Joyful Jubilant Learning

The nature of reading habits - enhancing the learning of reading

Reading furnishes the mind only with the materials of knowledge;
it is thinking that makes what we read ours.

~ John Locke  ~

I have been pondering the nature of my reading habits of late.  My reading to learn, more than my reading for pleasure.  I still take immense pleasure in reading fiction when time allows, but as the stack of unread ‘something to learn’ books grows I find myself needing to devote more time to the reading-to-learn type of reading.

Recent changes I had made to the bookshelves in my study have meant I had to move my to-read pile off the shelves – they are now sitting in three – count them! – three neatish tall stacks on my bench waiting to be sorted and put back on the new shelves. So they have been very much front of mind and in my face during this process… and I have come to realise that there are a number of challenges I have with my reading to learn.

There is the matter of time.

Of course, if I had all the time in the world, I would be able to sit somewhere nice and quiet and plough through the reading material. As it is, there aren’t many minutes in the day where I get a chance to sit and read in peace. So the challenge is to set aside time, make time, rather than waiting until I have a spare moment. 

I need to make my learning a priority or it just won’t happen.

There is the matter of attitude.

In my mind (and I have only realised this recently) reading is an indulgence.  Something you did when the work was done. Something for free time.

In some ways, I think this attitude stems from the fact that I love to read and that I have never seen reading as ‘work’.

I also think, as a bookworm child, I was teased for hiding with my head in a book when there were chores to be done.

In my quest to have work I love, what better could I spend my time on than reading?  Good, solid, meaningful reading…

There is the matter of focus.

Oh! I just love books.  I can lose myself in a good bookshop for hours. Any present that comes beautifully wrapped in the shape of a book thrills me to bits before I have even opened it. I could spend my entire earnings on books without much effort.  But then, of course, there is the reading of them. 

Books are not made for sitting looking pretty on the bookshelf - you actually have to open them and start to read.

And concentrate.

I have been known to have more than a half-dozen books I am reading at the same time.  And the number of bookmarks in books on my shelves attests to how many books I get part way through, only to be distracted by another.

I’m curious to know how others choose which book to read now, and how they concentrate on that book, and that one alone, without being tempted to open something else that may be enticing them… (or do we all have too many books on the go at the same time??)

There is the matter of process. 

I have never been one to write in books or mark them up. I never dog-ear a page. I was brought up to believe that books are hallowed ground, and that they represent a sacred object, never to be defiled. It was something about leaving them in pristine condition for the next reader (in the hope (?) that there would be a next reader).

But reading from people like Tim Sanders and Rosa Say about marking up books, creating indexes and writing your thoughts and learning right there in book totally has me challenged to change my ways.  Can I do it?  I’m not there, yet, but think I might start with a small book and do it as an experiment. 

Any tips?

There is the matter of stickability.

We’ve all read books where we thought – this is great!  This can change my life!  Wow!  And we promise ourselves to implement what we have read … then find ourselves a few weeks later, with no change at all.

As I have been learning - by reading many of the wonderful posts by JJLN contributors – there are other steps and actions that can be taken to reinforce learning, change habits and implement new ways of doing and being.

A change to my reading habits

So, with my pile of books serenading me with their siren song, luring me in, and the list of books I’d like to read growing every single day, it’s time for me to make some changes in the habits of my reading to learn, including:

1. Reminding myself, constantly, that reading is not an indulgence to be done in my spare time (I’ll save that for fiction) – it is a necessary part of my personal and business development. Absorbing these lessons
2. Scheduling time for my reading to learn in my diary in ink
3. Picking a book out of the pile that resonates with me at this moment (they all interest me, otherwise they wouldn't be in the pile!) and learning from it with focus.  Unless, of course, I find I am not learning anything, in which case it will NOT return to my bookshelf.
4. Don't pick up another book until the last one is done with me (OK, this one will be particularly hard...)
5. Breaking the habit of a lifetime by marking up a book and assessing whether this works for me
6. Reinforcing my learning by talking about it, writing about it, thinking about it, doing it, debating it, googling it, whatever it takes to cement and optimise the learning for me. Absorb the lessons here.

What about you? Do you have challenges around your reading to learn?

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Post author Karen Wallace believes that writing about the lessons she's learned not only helps to cement the learning for her, but may one day help others in their quest for a calmer life.

E Learning is Shallow Yet Has Potential

I have great hope for the future of E Learning but in it's current state, E Learning is shallow and ripe for innovation. I was discussing this with Rosa and she asked me to share my thoughts with the JJL community.

Why is E Learning Shallow?

The challenge with E Learning is it tends to be impersonal, lacking one-on-one interaction, and reciprocal action.

Learning is an experience.

Learning cannot be bottled, controlled, or packaged - learning is the experience of acquiring knowledge or skills through practice, experience, or study. A teacher, mentor, or speaker can impact a students experience, direct their attention - despite that, learning is very much a personal journey.

Solitary E Learning offers flexibility, self-paced, and self-study opportunities that traditional approaches cannot match.

It is the exchange of ideas, debate, and exploring on an idea or concept between two or more people that creates a plethora of learning opportunities. Unless we can create a synchronous  electronic environment that provides for interaction, collaboration, and synchronous (at the same time) conversations.

We Need to VAKOG E Learning

We learn through our five senses and its a unique combination of visual, auditory , kinesthetic, olfactory, and gustatory (VAKOG) stimulus that creates the 'learning experience' and until E Learning can simulate more of a interactive, live learning environment it will not reach wide acceptance, by learners.

I am not suggesting that people cannot learn via E Learning, just that its potential will be limited until we can create a rich, live, and interactive user experience.

• Are you aware of any E Learning platforms that provide a synchronous and rich experience?
• What has been your experience with E Learning? What did you like or dislike?
• Why do you think E Learning has become popular?

Greg Balanko-Dickson is a Business Performance and Lifestyle Coach that helps entrepreneurs to have their business and a life too.

Learn a New Way to Play Monopoly

... by learning to change the rules.

We learn most, and we learn best from people. People know stuff.

The first time I met Skip and Caroline Andrews of our Ho'ohana Community (that is, the first time in person) we were able to fill six hours with an amazing amount of non-stop conversation. Family. Jobs. Yellow ginger. Books. Places. Learning. Yoga. Mexican Food. Giving up coffee. Hawaiian designs. Managing people. Being a techie. Swimming with dolphins.

Among other things, we talked about playing Monopoly with your children.

Skip told me about how he taught their kids to play Monopoly faster and funner (yes, funner is a word, especially appropriate when talking about your children) by changing the rules in ways that allowed everyone to team up with everyone and anyone else during the game. We all know how loooooong a game Monopoly can be, yet playing Monopoly collaboratively made the game way faster every single time they played.

Another rule change: Everyone had to win.

We know that collaboration is good, and that it can lead to synergy, but we often think we have to pay a price for it, and normally that price tag is thought to be time - it takes time to work in harmony with other people, right?

Well, if the Andrews version of Monopoly is a case study answer, then, No! Not right. Collaboration makes things faster. Every time.

Think about it; what rules can you learn to change to collaborate faster?

Just think about Monopoly for starters - How would you change the rules? Here's some Tips & Fun Stuff from Hasbro.com to give you some ideas.

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Post author Rosa Say has written about dumping rules before: What are the Rules? Hopefully, none. An excerpt ...   

No Rules = The Freedom of Creative License
Creative Freedom = Inspired Energy
Inspired Energy = An Abundance of new Ideas and Innovation
Bountiful Ideas and Innovation = Learning Excitement    
Learning Excitement = Joy, Hope, Optimism and Enthusiasm

Then, blogger Lee Iwan did her one better on the business side of things: Successful managers should be breaking the rules. (There are some great quotes in Lee's posting.)

Liz has a Learning Plan- Do you?

I LOVE this post by Liz Strauss at Successful Blog.

Rise up to her challenge.

I am re-posting it here to celebrate every single word in it. Here is the link to Liz's place to give her the well-deserved credit due: On and On to Learn.

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I have a Plan

    

We learn every day. Big and small things that happen are enough to change us. Each bit of knowledge we helps us frame our world view. That’s an exciting and profound reality of being alive.

Yet most of that learning is passive, a form of response. It comes to us. We don’t seek it out. We might miss it completely as it sits waiting, if we don’t STOP to take notice. When we do, we often need to give it some thought to make what we’ve learned useful, to translate it into a thought that makes sense.

Learning is fundamental to growing.

Growing is fundamental to life.

Learning with intentionality, actually setting out with a purpose to learn, is the quest of a beginner’s mind. It stretches our thoughts, moves our hearts, and transcends our current existence. Walking into a sunrise with a thought of learning changes who we are by the time we walk out of the sunset that same day.

If I don’t plan my learning, it seems I keep learning the same things . . .

over and over, on and on . . .

on and on until I open my head and heart to learn.

If I don’t plan to learn, how can I grow deep enough to do my part?

What will you make it a point to learn today?

–ME “Liz” Strauss

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If you’re ready to change the world, send me your thoughts in a guest post. Feel free to take the gorgeous Change the World image up there that Sandy designed back to your blog. Or help yourself to this one.

  .

Email me about what you’re doing or what we might do. Let’s change the world one bit at a time together. Together it can’t take forever.

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Related posts: Log your learning with us here at JJL in Rapid Fire Learning.

Post author Rosa Say believes we can all change the world with learning as our way to backpack the journey. Learn more about her lesson plans at Managing with Aloha and at Talking Story.

Rapid Fire Learning: May 2007

Hi everybody - Terry Starbucker here.   It's time for Rapid Fire Learning!   I'm your host this month, so I'm really hoping we can get all my fellow JJLers, as well as JJL readers and supporters, to pitch in with their 5 things they learned in the month of May.  Post them on your blog, tag it as Rapid Fire Learning, and link back to us.

This kind of community learning will give us a head start for June and the rest of the year, so let's fire away, shall we?

Here's my list for the month:

1. I was reawakened to the symbolic meaning of butterflies - freedom and happiness.  I'll never look at a Monarch the same way again (and that's a good thing!)
2. I performed a wedding ceremony for the first time, and learned a little bit more about love - to see it so close up in the context of exchanging vows was exhilarating.
3. In response to a meme I dug inside a little deeper and revealed the 5 things I do every single day to be successful.   I sat in front of the computer for a while on this one before the words came out, but it was worth it.
4. I learned that a "blogging conference" could become much more than that - a celebration of the power of relationships and positivity.  While friendships can be kindled by words on a page, nothing beats face-to-face and heart-to-heart interaction.  I got more of that than I possibly could have dreamed of on those two days in Chicago. Talk about joyful and jubilant learning!  I can hardly wait until SOBCon08.
5. I rediscovered the power of hope when I watched the Shawshank Redemption, just like I did the other 20 times I've watched it before.  I love movies that can do that.

What a month of learning!   So what about you?  Come share with us, and keep that joy of discovery buzzing around the blogosphere.  Thanks!

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Terry Starbucker is an operations executive for a service company who lives in Connecticut, loves business trips to the Rocky Mountain west, and posts his musings and observations about "the optimistic side of the daily grind" in Ramblings from a Glass Half Full. 

Trombone Player Wanted #5: Are you talking to me?

Video #5: Trombone Player Wanted

Why is it so hard to talk about this (Running Time = 10:30 mins)

Are you talking to me? I hope so. I hope you are talking with all the people you are connected with in your workplace about your strengths. I especially hope you are talking with your leader and if you are a leader I hope you are holding conversations with all your direct reports on their strengths.

Be like the elephant who never forgets. Never forget to hold important conversations about strengths at work.

In this video, Marcus Buckingham implores us to engage in conversations around our strengths and weakness. Not to brag about our strengths or whine about our weaknesses but to give voice, power, and connection to who we are and what we bring to our team and our organization.

Here is some research he cites on conversations about strengths and weaknesses in organizations:

• 40% talk about weaknesses
• 20% talk about strengths
• 35% don't talk about these things

If this was the same in a family of 5 it would mean 2 people are talking mostly about weaknesses, 2 family members are not talking, and only 1 is talking about strengths --- and if it was just one person, who would he or she be talking to? How well do you think this family would be doing?

In the trombone playing subplot of the video our young trombone player is talking. He has found a girl who wants to play the trombone, he brings in the other drummer to team up with him, and the three children go tell their band leader about their plan. The band leader appears reticent but can see the gumption of the children to get this done.

We owe it to out teams and organizations to talk about our strengths, to be vivid on what we are good at and what we like to do, on where our teams can rely on us, and were we might need help.

Talk 5: Let's make some strong talk:

1. When was your last conversation about strengths?
2. When is your next conversation about strengths going to occur?
3. Who can you talk to today about your strengths?
4. Who do you need to talk with this week about their strengths?
5. How many strength-based conversations can you hold in the next 30 days?

Be strong, don't wait, hold these conversations today.

Picture credit: Elephant talk by http://flickr.com/photos/ginable/325235488/

In the category tagged “Learning” we find “Community”

JJL Community member Hilda Carroll has just done a terrific pair of postings at her blog, Living Out Loud (love that name!) in connection with our Learn to Lead with Your Strengths Project.

If you have seen the posts here with the JJL LP2 prefix, and noticed that we're on post 12, your next thought could very well have been, oh good grief, that is way too much to catch up on now! and I can understand that. Well, Hilda has given you quite a gift, for in just one article, her first post outlines a great recap and review of the book itself (Go Put Your Strengths to Work) for you. As I read it, I could really grasp Hilda's personal learning process in her reading.

A snippet:

Manage your weaknesses but focus on your Strengths
by Hilda Carroll, -I paraphrase in the [brackets].

The crucial difference between Buckingham's (and the rest of the Strength's Movement) approach and the conventional business approach is that once we [know what our strengths and weaknesses are] we start to focus most of our energy and attention on our strengths, and less on our "development areas."

Traditionally, it is held true in the business world that in order to excel in our work, we need to know what areas we are weak in so that we can plan a necessary training and development programme to overcome those weaknesses, and over time be able to add them to our list of strengths.  Buckingham argues this is a fallacy.

She later concludes;

Does this all sound like too much work for you? Remember, the purpose behind all of these processes is "to turn the best of our job into the most of our job." Getting to this point will take some time and determination, but the pay-off is to experience a sense of flow, enjoyment and (oh-my-God!) actually being happy in your work.

Hilda then follows up with Quit Should-ing! and within this second posting, she very honestly shares her experience within our JJL Project. I was very appreciative when I read it, for as the project's leader here, do I want you to participate? Oh yes indeed! However I do NOT want it to be an example of should-ing for you.

My productivity this morning knows no bounds. And it feels easy. ... Two things happened here that made all the difference.  I shifted my perspective on writing this post (one of Buckingham's proposed strategies for managing your weaknesses) AND I quit should-ing.

In the category tagged “Learning” we find “Community”

The title of my posting refers to something else I discovered when I clicked in to Hilda's blog this morning. Her two posts have created a new category on Living Out Loud, one she's tagged Learning. How cool is that!

Now if you spend any time reading Hilda's blog at all, you'll instantly know she's been a learner all along, and it was probably mere coincidence that the category was created as she wrote about our Learning Project. However, know this: If someone in our JJL community of learners clicks over to your place online, there is a really good chance that's the category they'll use in getting to know you too!

Capture your learning. Tag it to track it, and you will have a chronicle of your own journey to look back on and celebrate: You will thrill to your markers on how far you've traveled, and what the very process of learning has added to the life YOU “live out loud.”

And don't be surprised when you find that those in our community are on your road with you. We are learners, and we are community.

Related articles:

You will find the introduction to our JJL Learning Project here: Learn to Lead with Your Strengths. You'll find the calendar for the project in this post. Consider jumping in when we switch to our next book in mid-June, StrengthsFinder 2.0. David Zinger had reviewed Tom Rath's book here.

Quit “Should-ing” was a sub-topic within this posting of the JJL Learning Project: Step 4— Stop Your Weaknesses. Read it as a stand-alone concept; I wholeheartedly agree with Hilda that it can make a big difference for you.

The JJL Community Profile category was created just this month, and it is certain to be one of my favorites! My first profile was on Herman Najoli. This is how you get involved with Joyful Jubilant Learning, so I can find you too!

JJL Community Profile: HILDA CARROLL

“My name is Hilda Carroll and I am a life coach who passionately believes in the ability for all of us to be happy right now, even if right now life is kinda rough!”

“My mission is to help people realise that happiness is an inner state, completely non-reliant on external circumstances, and to help them learn to live joyfully in the present moment (because now is all we really have).”

Discover more about Hilda, and reap the benefit of her writing strength at her blog, Living Out Loud ... in the here and now. She offers up some generous free resources to you!

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Post author Rosa Say loves meeting the lifelong learners of the Joyful Jubilant Learning Community! She feels she is in one of her strongest activities when she writes posts which celebrate the Ho'ohana Community in all its fascinating growth. Will you be the next one she discovers and chooses to celebrate?

Classroom Mission: Reinvent Homework and Reinvent Learning

Did you love learning but hate homework when you were in school?

Me too.

It's one of the reasons that I'm a bit obsessed with the notion of Reinventing Homework. I've become one of those people who assign it regularly, and I don't want any of my students to say they hate it.

I've written two postings about it on Managing with Aloha and Teaching with Aloha, and I'd truly appreciate any sharing that those of you here in the JJL community of lifelong learners can give.

Here are the beginning snippets of each article:

At MWA: Homework for the Workplace:

Now that I teach in the workplace, I look at homework in an entirely new way.

Homework When I was in school, I figured the teacher gave us homework to check if we understood what we were taught. “What we were taught” was a combination of two things: What we were given in class, and what we had to read or figure out on our own later. Homework was also practice for the test that would inevitably come at some point.

I teach adults, and in honoring the fact that they’re all grown up, I figure they’re ready for homework reinvented. For one thing, the test sure is different.

At TWA: Reinventing Homework, One Assignment at a Time:

I have a challenge for you: What could you do to reinvent the way you assign homework?

This picture truly shows how most students feel about it, but we who teach know what a great teaching assistant homework can be for us – or is it?

Thank you!
~ Rosa

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Post author Rosa Say teaches in the classroom we call the workplace, and learns where ever she happens to be. Learn more about the sort of homework she assigns at Managing with Aloha and at Teaching with Aloha. Her last posting here that was kinda-sorta related to this one was, The Process-Driven Learner.

Trombone Player Wanted #4

Video 4: Trombone Player Wanted

Reviewed by David Zinger

How do you cut out your weaknesses (Running time = 14:47 min)

I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free. ~ Michelangelo

Can you carve away your weaknesses until the spirit of your strengths soar free?

When you cut out the weaknesses from your work you bring shape, form, and strength to your contributions and value to your organization.

Far too much time and energy is devoted to our weaknesses.

How much time during the week do you spend on activities that weaken you? Perhaps you cannot devote all your time to strengths but can you strive to reach the point where a maximum of 1/4 of your time is spent on activities that weaken you?

Marcus Buckingham's perspective echoes the advice of Peter Drucker who advocated the avoidance of focusing on weaknesses in the late 1990s.

Marcus Buckingham implores you to purge weakening activities from your work and also purge the guilt about not spending your limited time and precious energy on weaknesses.

Ask around, look, observe. Who might find strength in doing what weakens you? Look for someone who might love doing what you loathe.

In the video, our young trombone player looks tired and bored with the trombone. He has placed notes all over the school: Trombone Player Wanted. One young girl looks at the note and seems interested. We must await the next video to see how this plays out.

Buckingham outlines the following tactics to lessen weaknesses in this video:

1. Find a partner.
2. Perform so well with your strength that your organization wants more of it and requests that you spend more and more time on that activity and less time on your weaknesses.
3. Change your perspective on a weakening activity using the lens of your strengths. How can you use your strengths to work on this activity to perhaps even transform it to a strength?

People who are highly effective also are masters of cutting away weaknesses and focusing on strengths.

In conclusion, edit out your weaknesses by finding out what you don't like doing and stopping it.

Photo Credit: :: f/luXography I :: Ψ/cut - (Psi/cut) by http://flickr.com/photos/pixotropic/206731603/

Learning's Secret Ingredient

In the Book Review section of the New York Times this morning I read a wonderful review of the book "Einstein - His Life and Universe" by Walter Isaacson.

It inspired me to go out and buy the book this afternoon (a review of my own to follow), but it also compelled me to post to JJL this evening because of this quote by Einstein:

“I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.”

This, coming from a person considered to be THE genius of the 20th century?  It set me back in my chair for a moment. But then I realized I had stumbled upon a secret ingredient to learning.

While I had never put those two words together like that before, they made absolutely perfect, elegant sense.

We all can't be Einsteins coming up with theories of relativity, but we can use our passionate curiosity to inspire a lifetime of great learning and achieving.

What are you passionately curious about?

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Terry Starbucker is an operations executive for a service company who lives in Connecticut, loves business trips to the Rocky Mountain west, and posts his musings and observations about "the optimistic side of the daily grind" in Ramblings from a Glass Half Full.