Friday, March 28, 2008

i-TFTD #108: Instant Learning

i-TFTD #108: Instant Learning

Looking around the room, I found 7 secrets of success:

The roof said: Aim high
The fan said: Be cool
The clock said: Every minute is precious
The mirror said: Reflect before you act
The window said: See the world
The calendar said: Be up-to-date
The door said: Push hard to achieve your goals
-Anon

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I have had participants in training sessions do a similar exercise where the objective is to come up with one or more learnings related to leadership, from some inanimate object (preferably from nature). Every time people come out with excellent points. Try it. This is the basis of many creative thinking "techniques" that use a random trigger in the form of a word, phrase or picture. Edward De Bono has explained why such triggers are necessary, in dozens of his books.

How does this happen? Maybe most fundamentals are things we intuitively know or have heard before, the analogy exercise simply reminds us. I find it interesting that each of us has the capability to relate seemingly unrelated ideas in a useful way. And I find it curious that we seldom utilize this ability to come up with out-of-the-box solutions to situations.

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