Category: Daily Thoughts

An alternative charter for learning

Featured

I really struggled with what to call this post. It was first called the commandments of learning, then it was the disruptors rules for learning in the modern age. But none of those felt right.

Even the title you have now read, still doesn’t quite feel right.

The whole purpose of this short post is for me to share the philosophy or you could say my approach to learning in the workplace, that I try to instil within the environments I have inhabited.

For those who have worked with me and those who are with me right now, you’ll probably have heard these too many times. Anyway, the point of this piece is to give you some insight into what I share with fellow peers, friends and the organisations I work with when it comes to what I do in workplace learning.

This list is in some way what I stand for/strive to enable through the way I work and the philosophies I live by.

So, without further ado…

Training is a dirty word.

Learning is an everyday behaviour, not a task.

We don’t tick boxes (especially for the sake of ticking boxes).

We help people get shit done that will actually help them.

We create value add human experiences that make people feel something. We don’t have a bums on seats and we’ll talk at you for 2 days approach.

If you build it they won’t come – go out there and tell people about it.

Break the silos, talk to people to find out what the real challenges are – never assume you know.

Get data, get the facts!

Build partnerships, don’t settle for providers.

Learning is co-owned, we are in it together.

You don’t need permission to learn!

Enable, share, connect and grow together.

Create moments that matter, not ones to look like we are doing stuff.

Learning takes place in many ways, the classroom is but one of them.

Be the difference, enable positive change and help people be better than they were yesterday.

And finally, a little quote to bring it all together

“Absorb what is useful, discard what is not and add what is uniquely your own”

Bruce Lee

For more thoughts like this, please subscribe to my weekly newsletter where I share insights, experiences and reflections on learning, personal development and managing the monkey mind.

Gardening, Google, learning new stuff & hipster tea.

To keep my mind healthy and practice what I preach in learning new things. I’ve been building my skills in the world of indoor gardening. Very basic skills, but nonetheless I’ve been up-skilling myself in the ways of keeping my plants alive.

I’m sharing this random bit of personal detail with you to demonstrate an important point that connects to a sizeable part of the philosophy that drives my work in learning, human development and managing the monkey mind.

Continue reading “Gardening, Google, learning new stuff & hipster tea.” →

The cost of kindness

There isn’t one, it’s free.

So why not be good to your fellow human, wave at people, say hello – be a kind person.

It cost us nothing to be kind to another human and it even might make you feel a little bit happier too. When you see someone who looks down, then fire them a smile or when someone looks like today is not their day, then a simple hey, how are you? can go a long way.

You can change someones world in a moment with an act of kindness, an act at no cost to any of us but it’s rewards can be limitless.

You can feel good, make others feel good and put some more good out into this world, because we honestly need more of it. You’d be surprised at how kind many people are, can be and will be when you make a little effort.

Remember the cost of kindness is always free, so why don’t we use it a little more?

Here’s my act of kindness to let you know:

For more thoughts like this, please subscribe to my weekly newsletter where I share insights, experiences and reflections on learning, personal development and managing the monkey mind.

It’s simple enough if it’s straight from the heart

What bothers you so?

Communicating what you want doesn’t have to be so complicated. Following that dream or diverting your current course doesn’t have to be complicated either.

To know what you want only requires a look inside. Do not been swayed by the expectations of society, the lure of status or the want to be accepted if it is in conflict with your whole being.

If you feel it then you should listen, as it’s you and only you who has to live with these matters. So whether, it’s telling that person how you really feel about them, saying no to that opportunity that doesn’t feel quite right or even yes to the one that does.

It’s always simple enough if it’s straight from the heart.

For more thoughts like this, please subscribe to my weekly newsletter where I share insights, experiences and reflections on learning, personal development and managing the monkey mind.