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"Confucius Updated"
By Joyce Wycoff
"I
hear, and I forget.
I see, and I remember.
I do, and I understand."
-- Confucius
Those immortal words,
allegedly by Confucius, still ring true some 2500 years later, and it seems
like sheer hubris to attempt to improve on them. Yet, several years ago
as we were planning our annual conference, we started thinking about them
as a model for making sure we were designing the best possible learning
experience.
As we thought about what it takes to create a great learning event, we began
to tweak the wise philosopher's words. We realized that the first requirement
was for people to be attracted enough to show up. This prompted us to talk
to a lot of people to better understand their needs and find ways to tailor
the conference to their interests.
I see possibilities and I show up.
Then we started thinking about learning in terms of energy expenditure.
When people go to a conference, there's a lot of activities competing for
the attendees' energy and attention, especially if the conference is held
in an area that offers a lot of leisure activities. When we thought about
what energizes people and keeps them engaged, we thought of that very big
little word: fun. For us, fun means a friendly atmosphere, playfulness,
color, unusual experiences such as having the entire group learn to play
the samba together, casual eating environments that stimulated mingling
and conversation, and wacky dress codes for each day (optional of course.)
I have fun and I am energized.
We knew it was important for people to open up to new ideas and theories
and that knowing their questions would help them make space for new learnings.
So, we designed the Convergence Wizard ™, a binder of stimulating questions
and activities which helps attendees formulate their questions and determine
their learning intentions.
I question and I open the space for learning.
Once attendees were energized and open for learning, we knew that dynamic,
interesting content would fall on fertile ground. But, to help it take root,
it needed to be presented in a way that activates the three major learning
modes: visual-auditory-kinesthetic. We created a 20-page guide for presenters
to help them create more powerful presentations and know how to better appeal
to adult learners.
I multi-sense and I remember.
But, even for motivated, energized learners, it would take more than just
hearing, seeing and touching new ideas and concepts. Attendees needed a
chance to do something with the information, experience it in a way that
would connect it to their specific situations and perspectives. So, we pushed
presenters to include experiential activities in every workshop and presentation.
However, we still wanted more. While we wanted people to leave the conference
with new understanding, we also wanted them to be able to share their new
learnings with others. To do that, understanding would have to deepen into
wisdom through integration and reflection. This meant creating time and
processes for personal reflection and deep dialogue with other participants.
Reflection activities were added to the Convergence Wizard and discussion
time was built into the schedule.
I reflect and integrate and I can share with others.
And, even more than merely creating wisdom, we wanted people to leave with
a plan for taking action based on their new wisdom. We tried building action
planning into the conference schedule but found that it was too individual
a process so we settled for including planning activities into the Wizard.
I apply to real life and I get results.
Each piece of this model helps us in the design of all of our events. That's
not to say that all of our events are perfect learning experiences but I
think they are far better than they might be if we didn't have this model
to follow. So, here's our attempt at updating Confucius' wise guidance:
I see possibilities and I show up.
I have fun and I am energized.
I question and I open the space for learning.
I multi-sense and I remember.
I reflect and integrate and I can share with others.
I apply to real life and I get results.
Joyce Wycoff is the Co-Founder the InnovationNetwork, and can be reached
at staff@thinksmart.com.
© InnovationNetwork, 2001 |
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