the A Types and workaholics. Slack. Don’t finish the book. For one week, do not do a to-do list. (I know, your palms are sweating at the very thought.) Be late just because you wanted an extra five minutes in the hot shower.

9. Take an improv class. It could teach you more about innovation, relationships, success, and sexuality than any therapist or self help book.

10. Say no. Only offer the simple explanation that “it just doesn’t feel right.”

11. Say yes. Just for the hell of it. Whimsy is a direct route enlightenment…or peril. Either way, you’ll come out stronger.

The point he was making was that there is no great value addition at Harvard!

I recall writing a letter to a newspaper in response to the boast of a school principal that his college ‘produced’ a particularly renowned cricketer. I argued that my knowledge of that college indicated that that college had contributed precious little to that cricketer’s rise to eminence.

I once met the CEO of a top company as soon as he emerged from the campus of a renowned B-school in eastern India and asked him what was special about the graduates of that B school since he had chosen to ‘place’ a dozen of their students in his organisaion. He replied that the selection process for admissions to that school ensured that the finest youngsters in the country were admitted to the MBA programme. His company wanted some of these fine youngsters who had been ‘pre- selected’ by the B- school. “What they learn at the school has little significance for us because they will have to learn the real world of business after they join us,” he added.

In each of these cases one can see a very insightful form of thinking called ‘counterfactual thinking’. This mode of thinking calls for us to ask the question: what would have happened if the variable under scrutiny did not take place? Thus in the instances cited above a possible conclusion may be (I admit you can have a different viewpoint) that the institutions had little contribution towards the final outcome. Harvard students are already among the best and the brightest and would have reached positions of eminence anyway — Harvard may have little to do with their success in life.

The cricketer who is now a legend would have become a master no matter which college he went to. In recent years boys who never went to college at all have become cricketing heroes.

The B school graduates would have done well in the corporate sector even if they had gone to a humble B school or to no B school at all—barring the status attached to being an alumnus of the well known school. Surveys have shown that graduates from that school are occupying high positions in India’s corporate sector.

A research report from MIT on the working of the much lauded micro-finance concept shows that these institutions may not be making significant contribution to poverty alleviation. Applying counterfactual thinking in a series of ingenious experiments they showed that those who received micro-financing and did well would have prospered in any case, given that they had entrepreneurial qualities anyway and were already on the way out of poverty.

Let me propose a hypothesis:
With a few honorable exceptions the Indian education system fails in imparting even basic skills – both the so called hard and even more so the soft skills. The question arises: If our education is that abysmal how can we account for Indians’ success all over the world in almost any field of human endeavour? Counterfactual thinking suggest that these ‘successful’ Indians would have been successful anyway given their innate intelligence and survival instincts.

Remember the Indian immigrant abroad is — barring exception – -an economic refugee who is running away from an oppressive regime that has stifled his ingenuity and denied him opportunities and actively impeded his growth. Such people do well no matter where they hail from. Education in India may have little to do with their success — that’s the sad news. Where does that leave us as far as education is concerned ? It will be the corporate sector that will have to fill the gap by training their recruits even in the basics. This is happening already — that’s the good news

Focus is a fabulous force. Tho’ sometimes, it’s good to blur the lines and depart from your expertise, your skill set and what you think you know so well. Many a great discovery has come from accidental encounters and seemingly unrelated interests.

Choose three subjects that you have no interest in whatsoever, or that you’re actually slightly adverse to. Do it right now. Google ‘em. Let yourself meander for a bit, not too long – just until you learn something you didn’t know before.

My topic picks: knitting – I respect it dearly, but it’s never going to happen for me; National Rifle Association – a mentality that baffles my sensibilities and values; high-jumping – not in this life time.

Here’s what I learned in under fifteen minutes:
1. From Craftnicity and The Knit A Square Project: It is estimated that there are 11.6 million orphans in sub-saharan Africa. 1.4 million live in South Africa.
2. According to the Washington Post, “visitors to some national parks would be able to start packing heat along with their tents and picnic baskets under a proposal being considered by the Interior Department that would ease restrictions on loaded firearms in the parks.” Just what I want…to go camping in the same vicinity as some yahoos with a Winchester in their cooler.
3. Blanka Vlašić is considered the Best Female Athlete in the World. Her legs go up to my chin. Wowza.

The point of this exercise isn’t to waste time or fill your bean with trivia. It’s to remember what it’s like to actively learn. Feel your brain pulse, your eyes lift, your heart open. Freshness. Power. Perspective – is everything.

Given the way that civilization has progressed in the last 100 years or so, this was indeed, the need of the hour. But our demanding professions have become our definitions – our identities, and with the recent job cuts that have come along with the recession, we see more and more cases of depression when one loses that identity, it is as if they have lost themselves. When we meet someone new the first question that comes to our minds about the other person is “What does he/she do?”

While this system has created great technological advances, wonderful products, high standards of living, has it, in the process killed our individualism and reduced our identities to that of mere employees?

Recently we see more and more companies giving more importance to the ability of a person to perform or deliver rather than their degree. To give you a real life example, a graduate in Japanese honors is a manager in training at one of the world’s leading banks. And what does she train people on? No, not just communication skills or soft skills, but she trains CA’s and MBA’s in financial products! She designs training modules and training calendars for the year. The fact that this bank is doing better than the others in this time of recession says, they can’t be doing wrong.

This brings me back to the question: is our system of education limiting us from what we can truly achieve? If I have trained to be a doctor, or an accountant, can I ever be afforded the luxury of retraining to become an astronaut or a carpenter without falling into debt and losing my credit rating? What if our education system, only taught us to be great students instead of teaching us to become just a particular professional? What if it taught us to become great thinkers or innovators? What if subjects like, “Effects Of Religious Biases On Society” or “Advantages of Organic Farming” or “Important Alternative Green Fuel Sources” or “People Skills” or “How Global Poverty Affects Us” or “How To Manage Personal Finances and Its Advantages” or “Having An Open Mind” were introduced into our curriculum at an early stage?

While they might be slightly touched upon these days, are they getting the importance they truly deserve? If terrorists can ‘brainwash’ youths into their way of destructive thinking that drives them to live extreme lives, face extreme hardships, and even give up their lives, can we do the same for a better cause? If the whole world is educated along these lines and actually prospers, how long will it take for the terrorists to find out that this is a better , more human-friendly way of life? We know it is possible to create such mass awareness – for example awareness about aids, vaccinations against polio, awareness about family planning have been a huge hit for a population the size of our country.

At what age or level of exposure do we decide that “This is the subject or specialization, that I choose — and for the next 50 years I am going to do this and nothing else”? As a teenager! By then do we know enough about ourselves to make that decision? Studies reveal a majority of adults hate their jobs and were it not for the money, they’d prefer not to go to their jobs. So the majority of us are spending time doing something we do not want to do, but are forced to through lack of choice.

A choice we made as teenagers has closed their doors to everything else and the education system has taught us that we cannot switch over any more.

What if our education system were more flexible and able to empower people to explore the changing aspects of themselves? What if education gave them the courage to align themselves to something they truly enjoy — what would happen to our society? Can you imagine the revolution and positive consequences for humanity?

Maybe it really is time to upgrade our education system.

There are of course advantages and disadvantages to such a situation. The advantages — we can focus on our one child and spend well for better education, other activities and give him/her a luxurious life. We can also shower all our love and affection, warmth and attention without having to share among siblings. On the other hand, a single child is a lonely child, and may grow up to be selfish without learning to share and interact with others in a meaningful way.

It is true, however, that the parenting of a single child is different from that of multiple children. An only child tends to develop a close relationship with parents, but builds self-esteem very early in life, attains high grasping power, is more expressive and more motivated at school because he/she receives more attention and encouragement from parents. But then we see our child experiencing a deep loneliness and may be unable to share thoughts and feelings.

The single child also doesn’t go through sibling rivalry and may not learn the skills of tackling problems in life or that of handling inattention. And there is an absence of sibling support later in life. There are however, some ways in which we, as parents of a single child, can support and encourage our child to overcome these difficulties and turn negatives into positives.

Encourage Friendships - It is possible that your single child may keep away from interacting with others and choose to “cling” to you. Encourage your child to interact and develop friendship with others. This will help your child develop stronger social skills. In fact, when your child is interacting/playing with others, carefully observe the interaction and if he/she doesn’t share toys, help him/her realize that being selfish can only result in loneliness and no friendships. Planning get-togethers among friends and extended family with children often does help.

Set Boundaries – You can guide and teach your child to know when it is appropriate to demand attention and when to be self-sufficient. It would be to the advantage of both you and your child, if he/she is not allowed to dictate the terms of the parent/child interaction. Your child should be helped to realize that parents too have their own responsibilities and duties and need time for themselves. Do show appreciation when your child shows signs of understanding that there should be balance in the parent/child equation.

Develop Self-determination – Unknowingly, your child can become totally dependent on you for moral support in any or all activities. Encourage your child to be self reliant, to engage him/herself and to have fun. Do not feel obligated to be your child’s entertainer throughout life.

Parenting a single child brings its unique set of challenges but the joy of watching your child up with adequate love, attention and resources at his/her disposal makes up for compromises and feelings of guilt that many parents experience in this situation.

The finest geeks give you the straight goods on succeeding in a digital world. I bring you their insights and orders:

1. Do what everyone is else doing. Yeah, it’s cool to be an early adopter. But when it comes to the best technology, just copy the cool kids. This site is built in WordPress because it’s the most popular – and therefore most user-friendly, blogging platform. Tried and tested. I send my emails out in Feedburner because my favourite, most popular bloggers use it. I use the tagging system at the end of this blog post because that’s what Seth Godin uses, and he’s like, totally cool.

2. For God’s sake, KEEP IT SIMPLE. < insert pleading sounds > Don’t have two pages when you could put it into one. Flash is evil, splash pages are annoying, no one likes to click more than four times to register for anything.

3. Automate late. Don’t add bells and whistles and functionality until you have to, until your people are begging for it, until your system will bust if you don’t throw some development dollars at it.

4. If you really need it, you can likely get it for free. In all the sites I’ve stood up, I’ve rarely had to pay to have a special piece of code written. Simple usually isn’t “special.” (What is special on the other hand are IT folks who embrace simplicity).

5. You get what you pay for. Experienced geeks get paid what they’re worth.

6. Deadlines make all the difference. If you don’t have an audience clamoring for your brilliant new site or software, then you may feel like you have all the time to finesse and edit and tweak your virtual masterpiece. But you won’t really know how great your work is until you launch it. So…

7. Just launch!

Over the years you have managed to move up the food chain. You started changing your focus from being the most competent, professionally speaking, to other stuff that helped you climb the rungs of the organizational structure. The per capita frequent flyer miles of the continent have gone up because of you. You are mastering the golf stroke. You are no longer the innocent wide-eyed teddy bear. You are the political animal a lion tamer would dread. The corner office is in sight. You point to your beer belly that is now competing with Homer Simpson’s and laugh it off as a sign of prosperity (it still makes you a slob). Building those muscles. Learning is not on your agenda. When your coach tells you that your IQ and EQ points have not improved for eons, you are annoyed. That is so not true, you say. “I am the one who speaks at every seminar on the critical importance of building a learning organization (cool phrase, what!) and my favorite story to motivate the troops is on taking risks. You know, the lightbulb fellow, Edison did not get the filament right the first time either.” You will point out, as evidence, to those motivational quotes that are framed and put on your wall about why we should all aspire to be lifelong learners.

You show everyone the dozens of group photos of you and bunch of fat-cats from your weeklong training sessions on Leadership Development at the ski-resort and the 5 day seminar on “Life’s Lessons that Golf Taught Me”. Or that Team Building do at the place tucked away in the mountains which is famous for the sea-food grill … By the way, have you noticed in all the fat-cat photos, that it is the same bunch of guys who seem to be landing up for these paid holidays and generally speaking the same fat cats speak at EVERY seminar with the Powerpoint slides they made ten years back? Ever wondered why their ‘menu and venue driven’ training should be funded by the employer? Why??

Not saying for a minute that ALL training is only menu and venue driven. Not at all. That would be painting everyone with a broad brush. How do we differentiate the good guys from those with the horns and tail? If only individuals had to fund their own learning and development agenda with their own vacation days and their money instead of being paid for by the employer, there would be a sea change in the way people would view their own learning options. Instead of taking the ‘menu and venue’ based courses, you would choose what you truly need to be ahead of the pack. You, like all employees, would take those certifications to refresh your knowledge and those that you need to build your soft skills, to learn how to run a virtual team, to know what is the next big thing lurking around the corner waiting to snap at your ankles and render you obsolete. That is the only way to separate the wheat from the chaff or the lean from the mean. Have everyone fund their own effort at keeping their skills upgraded.

So what is the role of the employer in getting the new upgraded version 2.0 of me? Here is the deal. If the new improved me, results in my manager noticing the large shovels of contribution I have been heaping on to the company’s bottomline since, they will need to pick up the cost of that skill upgradation plus add some more to fund all the coffee I had while I was slaving away, credit back the vacation days (and maybe throw in a few extra), it would be a win-win. The employer would be only paying for what is visibly and in a measurable (not miserable) way adding to the bottomline. The employee would really think very hard about the courses that will add value professionally and then be at pains to show how it is showing up in the new improved behavior at work. No more menu and venue based training. Let that place famous for the sea-food grill appeal to the tourist and not masquerade as a training destination.

We were all day dreamers once. Who can forget sitting in class in the middle of a hot summer afternoon, daydreaming about the previous year’s cool mountain vacation, or which games we would play when we got back home. We daydreamed about what we wanted for our birthdays; how cool we would look in the new pair of jeans, and sometimes even how somebody who looked and behaved exactly like Raj of DDLJ would come over and sweep us off our feet.

Well, those were just daydreams you would say, especially because it wasn’t something to be proud of. Weren’t we told that daydreaming meant that you were absolutely lazy, inattentive and bored and had nothing better to do with your life? Well, well, all of us daydreamers are going to be absolved of the ‘lazy tag’ thanks to a recent study by a group of University of British Columbia researchers. The study led by Prof. Kalina Christoff, UBC Dept. of Psychology, suggests that daydreaming is in fact, an extremely active, cognitively complex mental state of our brain.

Until now, the brain’s “default network” which is linked to easy, routine mental activity and includes the medial prefrontal cortex (PFC), the posterior cingulate cortex and the temporoparietal junction, was the only part of the brain thought to be active when our minds wander. However, the study finds that the brain’s “executive network” associated with high-level, complex problem-solving and including the lateral PFC and the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, also becomes activated when we daydream. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, finds that activity in numerous brain regions increases when our minds wander. It also finds that brain areas associated with complex problem – solving, previously thought to go dormant when we daydream, are in fact highly active during these episodes.

The findings suggest that daydreaming is an important cognitive state where we may unconsciously turn our attention from the tasks at hand to sort through more important problems in our lives. “When you daydream, you may not be achieving your immediate goal – say managing the account book or paying attention in class – but your mind may be taking that time to address more important questions in your life, such as advancing your career or personal relationships,” says Christoff.

In simple terms, daydreaming is a fundamental feature of our minds, quite like the brain’s default mode of thought. Many scientists are validating the fact that daydreaming is a vital tool for creativity, a thought process that allows the brain to make new associations and connections thereby enhancing creativity.
The ability to think abstractly that flourishes during daydreams also has important social benefits. Mostly, what we daydream about is our essential social and personal interactions, our career goals, etc. While we are playing out these scenarios, the mind retrieves memories, contemplates “what if” scenarios, and thinks about how it should behave in the future.

Think about it, while we go through our days on auto-pilot, we are mostly responding to events, many a times not giving any thought to our reactions. Daydreaming in this situation can become an effective feedback and therapeutic tool. Many of us have had episodes when we have said or done something we are not particularly proud of and then while replaying the scene in our minds have conjured a different, more pleasant outcome. The immediate benefit is an immediate sense of relief, well being and emotional freedom. What’s fascinating is that often, the situation does turn out the way we envisioned it to be. In this sense, the content of daydreams often resembles a soap opera, with people reflecting on social interactions both real and make-believe. We can leave behind the world as it is and start imagining the world as it might be, if only we hadn’t lost our temper, or had listened to our intuition. Or, just as well, we could be sipping an iced latte in a café in New York (I’ve even taken long walks in Central Park).

It is this ability to tune out the present moment and reflect on the make-believe that gives the human mind its uniqueness. In case your wondering how daydreaming changes reality, look at it from the law of attraction or energy matrix point of view. The universe does not distinguish between what is real or what is make believe, it only responds to our thoughts and its underlying emotions.

A daydream is an emotionally charged fantasy experienced while awake, especially one of happy, pleasant thoughts, hopes or ambitions. For those of us who have difficulty attaching emotions to our thoughts while we visualize future outcomes, a guided form of daydreaming can and will do wonders. It helps us align ourselves to the energy flow by offering vibrations of high intensity which will only then attract experiences which are vibrating at similarly high frequencies. Are we not more creative when we are relaxed? Don’t we get ideas when we just go with the flow; well a guided daydream is just the process to get into that flow.

Research suggests that people typically spend a third of their waking time daydreaming and if we are able to guide our thoughts and emotions toward more positive outcomes, we are in a position to turn those dreams into our waking reality.

For those of you who have forgotten the art of daydreaming, just close your eyes, take a deep breath and think of a situation you would like to be fulfilled today. Then daydream about how you would like it to feel, get in touch with the emotions you would have, hold conversations, and see yourself living the outcome NOW. For example, you are neck deep in work with the deadline around the corner. Now imagine yourself asking your co-worker for assistance, him saying yes, and the work getting done on time. The first benefit of this short exercise is that you feel relaxed and calm almost immediately.

Beginning the day with even five minutes of a guided daydream will help you to ‘turn on’ your feel good vibes and you can start your schedule of activities on the right note. A quick five minute session in the evening will help in the course correction of the events that didn’t make you happy. A guided daydream is your best visualization tool for the future and a good therapeutic tool for past events, so go ahead, dream on. The more you can daydream, the more creative you will feel. Daydream your way into reality and live the life of your dreams !!

“At least to my knowledge.”
“In my humble opinion.”
“If I am not wrong.”
“Hope you don’t mind.”
Every day, we are faced with a typical situation where in we hide behind these phrases. Why is that so? Are we trying to be polite? No! We do so, simply because, we fear the sting of “embarrassment”, if proven otherwise!

What do people fear about being publicly embarrassed? I suspect it might be because, it could prove fatal! Yes, people do commit suicide because they were embarrassed!

Last week, it was just another meeting at our local Toastmasters club*.

Again a session of table topics, and the usual suspects walked up to the lectern, got their topic, and fumbled with words (mind you “words” not even “sentences”) for about 10 seconds and walked back for a round of applause! It is customary in Toastmasters to applaud all speakers regardless of the quality of their performance, just to encourage people! As someone who believed, “One is either a winner or a mere spectator”, I never commended a poor performance. There was never a sense of purpose in my applause at the club meetings so, it was just the ritualistic thud thud thud….

I used to wonder, how embarrassing it must be for those losers who were not able to string together a few theme-related words or coherent sentences for a mere 10 seconds. This was happening for quite some time. That evening, after the meeting, during a casual talk, I stumbled on a startling revelation that one of the speakers was the wife of the President of our club. The very moment I came to know of this fact, my world view about “embarrassment” had changed for ever.

This man, the President of our club, a man of great stature, admired for his public speaking skills, did not have any qualms or embarrassment in bringing his wife, who possessed less than adequate public speaking skills, to the Toastmasters club. It then occurred to me that he would have been a real loser if he had felt embarrassed and had left his wife at home. By not feeling embarrassed and bringing his wife to the very same club, he showed extraordinary levels of maturity, sincerity and importantly, lead by example as to how one could be successful if he/she were to shed the cloak of embarrassment. I am sure his wife and our fellow Toastmaster will one day become a competent speaker!

When I extrapolated the same to other speakers who fumble at the lectern week after week, I can only admire them. The new perspective which I acquired, helped me identify the enduring spirit in people, who, do not feel “embarrassed” but continue to have a go at it, week after week just to ensure they improve their public speaking skills.

I have come to realize that one has a lot to lose by feeling embarrassed.

I have been dying to have a line or quote from myself which people could use. Therefore when I framed the quote “Embarrassment is the proudest virtue of a loser”, I was delighted! But as always, there was a thought lingering at the back of my mind that I might make a big fool out of myself by claiming the competence and wisdom to frame a quote. So, I wanted to dilute my stance by adding one of the escape lines mentioned above like, “In my opinion, embarrassment is the etc….”

But then, I realized that I was going back to the same old bad habit of wearing the cloak of embarrassment! I have shed that cloak now. Instead, if someone can prove that the quote was already attributed to a great thinker, I will apologize and get on to the job of shaping another quote. Otherwise, I will never frame a quote in my life!

Also, if people who committed suicide because of embarrassment, had just stepped back and thought for a second, they would have realized that it is always a better choice to live and be embarrassed for a moment rather than die and be remembered as a coward!

Next week when I go to my local Toastmasters club, my applause will have a sense of purpose and will probably louder than anybody else’s!

* Toastmasters International is a movement started in 1924 at Santa Anna USA by a visionary called Ralph C. Smedley with an objective to improve public speaking skills and build leadership qualities in an individual. A typical meeting consists of 3 parts (prepared speech session, evaluation of the prepared speeches and then a table topic session). The table topic session gives every member a chance to speak extempore for 2 minutes on a given topic. Today there are about 200,000 members and the movement is spread across 82 countries.

For more details visit: www.toastmasters.org

In my case I received a series of what might be called mild ‘attacks’ on my point of view (God is just a belief system), only one of which is posted on the site. The remainder were sent directly to me. Rather than be incensed as to why someone would dare to disagree with my point of view I began thinking and formulating a list of my own questions:

Did those commenting have the same viewpoint as myself regarding the questions? After all when we look at house property details we can all see different things when we look at a house from different directions.

Were comments coloured by beliefs themselves? Do readers and listeners filter what they want to see and hear according to their belief systems? Did readers see the set of questions simply as an argument for or against God?

Were those commenting actually aware of the context in which those in charge of the website formulated the questions or the context in which people answered them? Were the questions a starting point for debate or simply an excuse for a soapbox? Nobody knows.

As consultants, teachers, trainers or coaches we tend to base our approaches on sets of questions which provide a basis on which to work. How many people jump to conclusions based on these questions and how many use them to create a picture and then dig some more? A good listener does not let their own beliefs get in the way, nor do they jump to conclusions or pass judgement. We have all seen the consultant who is really just a man on a soapbox.

The point here is to look beyond the interview, read between the lines both when you are asking questions and when someone else is asking.

• Why are these questions being asked?
• What information/emotions are they designed to tease out?
• Am I biased in any way?
• Will I like the answers?
• What can I learn from this experience (will this change my point of view)?

There are others, but you get the idea. Don’t take everything at face value, be prepared to interpret and look beyond the obvious. Communication is based on message and meaning. Modern communication methods ensure that we usually get the message but they tend to help us to ignore meaning.

… and for the record, I answered the questions as if I were taking a psychometric test (read and answer in a short space of time) rather than using them as a springboard for an anti/pro God argument. This does mean that there could be one or two inconsistencies but knowing this, readers should be able to find out a bit about me and engage in a (friendly) debate down the pub.

Ask yourself these two questions every day.

1. Do I Ask?

2. Did I Ask?

Ask for what?

It could be anything, that you may be contemplating/struggling/yearning to find/learn about: Help
Answers, Advice, Counselling, Mentoring, Coaching or Teaching

Ask How? Ask What? Ask Whom?
Life is all about learning, unlearning and relearning. Learning happens through and within our minds.
The mind is always at work. It’s seldom “As still as a mill pond.” It throws up several ideas, thoughts,options and opinions all the time.

Knowingly and unknowingly we constantly mull over them, within our very own personal mind spaces and more often than not, we shelve them, as we do not have the right answers at that point of time.

We do communicate silently, within our minds in search of the best answers to the best of our capability.
If we succeed, we act and enact that thought into action. If we do not succeed we move on and drop that thought. As a result we fail to act on that impulse. In the bargain, we lose several ideas that may otherwise have turned into lucrative results as possible opportunities.

Why?
Because we failed to Ask, Ask, Ask.

The question is why don’t we ask others? Why do we hesitate to ask? Why don’t we ideate?
Like we used to do as children.

We don’t ask because we have an ego within us now, that stops us from doing so. We shy away from asking, despite the fact that God has gifted us with a very powerful tool – the ability to communicate with one another through one means or another.

We seldom if not ever, use that power effectively to find answers and solutions by communicating with others.

Why?

Well, we are Grown Ups now and we believe that we have all the answers. We hesitate, procrastinate or develop inhibitions. A few decades ago as children we would always Ask, Ask, Ask….even the smallest of the doubts. We would relentlessly seek an answer until we got it. We grew up that way until we were classified as Grown Ups.

Just sit back and peek into your childhood days. Remember how curious, vocal, and persevering you were back then? You would inquire like a live wire. And you would get the solutions too.

As you would relentlessly Ask, Ask, Ask as a child, you would at times, irritate the person being asked.
You did that until you grew up! And now, you don’t ask at all! As a result, you have either stunted your growth or have decided to not to grow. How ironic as such a silence is never golden!

No wonder then, those who don’t ask, stop growing. Growing in the real sense, as a complete human.
What a tragedy.

We all know that life’s learning curve moves linearly upwards, till our last breath. We also know that there are several humans on this earth who know more than we do.

Then why stunt our growth? Instead, why not continue to grow, by shedding our inhibitions and getting back to the basics of inquisitiveness. Why not Ask, Ask, Ask! No sane person on this earth will ever deny you an answer if he has it in him. Why not humbly reach out to him/her politely, with an open mind and noble intentions for a non commercial purpose.

Don”t believe me? Ask somebody now and see for yourself. Once you are convinced that it works, don’t stop.
Ask, Ask, Ask…until your last breath. Ask in person, through a mediator, or use the tremendous power of the internet. If you fail, don’t be dismayed! Ask, Ask, Ask.

Ask the Almighty. Yes ask God if humans have failed to give you the answer you sought.
Ask through prayer. Seek a solution that way and you will get it. Ask to Bask ….in a new found glory.

Just in case there are others like me out there who have not heard of this, the Wallenda factor refers to the fear of falling or failing. Shortly after Karl Wallenda fell to his death in 1978 (traversing a 75-foot high wire in downtown San Juan, Puerto Rico), his wife, also an aerialist, discussed that fateful San Juan walk, “perhaps his most dangerous.” She recalled: “All Karl thought about for three straight months prior to it was falling. It was the first time he’d ever thought about that, and it seemed to me that he put all his energies into not falling rather than walking the tightrope.”

Mrs. Wallenda added that her husband even went so far as to personally supervise the installation of the tightrope, making certain that the guide wires were secure, something he had never thought of doing before. When Karl Wallenda poured his energies into not falling rather than walking the tightrope, he was virtually destined to fall.

I realized that most people and even organizations tend to develop this orientation over a period of time, especially when they become more successful. When one starts off life with little to lose, the focus is on trying new things, experimenting, taking risks. The focus is on learning, experiencing and growth. Usually this makes life richer, more interesting and lot of fun. One gets caught in a positive cycle which often is self sustaining.

For the average person, then comes marriage, children, monetary responsibilities, home loan EMI’s and a focus on savings. And along with it comes a shift in focus and orientation. Slowly the focus is on managing the unknown future, usually through a monetary cushion. This is the crux of the issue. We fear the unknown! I guess that’s the single largest reason why death inspires so much of discomfort and fear. One does not know for sure what lies on the other side.

So, with the change in focus the Wallenda Factor kicks in fully. One gets increasingly bogged down in avoiding failure.

The same can be said for many organizations. When they are in the start up stage, the focus is on success and usually they succeed. And then the focus shifts on sustaining the success or rather avoiding failure. This leads to less of innovation and experimentation and more of reviews and analysis. I remember a comment which aptly describes the latter behavior; “Driving while looking only in the rearview mirror”. Is it any wonder that accidents happen?

Over a period of time, one finds that the conversation centres increasingly around the good old days.
This has been discussed and debated in the leadership context in various publications and not succumbing to the Wallenda Factor is considered to be an important leadership trait.

I am more focused on how the average person can recognize and avoid this orientation to live a fuller and more meaningful life. If you are a victim of the Wallenda Factor, the following guidelines might be helpful:

Acceptance: Accept that the unknown will always be unknown.

Continued focus on learning: There is no greater fun than learning new things. A case in point is this article, which came about because I did not know something. Learning something keeps the mind agile and also diverted. It could be something to do with your line of work, art, craft or even just plain old whistling!

Constantly share and thereby enrich others: Sharing could be anything. Your knowledge, experiences, memories or money! The internet today has made sharing so much so easier. Don’t let the imagination die down.

In short, keep the child inside alive, well and kicking. Be curious, experiment and enjoy the journey.

My friend has had no formal education or basic training in art. She just happened to see some unused acrylic tubes on her neighbor’s trash and decided to try them on a canvas and boom – she created one amazing artwork. Her newly discovered talent came as a surprise not only to me, but especially to her. Who would have known for certain that Rebeka has this hidden talent waiting to be discovered after 57 long years.

Rebeka’s story reminds me of an article I read in a newspaper last month. There is a seven year old boy from the province of Pangasinan (northern Philippines) who regularly drives a backhoe! Yes a backhoe which is a piece of heavy equipment used in construction. Amazing isn’t it? But this was quite an early self discovery.

For me, I can say that I’m lucky. Because of this great willpower in me, I never had problems perfecting a new experience to my advantage. When I tried scribbling a short story ( I was nine at the time), I surprised my parents and teachers. When I did my first sketches (at the age of 11), it was really a discovery for me. When I tried song writing (at 15), it worked. When I tried paper clay art (at 26), it was marvelous. And when I tried swimming (at the age of 28, huh), I didn’t drown.

One can never be too old or too young for self-discovery or rediscovery.

Life is constant learning and human talents are limitless. One just needs some concentration, inspiration, encouragement and cheers to be able to realize that hidden talent waiting to be expressed.

So whether you’re five years old or in your twilight years, the opportunity and power to explore the undiscovered you is in your hands. Learn new things like playing a new sport; singing new kinds of songs; doing exotic dances; experimenting with cooking; trying some artwork (like Rebeka did); starting your own vegetable garden; embarking on some eco-friendly practices (for Mother Earth) or simply indulging in a totally new experience. But do it now, so you’ll have some time for improvement in order to become a master or expert (wow!).

Explore. Experience. Learning is always fun. And constant self-discovery is not only exciting and stimulating, it is really a never-ending experience.

Over time it has been realized that the wise one is not necessarily the most skilled teacher. Learning proficiently and transferring the learning just as well is not really as simple as it seems. It takes far more skill to teach than to learn.

The teacher has not only to have a full and wholesome appreciation of the subject but also know how best to transfer this in its entirety in a useful manner to the learner considering the learning styles and needs of each individual learner.

Whilst studies have been popularized concerning learning styles, and suitable adaptation of knowledge transference has been undertaken to match the varied learning styles of participants, the newer platform of transference has to do with the multiple intelligences that seem to be far more effective in reaching across to the learner.

The theory of multiple intelligences was developed in 1983 by Dr. Howard Gardner, professor of education at Harvard University. It suggests that the traditional notion of intelligence, based on IQ testing, is far too limited. Instead, Dr. Gardner proposes several different intelligences to account for a broader range of human potential in children and adults. These intelligences are:

•    Linguistic intelligence (word smart)
•    Logical-mathematical intelligence (number/reasoning smart)
•    Spatial intelligence (picture smart)
•    Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence (body smart)
•    Musical intelligence (music smart)
•    Interpersonal intelligence (people smart)
•    Intrapersonal intelligence (self smart)
•    Naturalist intelligence (nature smart)

How does this affect us learning facilitators and trainers and our participants?

The theory of multiple intelligences has strong implications for adult learning and development. Many adults and young professionals seeking to make their mark in life often find themselves in jobs that do not make optimal use of their most highly developed intelligences. For example, the highly bodily-kinesthetic individual may be stuck in a linguistic or logical desk-job like customer care when he or she would be much happier in a job where they could move around, such as in front-line sales.

The theory of multiple intelligences gives adults a whole new way to look at their lives, examining potentials that they left behind in their childhood (such as a love for art or drama) but now have the opportunity to develop through courses, hobbies, or other programs of self-development.

This is another way of chasing away the boredom with the routine or the mundane work one becomes habituated to accept and live with, lowering the levels of enthusiasm, responsiveness and creativity – some of the essential ingredients for success in these competitive times.

What we must recognize is that these multiple intelligences offer choices to (a) trainers/teachers/learning & development facilitators to use varied methods and practices of transferring and processing learning deliverables and to (b) participants to acquire and learn varied methods of addressing work itself, using creative methods to address work issues through the favoured and more developed intelligences

Let’s look at the eight intelligences and how training or learning methods can be matched against them.

Linguistic intelligence (word smart): Reference reading material, reference books, well scripted program handbooks.

Logical-mathematical intelligence (number/reasoning smart) Case studies, problem solving models & techniques, inventory/ questionnaire/ response form/ instrument evaluation & analysis.

Spatial intelligence (picture smart): Use of graphs, charts, pictures and diagrams.

Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence (body smart): Role plays, projects, structured training games/activities.

Musical intelligence (music smart): Music with learning deliverable lyrics. Participants create musical learning summaries using popular tunes, leveraging nursery rhymes to advanced learning songs & anthems.

Interpersonal intelligence (people smart): Team exercises that need the identification and use of the varied resources of team members.

Intrapersonal intelligence (self smart): Presentations by participants on processed learning, role-reversals. Participants study and deliver (teach) selected modules in the program itself, participants are asked to create learning models/modules

Naturalist intelligence (nature smart): Learning from real world experiences, interpretations and guiding principles that emerge from such experiences.

Dr. Howard Gardner says that other than areas of developed expertise, most of us react or process and infer learning outcomes in all other areas in the manner we used to do as 5-year-old kids – the earliest levels of cognitive intelligence.

Implications of this are as follows for trainers/facilitators/teachers and our corporate participants:

1. As trainers/teachers/facilitators we need to be experts at what we teach else we are simply transferring our own 5-year-old childish reasoning and logic to the participants, who receive it believing it is the word of the expert. The snowballing consequences are nightmarish!

2. To be experts, demands more than average attention and learning in the area of study.

3. Extensive reading (to replace extensive research and study) is the minimal effort one has to undertake to raise the levels of personal awareness, knowledge/content and competence/understanding.

4. Participants are unlikely to react in the ‘expected’ manner in either receiving, processing or understanding the learning deliverables, as they are most likely to be at a level of ‘non-expert’ in these areas and therefore would have learning conclusions matching their own 5-year-old level of logic and belief.

Concluding remarks

This exercise leads us to some interesting conclusions in the training-learning process:

a. Content transference is easily possible at an adult learning level. Summarising received content at the end of the program is not an indication of learning or understanding as pointed out by Dr. Gardner.
b. Understanding can only be ascertained when participants apply the learning in simulated real world experiences that are necessarily different from the experience created when delivering the concept. For example, participants can offer each other their own past experiences and ask others how they would use the learning to have handled the situation, or offer their own new approaches to the old
c. Training videos, role plays, case study experiments, training exercises, need to be processed with ‘understanding’ in mind – not a simple analysis of what happened in the experiment or video or exercise, which is what participants tend to explain, but how this learning can be applied at work/back in real life.
d. Similarly hoping that the video/exercise or experiment is ‘self-explanatory’ is not constructive as the learning derived by participants is likely to be unprocessed content management and learning summaries are derived from the 5-year-old child-like ‘theories of life’. The ‘expert’ must anchor the learning rather than leave loose ends to be automatically tied.
e. Understanding can be investigated only by moving from basic questions like what, why, how to the more advance ‘aesthetic’ level questioning skills/questions that ask participants to offer personally processed input that has direct bearing on their work practices or behavior.
f. This points to program design and delivery process. Program designs which are packed almost like a school time table leave very little processing and understanding time. The program flow is often ‘impaired’ by handling lack of understanding or processing by participants and therefore participants learn to respond by cleverly managing the showcasing of content to represent learning and understanding, in order to release the program flow and time which tends to be the casualty, in a concept-crowded program.
g. The facilitator has to be equipped to deal with the following learning hurdles which participants will unconsciously throw up.

• Misconceptions: Based on their past experiences, pet theories and assumptions
• Rigid algorithms/formulas: Formed from their earlier explanations of how the world works; input to output formulas that worked or seemed to work; expert opinions of others they consider experts, information in magazines/MIS data (tabulated and charted data tends to overwhelm the thinking and understanding process).
• Stereotyping and world views held by participants to diagnose and judge the rest of the world , in order to make decisions, are usually based on earlier formed assumptions and perceptions which without confrontation or validity checks, often script the guide book of their current life.

Dexter J Valles, business and life trainer renowned for his programs under the “At the Steering Wheel of Life” and “Winning Edge” banners, is CEO of VALMAR INTERNATIONAL, a Mumbai-based management consultancy. Contact him at www.valmarinternational.com or http://valmar.page.tl