Monday, March 30, 2015

Reprise - How Do We Learn?

By Pascal Dennis

Used to be, we believed talent was God-given. Mozart, Einstein, Wayne Gretzky and other brilliant talents were born, not made.

Turns out we were wrong. The latest psycho-neural research suggests a different recipe. Talent is acquired by practicing in a certain way.

1. Deep practice -- slow, repetitive "stop & fix"

Turns out Aristotle was right 2300 years ago! We learn virtue by repetition.
Moreover, we learn best by stopping to fix problems that arise. (Sound familiar?)

2. Ignition -- signals in our environment telling us, "You can do this. Nothing is impossible!"

Ignition is about connecting with purpose -- then becoming super-charged by a supportive environment

3. Sensei/mentorship

A good sensei is one who has mastered the "coaching kata" through diligent practice and reflection over many years.

Here are a few of the implications:
  • We can turbo-charge learning -- there's a recipe to talent
  • Hiding problems makes learning impossible
  • Culture is indeed, as Lou Gerstner intuited, everything...
  • Organizations without senseis will get out-learned -- and ultimately, out-earned.
I'll let you noodle on others...

Best,

Pascal


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