Are you a Super Learner? Do a self assessment.

Are you a super learner?

My recent exploration at the intersection of learning and leadership exposed me to the concept of a super learner. It's a role to which I aspire. I certainly have my share of weaknesses and my opportunity for learning is endless but I wanted a simple list of characteristics that could help me assess my progress.

Here are the characteristics that I would use to describe a super learner:

• You live in wonder and have a insatiable curiosity and will to learn.
• You are humble and clearly recognize your knowledge gaps and weaknesses.
• You are a skilled critical thinker and good at synthetic thinking. You look to connect the dots at the intersection of ideas.
• You are patient. Super learners understand that there are no shortcuts or quick fixes.
• You accept mistakes as simply a part of learning.
• You are self-reliant, self driven and self-motivated. You believe that learning is worth doing for its own sake.
• You are media savvy. Super learners live in a state of constant exposure to social media and the associated knowledge. You are well aware of the power of social technology to connect people to people.
• You are social and group-oriented. You are able to build networks for collaborating. You are quick to share knowledge.

How did you do?

My eight characteristics were summarized from these resources:
Mission to Learn blog: 5 Traits of the Super Learner
Harvard Magazine Article (pdf): Secrets of the Super Learners
Accenture Video: Super Learners

Thanks for reading. Please lead quietly.
Don

Learning: Make it Informal

I have a question for leaders who recognize that learning is a critical element of a team's success. "What can leaders do to cultivate learning across their teams?"

It is a broad question with a complex answer. As I wrote in a previous post, the space is vast and multi-dimensional. This is illustrated in my exploratory mindmap.


I can't pretend that I understand the entirety of this space. However, I discovered a single learning concept that resonated with me. Relative to my question, I found Informal Learning a compelling, thought-provoking and amazingly accessible concept. Simply stated, leaders should build and cultivate informal learning on their teams.

What is Informal Learning?
As Jay Cross writes on his Informal Learning blog, "People acquire the skills they use at work informally — talking, observing others, trial-and-error, and simply working with people in the know."

Informal learning can characterized as learning that:

• Takes place outside educational establishments.
• Does not follow a specified curriculum.
• Will likely be sporadic, incidental, and problem-related.
• Experienced directly as a function of everyday life.

Cross goes on to say that "informal learning is the unofficial, unscheduled, impromptu way most people learn to do their jobs." If you'd like to hear Jay describe informal learning, here is a video he supplied in 2007.

Informal learning is the Rodney Dangerfield of learning. It just doesn't get respect. In fact, Allen Tough in his paper, The Iceberg of Informal Adult Learning suggests that about 80% of learning is informal and quite invisible like the iceberg. However, the other 20%, this is learning that is formal, and institutionally organized, get the lion's share of the attention and the largest share of most organization's training budget.

Some even go so far as to suggest that organizations are spending 80% of their training budget to accomplish a mere 20% of their learning. There is clearly some debate about the validity of this comparison. Despite this, in my experience, organizations don't give much attention to the power and potential of informal learning.

The question for leaders is, "How can you support the growth of informal learning in your team?

In a Lead Quietly manner, I decided to look for common threads and identify a handful of principles where leaders could focus their attention in their effort to build informal learning.

Here are the Lead Quietly Principles of Building Informal Learning:

It's Personal
We've always known that different people have different learning styles. My approach to learning; as much as I attempt to build this skill, is not necessarily the optimal approach for anyone else on my team. First and foremost, a leader trying to expand team learning should recognize that any program or learning initiative should account for differences in learning style.

Secondly, leaders should look to understand how their colleagues learn. Although numerous learning style theories exist, I'd encourage leaders to pick a single framework like Fleming's VARK model which divides leaders into four groups:

1. visual learners
2. auditory learners
3. reading/writing-preference learners
4. kinesthetic learners or tactile learners

Recently, I've started asking applicants during hiring interviews, "How did you learn what you know?" The varied responses led me to believe that you can simply ask and observe in order to build understanding.

With information about personal learning styles, you are in a better position to build informal learning opportunities across your team.

It's Social, It's Networked, It's Collaborative, It's about Community.
A paradox of the study of informal learning is that despite the fact that learning style is personal, informal learning is more likely to flourish in an environment based on strong community. Teams easily form communities of practice where they share a passion for a topic or solution. Teams will build community to help each other, share, and learn from each other.

The Lead Quietly blog has focused extensively on approaches to building community and collaboration across teams. And the not-so-surprising finding about community is that the identical community-building approaches apply to both collaboration and learning. Teams that excel at learning, collaboration, and community are teams with a foundation on personal relationships, gratitude, trust, passion, and sharing. The recommendation for leaders, build a strong community for active learning.

It's about Sharing and Conversation.
Jay Cross says in his video, "The most powerful instructional technology ever invented is human conversation." In his book, Informal Learning: Rediscovering the Natural Pathways That Inspire Innovation and Performance (Essential Knowledge Resource), he defines conversation as the "stem cells for learning." Through conversation, learning is created and shared in a single process.

As a leader, you simply want to encourage sharing and conversation. As Catherine Lombardozzi writes in Breathing Life into an Informal Learning Strategy,

Sharing expertise and collaborating with others needs to be encouraged, recognized, and rewarded. Reaching out to others for support of learning needs to be viewed as a savvy strategy for getting up to speed and getting ahead. There has to be some room for informal conversation and sharing experiences. In an economic environment where time is increasingly scarce, interpersonal interactions my be undervalued and underutilized, and that will have serious consequences on learning in our organizations.

Leaders should not only participate in the conversation but should mentor, model, and coach with those conversations. I now recognize that when I sit with a co-worker and spend time discussing and exploring, I am creating an informal learning opportunity for both of us. I need to do more of this.

Support Informal Learning with Tools and a PLE
Almost any discussion of modern trends in learning, be it defined as informal learning, social learning, network learning, or e-learning will end up talking about the tools. As a leader, we should encourage the use of tools that support the discovery, sharing and conversation about learning.

When I propose this, I am not suggesting that your team needs to purchase a sophisticated learning management system. I'm really saying, use the common and readily available tools that are already at your disposal. Jane Hart on her Centre for Learning and Performance Technologies site surveys both learners and learning professionals to identify "Top Tools". Hart's top ten list for learning tools includes common and popular tools like:

• Google Search
• YouTube
• FireFox
• Twitter
• Wikepedia
• Delicious
• Facebook
• Google Reader
• Gmail

The list is likely familiar. As you use these tools they collectively evolve into a Personal Learning Environment (PLE), a set of tools that you can use to support and manage your learning. Your encouragement and modeling will grow the tool and PLE concept across your team. My PLE is based on tools like FireFox, Google Reader, YouTube, ScribeFire, Twitter, BigTweet, and iGoogle.

Final Thoughts
Informal learning doesn't require big investments, a budget, or even a formal plan. With awareness, modeling, strong community, and support of a team's leader, informal learning can become viral. It's all about learning. A team of learners can tackle any challenge.

Thanks for reading. Learning? Make it informal.
Don

Leadership Mission: Leading to Learning

How does a leader lead a team to learning?

It's a question that I have been pondering and researching for the last week. As leaders, we recognize that learning is critical. I personally love to learn in a variety of areas. There is so much to learn in tools, technology, information, data, personal development, and of course, the basis for this blog, leadership.

However, I frequently see instances where that love of learning isn't shared. Although I can't believe that anyone would hate to learn, you still see people around you who resort to old thinking, old and out-of-date approaches. Or you find people who feel that seem to feel above learning as they know what they need to know. These are people who decline an opportunity to try something new, to experiment, to test.

The question of my current learning mission is, "How can you lead a team to learning?" It's a mission that I set our in my previous post, Big on Learning, Myopic on Learning.

My first discovery in this space is, "This is huge." Theories abound. Tools are plenty. Opinions are prominent.

Along the way, I was inspired by some of the work of Robin Good, in particular a mind map that he shared on MindMeister, Best Online Collaboration Tools 2009. With leading team learning as a big topic, it struck me that a MindMeister map might be the perfect organizer. Here is an embedded snapshot:



In the map, I broke the topic in four primary elements, the concepts, the resources, organizations, and tools. Over the coming weeks, I will share my evolving thoughts about leading team learning.

In the mean time, I invite you to browse the map, click through to my links and resources, and please comment or even add to my map. I value your insight.

Thanks for reading. Please lead quietly and remember, it's all about learning.
Don

Big on Learning, Myopic on Learning

Learning and leadership are irrefutably linked. The link is so important that learning took the first position in the Lead Quietly commandments that I proposed in February.

I have written about learning frequently. My personal carnival of learning at Lead Quietly would include these posts:

• It's All About Learning
• It's All About Learning - Part Deux
• For the love of learning, you gotta love a good list.
  
• Fixed or Growth, What's in your mindset?
• Mindset, it will profoundly affect everything.
• Curiosity as a Measure of Passion
  

These posts all stress the importance of learning to leadership. I truly believe in the notion as stated by John F Kennedy when he said, "Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other."

Nevertheless, I feel that my view of learning and leadership is too myopic. Most of my thinking about learning was centered on my own desire to learn and understand as a leader and team member. However, as a leader, we must also strive to create learning environments for all around us. A situation where everyone views learning as indispensable.

In the workplace of days past, any discussion of learning generally led to a discussion about training, likely formal instructor-led training. However, today the opportunities for learning include new, informal collaborative learning approaches. Personal learning should no longer mean a taking class.

In another revelation, I participated in a number of hiring interviews in the past few weeks where I usually asked a question about learning style. I would simply ask, "How did you learn the skills that you know?" I was never impressed if the response was "a class or school." I was impressed if the candidate talked about a number of channels including web sites, forums, blogs, and networks.

This leads me to the theme that I am proposing for the next few weeks on this blog. I want to explore learning for the today's workplace. I'd like to focus on creating a learning environment for not only me but the people around me. I'd like to get some hint about the future of learning. What are the tools that we should be exploring. How do the social media tools fit into this thinking. Who are the thought leaders in learning?

As a new student of learning, I need help. I need the insight of learning experts. What are the approaches and tools that leaders should employ to create a learning environment for everyone on their team? I'll be reading, learning, and studying.

However, I need help. Please send me you thoughts about team and personal learning in a collaborative environment. Use either Twitter or comments to this post.

Thanks for reading. Please lead quietly and help me better understand learning and increase my view of learning across my team.
Don

Balance in the news

I appreciate balance. It's a concept that comes with many definitions and many dimensions. This is how I actually view the concept when I say that it is important for leaders to "Stay balanced."

I'm not alone in my desire to seek balance. Here is a carnival of balance from this morning's Google news:

• Bank rescue program seeks to find a balance.
• Arts groups working to strike a balance.
• Obama Interview: Wall Street was out of balance.
• An exuberant balance between music and dance.
• Nintendo finally balance the 'demand-supply' equation for Wii!
• Finding a work-life balance is harder than ever.

People and organizations in many areas seek balance. It's complex. It's desirable. It's multi-dimensional.

Finally, the balance in the news that I was most excited about this morning is quoted in the Star Tribune of Minneapolis and St. Paul in an article titled, Lots to like in lineup. On the 2009 Minnesota Twins lineup,

It's a lineup balanced with lefthanded, righthanded and switch hitters, and balanced with speed and power potential.

Balance also gives hope.

Thanks for reading. Please lead quietly. Stay balanced.

Don

Finding the right balance

I believe that balance in opinion, aspirations, views, collaboration, and politics is a positive force in life and leadership. I believe that a key mission of leadership is to help our teams and organizations find that middle ground where differing opinions can coexist and real strength in purpose and mission can thrive. It is my belief that most leadership challenges do not have black and white answers. The best position on most issues is likely to have some shade of gray.

My explorations and reading this past week brought two examples of "Finding the right balance."

New Dialogue on Abortion
We all recognize the ongoing debate on the abortion issue. It is not my intention to debate this issue on this forum. Nevertheless, the black and whiteness of the opposing perspectives could support a polarizing debate forever. I read with interest this morning in the Star Tribune (yes, I'm old fashioned and I read the paper edition of the newspaper every morning) the article titled "One side tries new strategy in debate over abortion." The article sites that there is a growing trend by organizations to move public opinion on a variety of issues toward solutions instead of polarization. The American mood is showing increasing fatigue with extreme politics whether the issue is abortion, gay marriage, stimulus debate on tax cuts versus spending. I am one of them who is saying, find some common ground at a point where the color is some shade of gray and let's move toward solutions.

The Impact of Money
Another example of balance came from an article on the New Scientist site titled "Why money messes with your mind." Our relationship with money is complex and has many dimensions. This becomes particularly clear when you evaluate the relationship between greed (think Bernard Madoff) and social ethics. The balance message in the article is that there is a positive and desired balance between the pursuit of extrinsic aspirations (money and wealth) and intrinsic aspirations (building personal relationships). In summary, a more balanced relationship with money is better. Although, "we are still a long from knowing why some people appear to go crazy over money", there is recognition that balance is better.

Thanks for reading. Please lead quietly and stay balanced.
Don

Keeping the Brain Young

This post is a third post for the week that commemorates Brain Awareness Week. The general message that I am promoting is that your brain is a tool that we must nurture and develop in order to learn and grow.

The Dana Foundation is the founder and primary sponsor of Brain Awareness Week. An exploration of their web site uncovers numerous articles, events, podcasts and more about current brain research. It's an interesting review of the current state of brain research.

On my exploration, I discovered a document titled Q & A - Answering your Questions About Brain Research. I appreciated the simple question and answer format and would recommend the document for anyone who is curious about basic brain functions and the role of the brain in learning, life, and health. A sample of the questions include:

• How does the brain work?
• How do we learn?
• How does the brain influence and regulate the function of the other body systems?
• Can the brain heal itself from trauma or injury?
• Why do some people develop mental illnesses?

Curious about the brain? This is a nice document.

More than any other question that caught my attention was, How can I keep my brain young?

The list is pretty simple, most of which are very accessible to anyone that want to say vital in life. Here's how to keep your brain young:

• Incorporating physical activity—especially aerobic exercise—into our daily schedule, even if only for 10 minutes at a time.
• Stimulating our mind with mental activities and novel experiences that challenge the brain and activate new neural pathways.
• Interacting with other people and engaging in social activities.
• Having a sense of self-worth and self-efficacy, the feeling that what we do matters.
• Reducing cardiovascular risk factors such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
• Eating a healthful diet that includes plenty of colorful fruits and vegetables (for antioxidants and other vitamins and minerals) and fatty fish or nuts (sources of Omega-3 fatty acids), and that limits trans fat and saturated fats.
• Managing stress and finding healthful ways to cope with high-stress periods.
• Getting adequate amounts of sleep—about 8 hours for most adults.
• In addition, population-based studies seem to suggest that mild to moderate alcohol consumption—from a couple of drinks a week up to about two a day—is associated with longer life, and in some cases better cognitive functioning. However, it is not at all clear if this is due to a true biological effect of alcohol or because the people who drank alcohol tended to also be doing something else good for their brain health, such as interacting socially.

The answer invites you to work "brain-friendly" activities in your life and to know that it is never too late to start. Brains of any age can benefit.

Final piece of fascinating trivia from the Q&A article:
Did you know that the 3 pound marvel that we know as the brain is typically only 2 percent of our body weight but consumes 20 percent of our oxygen and 20 percent of our bodies energy. It strikes me that the brain is one energy guzzler that we don't' want to go green.

Thanks for reading. Please lead quietly. Keep your brain young and guzzling.
Don