Joyful Jubilant Learning

Making A Difference: A 5-Point Plan of Action

As of this weekend, our JJL September 2007 Forum draws to a close.

Or does it?

In September, we set our sights on these questions:

How has your learning already made a difference, or how do you know it will? What is the difference you are learning to make, and what are you doing to make it happen?

We received a variety of answers, and I have a challenge for you. Think of getting started with this as your JJL Weekend Project:

You have read much on what others think about making a difference. Others have shared their stories of learning, and their tales of doing. Now...
What will be the story you start to write for YOUR life today?

In one word, my challenge to you is HO‘OHANA. Weave in whatever inspirations you gained here over the last month into a plan of action whereby you can work with purpose, working directly on the difference you hope to make.

Most of my learning (and perhaps I’m not alone in this!) has not been from books, nor courses, but from Life itself.  Events that paint a picture.  Failures that teach me what not to do next time.  Successes that teach what works.  Conversations that  help me ‘join the dots’ and nurture new ideas. —Pete Aldin, the Great Circle Coach, in Anxiety Writes the Script

To the left, you will see that the Make A Difference compilation page link will remain parked under our Recurring Features heading. Here is a possible 5-Point Plan of JJL Action for you.

1. Choose a post or combination of them which truly resonated with you. In your heart, mind, and soul you know they called out to you because you can do what was spoken of or dreamed of: You know you can make it real. You know it will make a difference for you to make a personal resolution and follow through. If it makes a difference for others too, all the better, but you know you need to start with you first, and as Greg had said, BE the change.

2. Get specific: With that post as your catalyst, write a vision for where you will be with your intention-turned-action a year from now. What will be your best possible outcome? Articulate what it will look like, sound like, and feel like for you. Eventually I hope you will toot sweetly, but for now, tell yourself.

3. Plan concrete actions: Brainstorm a list of possible actions you can take to arrive at your vision step by step, action by action. Then, give yourself a time table and pattern to follow with diligence, perhaps weekly (maximum effect) monthly (also good in theming – like Joanna does with her writing ingredients, and as I do with values) or quarterly (can be best when you enroll a team in your plan, but individually you are better off with weekly or monthly patterns).

4. Now go back to the post which inspired you, and Enroll us in your goals. Jump into the conversation there and get the author to mentor you. We keep our comments open here, and no matter how far these posts drop into the archives, the author who had penned that post gets an immediate email notification when any comment is made.

Connect with them. Subscribe to the RSS feeds or email alerts on their own blogs, for chances are you will find strong connections there to whatever they may have written about here. Notice that I purposely coached you in 1.,2., and 3. to do your own draft first: that prep is important if you are to raise the level of conversation with your chosen mentor, and not simply agree with them – this is your plan, not theirs. They are here to help support and coach you.

5. Now Do it. Work your plan, and Make your difference. Keep your plan ever present in mind so you can be alert to possible High Quality Interactions that connect with it. Then next September, when our forum rolls around again, grab our invitation to post and take the next step – share your lessons learned, and you will inspire; you be the next mentor. You’ll be ready to make bigger differences in waves that enlarge your circle of influence, becoming the pebble that creates the ripples in the pond.

A Promise to the JJL Community: We will Make A Difference

How has your learning already made a difference, or how do you know it will? What is the difference you are learning to make, and what are you doing to make it happen?

I received a blog tag from Terry Starbucker this past Monday. I’m going out on a limb here, and taking the liberty of responding to him on behalf of the entire hui (group) of contributing authors we have here at Joyful Jubilant Learning.

My feeling is that this is not a conventional blog tag meme, but one that speaks into a commitment you decide to make to uphold the honor of what blogging can, and should be. Like any medium, dignity and honor is created for the whole by the actions of the individuals within it. This does Make A Difference; a big difference.

Thus, I wanted to squeeze my response into our current forum, for it seemed to fit so perfectly. Therefore, I ran short of time to run my draft by my fellow authors here, but knowing them and their intentions as I do, I didn’t feeling forging forward with this was that big a risk: I know that each and every one of them wants to write for a blog that strives higher; one that is committed to making a difference. They are Alaka‘i ka ‘ike, Guides in Learning who lead by their great example [alaka‘i.]

In fact, a few of them have already committed to this Blogger’s Promise (initiated by Joe Hauckes, author of Working at Home on the Internet). You can read what was said by our authors individually:

1. Terry Starbucker: I'm Making Joe's Promise
2. April Groves: Remembering Who I Am with a Promise
3. Joanna Young: Respect for the authentic conversation: comments, links and all that jazz

All of you who read Joyful Jubilant Learning are very important to us. You inspire us in the penning of every word here. We always write in the hope you will decide to join our conversation one day, for then you become teacher and we your willing, eager student. However an online presence can be scary for some, and joining an online community can seem to be too consuming a commitment. We understand, and even if you never choose to add your voice to these conversations, we want you to be proud of us, and proud to learn from us, and with us, silently in your own way.

So I, and I am sure my fellow authors here, do not hesitate to make this commitment to you. In sharing this blogging promise, and joining the ranks of many people we admire, we start with our values:

  [Badge designed by Rick Cockrum at Shards of Consciousness.]

Because we are committed to Aloha and Ho‘ohana,
[i.e. We write with the Intention of unconditional Aloha]
Because we are committed to Collaborative, Lifelong Learning,
Because we are committed to the Inclusiveness of Community,
Because we are committed to the Possibilities We Create within our Humanity,

We, the Authors of Joyful Jubilant Learning do Ho‘ohiki
[We make this Promise]

We will add value and conduct ourselves with distinction in the blogging community.

• We will be sure to comment on other Blogs if we can add to the conversation in our spirit of collaborative learning.
• We will respond to comments on our own Blog.
• We will acknowledge any links to our Blog with a comment on or trackback to the linker’s Blog.
• We will continue to link to other Blogs that are pertinent to our posts’ content.
• We will commit to being a Vital part of the Blogging Community, in full acceptance of our responsibility in Learning Leadership.

And you know what? We do collaborate here: No post is ever set in stone forever … Consider this a first run, and jump in with your feelings my fellow authors, for I am happy to keep editing this until we have a manifesto we proudly shout from the blog-tops in one clear voice, Lōkahi.
~ Rosa Say

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Footnotes to references above:

• on Ho‘ohana: By Blaine Collins: The Body Ho‘ohana

• on Ho‘ohiki: On Ho‘ohiki: Keeping your promises

• on Lōkahi: Lōkahi Teams: The ties that bind are your shared values, and Lōkahi Teams: When they are Virtual and Voluntary.
  
  By Joanna Young: Lōkahi: the language of collaboration.

• on Making A Difference: Our Compilation Page.
  

A Remarkable Interview with Kevin Eikenberry

This morning it is my great pleasure to share with you a conversation I just had with Kevin Eikenberry, author of the newly released Remarkable Leadership. I first discovered Kevin's writing in 2006, and since then I have voraciously devoured all he has written on leadership, and helping people reach their full potential. 

I know you will love this edition of Jubilant Learners Speak Up!

Benjamin Bach: Kevin, what is remarkable leadership?

Kevin Eikenberry: Remarkable leadership is the result of the actions of remarkable leaders.  While my book talks about 13 competencies that, at a high level, remarkable leaders exhibit, that is too much detail to answer your question. In short, a remarkable leader is someone who is continually working to become more effective - continually learning and improving. 

Remarkable Leaders also recognize that remarkable leadership is not about the technical skills of forecasting, budgeting and technical knowledge of the work, but really about how they engender trust, build relationships, develop others, communicate more effectively—all of those other skills that we really think of when we think of great leaders that we've worked with in the past.

That’s a remarkable leader – a continual learner who focuses on the work of a leader and not just the
technical aspects of the work.

BB: A common myth I hear repeated alot is '...but I'm not in a leadership position.'  How can people lead if they aren't a "leader" by title?

KE: I believe we can all lead through our actions.  We lead through behaviors consistent with our values.  We lead by

being accountable. We lead when we serve Customers with care and respect.  We lead when we listen.  We lead when we make a difference. 

All of us can do these, and 100 other things I could have listed – it doesn’t require a title on the wall of our cubicle or on our business card. We are all in leadership positions if we choose to be.

BB: What role does learning play in leadership?

KE: I believe it is the foundational skill of the any effective leader. All leaders want their teams to be continually learning and growing. The best way to encourage that in others is to model it ourselves.  Nothing can be more powerful.  Beyond that though, on a personal level, leadership is a complex business and if we hope to be effective at mastering even some of those complexities we must continually be on a conscious path of learning how to be more effective both for ourselves and those we lead.

BB: What teachers, speakers and writers have most influenced you?

KE: This could be a long list!  The answer I gave someone at an event last week relating to books was this:  The Bible, The Greatest Miracle in the World by Og Mandino and See You at the Top by Zig Ziglar.  I could of course add many more to that list, but after further review, I don’t think I’d change that top three. The list of teachers would certainly include my parents, my wife Lori and children Parker and Kelsey, and many of our clients over the years.  I also was influenced by a few wonderful teachers at both the high school and college level. 

In retrospect the thing I learned from them and from some of the leaders I worked for in industry was that they modeled service.  Remarkable leaders serve others.

BB: How can I become remarkable?

KE: I believe there are five things that anyone must do to accelerate their personal progress towards remarkable:

Believe – you must believe that you have the capacity to be remarkable (you do!)

Recognize and remind – you must recognize the unique strengths that you bring to the world and continually remind yourself.  When you believe and recognize you have  a chance to do the next step …

Actualize through action.  You must take action; action to learn, to try and to use.  Without the input of energy into action, no growth, progress or results can occur.

Gratitude – being Remarkable isn’t about ego – quite the opposite. Highly self-actualized people – further down their path towards Remarkable – realize their abilities and are grateful for them. When you truly believe and recognize your potential how could you be anything but grateful?

Serve – remarkable people use their gifts, talents and wisdom to serve others.

That is a snapshot Benjamin.  For more detail, here is a link to an 11 minute piece on this topic I gave to a group in late August : http://tinyurl.com/2nv44e

BB: What would the world look like if we were all Remarkable Leaders ?

KE: The world would be a better place.  People would be using the skills they have been given, they would be continually learning and the results we would actualize would be, well, remarkable.  Remarkable leaders make a difference in the world, when everyone is doing that… the world will be an even more amazing place than it is today.

BB:  Thanks so much Kevin, this was remarkable !  For more on Kevin, please visit his great website, www.kevineikenberry.com. 

Benjamin Bach helps people retire rich through smart real estate investments. He lives in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada with his family and is dedicated to lifelong learning.  He was recently honoured with the Gold Award for Favorite Realtor in town, and credits this to all that he has learnt from leaders like Kevin, Phil Gerbyshak, and Rosa Say - just to name a few.  You can subscribe to Benjamin's ezine here - FREE to JJLN readers!

You can find out more about Benjamin at his blog at http://www.benjaminbach.com and reach him by email @ benjamin(AT)benjaminbach. com - he loves to hear from his readers!

UnLearning Hesitancy and Reticence

I am one of those people who must learn to come right out and ask for what she wants.

There it is; it reads like a confession at Shrinking Violets Anonymous.

My extreme hesitancy with asking has plagued me most of my life, and perhaps the ticking clock of my inevitable aging has something to do with this, but I am sick of being such a wimp.

I remember buying The Aladdin Factor by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen back in 1995 to help me with this. In the book’s introduction, Jack Canfield had written something that was all too familiar to me:

“Until I knew I could ask for what I wanted, I had lived my life in an unacknowledged state of resignation. I had silently agreed not to be a nuisance or a bother, to never intrude on anyone, to never take up anyone’s time and certainly not to be a pest! … I made less money than I was worth, laughed a jokes I didn’t understand and never raised my hand in class. I accepted too many things without questioning authority and I bit my tongue when I wanted to ask somebody out for a date. I stared longingly at all the things I wanted, but I rarely got them. That was my life—a life of settling for less than what I wanted, less than I deserved, less than the best, and less than what was possible.” —Jack Canfield

Oh yuck! When you first read that, you think “how sad!” and “how can we do that to ourselves?” however so many of us do! Take a look at the footer of this posting, and as I was, you’ll probably be amazed at how many categories learning to ask for what will improve your life actually falls into!

In The Aladdin Factor, Canfield and Hansen tried their best to coach me out of what they felt to be the “five barriers to asking; the main reasons we don’t ask for what we want:”

1. Ignorance— “most of us don’t know what to ask for”

2. Limiting and inaccurate beliefs— “limiting and negative beliefs get programmed into us by our parents, teachers, churches, peers and the media”

3. Fear— “only your mind can produce fear. When we become afraid of rejection, looking foolish, losing face, being vulnerable or hurt by others, we become passive”

4. Low self-esteem— “as a result, we don’t believe our needs are important and worthy of pursuing”

5. Pride— “we get stuck in our pride, becoming too arrogant to admit we need anyone or anything”

I did make some progress with my hesitancy with the Canfield and Hansen coaching, but not enough, and it didn’t last. Another book has helped me understand I keep regressing at times because I have never made asking for what I want my habit.

These days, Lisa Haneberg is my mentor-in-a-book and blog with my unlearning my habits of hesitancy and reticence (which can make it seem to others that you are uncommunicative— yikes! Don’t want that!) for Lisa includes “making unreasonable requests” as a breakthrough catalyst in her book, Two Weeks To a Breakthrough (Dwayne Melancon had reviewed Lisa’s book for us in ALAWB).

“Ask and ye shall receive, right? Making unreasonable requests is not as unreasonable as it may seem. I use the tern unreasonable here to mean big. Unreasonable requests are big requests that most of us are generally too chicken to make.” —Lisa Haneberg

Well, I’ve been too chicken with my requests of others whether they are small, medium, or large. Lisa coaches us that “outrageous requests make great things happen” and when I think back to those few times when I swallowed my hesitancy or outright fear about making them and took the plunge, I know Lisa to be right; I did get results. They may not always have added up to my wildest dreams for them, but they were always better results than I would’ve gotten without making the request to enroll someone else in my goals.

So JJL community, I am declaring my intentions with this unlearning of my inclination toward hesitancy and reticence in the most public way I can with all of you. I truly have very little fear in your warm readership, and I do think I have pretty well conquered those other barriers in The Aladdin Factor. I suspect that my learning will have to do with my focus on it, and with making room for new and unreasonable requests in my Strong Week Plan we learned about in Learning Project #2 here at JJL.

Yes, that would be a very good habit-creator for all of us, don’t you think?

Have you got a big request for us here at Joyful Jubilant Learning?
Make it!
~ Rosa Say

This wonderful quote and photo was sent to me by the extraordinarily talented Hawai‘i photographer Elan Sun Star. Mahalo Sun!

Postscript: This posting is one of taking up Dean's unlearning challenge for August: Have you read this yet, and made your unlearning list?

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Post author Rosa Say writes for Managing with Aloha Coaching, Value your Month, Value your Life. Visit her there, pick up a feed for your reader, and let her know what you think. Are you brave? Coach her to follow-up with this unlearning, and volunteer to be on the receiving end of her big requests to come!

Buzzing out of Recidivism with Learning

Last weekend I learned a new word: The word is Recidivism.

It is a noun, meaning a habitual relapse into crime.

Not a good thing.

I spoke at a conference at which everyone in the audience was a Chief or Deputy Chief for the U.S. Circuit Court, and the word recidivism kept coming up in each presentation —except mine. I was the only one there without a clue as to what it meant until I swallowed my ignorance and asked someone about it. It soon became clear to me that every single person in that room was bound and determined to prevent more recidivism from happening.

If not for my learning experience that day, my ears may not have perked up when this story came on the CBS Evening News two nights ago, for I was shuffling through a stack of unopened mail.

Bees Give Ex-Convicts A Second Chance
Program Teaches Former Prisoners How To Make Honey — And A New Life

(CBS) You might wonder how a tiny bee can be at the heart of an urban renewal story. But then, some bees are doing more than just making honey — they are giving people like Gerald Whitehead and Tony Smith a second chance.

"I've been in and out of prison since the time I hit 17 years old," Whitehead told CBS News correspondent Cynthia Bowers.

"I'm 31 and I was incarcerated for 14½ years," Smith said.

That's a story you hear here a lot in North Lawndale, a Chicago neighborhood of 45,000 where nearly 6 in 10 adults have a criminal record. One in four is unemployed.

Can you imagine? Read that again, and think, ‘recidivism’ …“nearly 6 in 10 adults have a criminal record. One in four is unemployed.”

There was another part of the story that jumped out at me because of one more word. This one however was familiar to me; we use it all the time here, for it is near and dear to our hearts. The word is Learning.

When Brenda Palms-Barber came here to start a jobs bank, she knew finding work for people with a record — and no real job skills — would take some inspiration. She never imagined it would take some insects, too.

"One friend of mine, just by chance, said, 'you know my husband's a beekeeper,' and I thought, 'What do you need to do or to know in order to be a beekeeper?'" said Palms-Barber of the North Lawndale Employment Network. "She goes, 'well, actually, it's a profession that's passed on by word of mouth.'"

Which makes it easy for anyone to learn. Now former armed robbers and gang leaders tend hives and harvest honey.

Let’s read that again; “A profession that’s passed on by word of mouth, is easy for anyone to learn.”

I think we need to talk to each other more.

So far 27 men have gone through the three-month program and found long-term jobs. Whitehead says the bees have taught him a invaluable lesson.

"In order for them to survive, they have to do this work," Whitehead said. "If they don't do this work, they can't survive. If I don't do a job, I can't survive."

Feel good about what you buy: Click on the photo to take you to Sweet Beginnings, LLC., where beeline, the sweet results of this worthwhile employment effort is sold online.

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As she did at that conference, when post author Rosa Say speaks, it is on Managing with Aloha, Bringing Hawaii's Universal Values to the Art of Business. She is convinced that living, working, managing, and leading with aloha can prevent recidivism too, and jumpstart a whole bunch of learning!

Teamwork when Small is Essential

...and learning from the world of business.

I love reading about different business models, and when successful people thumb their nose at more "conventional wisdom," remaining confident that they can make their way work. They challenge me to think harder, as I consider, are they stubborn, or are they merely sure?

Time Magazine recently published a story about 37signals, the company that founded – and still operates – Basecamp. Pretty interesting, and thought you might like to read it. Their business may be quite different from yours, but chances are you need to get involved in project management or online collaboration in some way, the work processes that their tools were created for (Basecamp, Highrise, Ta-da Lists, Campfire and Backpack). If you are a Basecamp user (and in the spirit of full disclosure, I am and do recommend them), it’s good to know the philosophy of those who are the creators behind a tool you are using!

For instance, here is an excerpt:

Unconventional organization is proving to be one of 37signals’ biggest assets. The company creates programs that facilitate teamwork, and it ends up relying on the very same tools it builds. “We are growing in the same way a lot of our customers are, so we build products that we need to run our own business,” Fried says. “We just build stuff we want to use. If we need it, they need it.”

You can read the entire article here: Small is Essential.

How small? Just 8 employees, over a million customers and their project teams who "use our web-based applications to get things done the simple way." Pretty amazing. There is definitely more than stubborn going on here.

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Joyful Jubilant Archives:

Written by Tim Milburn, this is one of my past favorites on JJL about teaming:

Developing Powerful Partnerships.
Read the comments too!

Posting by Rosa Say

When kids teach kids

Great learning story in the Stillwater Gazette News:

STILLWATER - When Darcy Rodriguez dropped her son Owen off for his first days of safety school, the five-year-old would cry when it was time for her to go, afraid to be left with the strange "big people" that were there to teach him.

But by the end of the two-week program, Owen couldn't wait to see his teenage leaders Devon, Ally and David, part of a group of students from the St. Croix Valley Area Learning Center brought in to teach some 60 preschoolers the safe way to do everything from riding in a school bus to crossing the street.

Both sets of students said they learned a lot from program, and they had a great time doing it.

That is exactly what Early Childhood and Family Center leaders hoped would happen when they began working with students from the ALC. Five years later, teachers from both schools said the experiment has been even more successful than they imagined it could be.

Read the rest of the story here: At safety camp, learning is a two-way street

Got me thinking again, about the post that Dwayne shared with us earlier this week: Teaching to Learn.

JJL LP2 Post12: Step 5— Speak up

Now this is where it really gets interesting ...

"Up until now you've been working on your strengths and weaknesses largely on your own ... granted, the work you've done thus far has by no means been easy ...  now, in step five, you're going to do something that is as tricky as anything you've done so far and will require even more faith. You're going to speak up and get help."
~ Marcus Buckingham

The question is, just how bad do you want this?

We speak of teaming and collaborative learning quite a bit here, and we do so for good reason.

As you begin your work on this step, I encourage you to read one of the earliest posts written here at Joyful Jubilant Learning. It was the first one written for us by Tim Milburn, and it's called Developing Powerful Partnerships. At the time, Tim had given us nine reasons he was confident and joyful about JJL, and it started with this one:

1. The most effective partnerships build upon trust, transparency, and concern for each other.
This project is much more than coordinating post dates, planning events, talking through strategies and tactics.  It will find its greatest meaning in the relationships that are nurtured and developed.  We will be better as we know each other better, sharing in the time it takes to understand and appreciate one another.

Read all the conversation that resulted there too. This was one reader's reaction to Tim's post: As taken from the comments there,

Awesome, amazing, exciting, outstanding, phenomenal, inspiring post on partnering, partnerships and price, can I pay twice?!
~ Greg Balanko-Dickson

When he says this project, Tim could be talking about all projects, and his words hit home with this Learning Project we're currently in to Lead with our Strengths: This is not a project you can complete well alone if you are to truly make it matter for you.

Further, who do you intend to lead? Why?

True, there is self-leadership, however even in self-leadership, your relationships with other people will define just how effective you are - how powerful.

I do think that the word power gets a bum rap sometimes. Harnessed power can be a pretty wonderful thing - a good force. For example, think about the generative power of medicine and the healing arts. Think about the bountiful electrical power entire cities receive, harnessed from the immense power of the water flowing through the Hoover Dam. When it comes to people, we are better off thinking of power as influence and effectiveness, and how you harness it for good results in productivity, or in searching for the best solution of several options presented in problem solving.

And in how you harness it when employing your strengths in a Strong Week Plan while minimizing those activities which weaken you.

When you SPEAK UP, team up and partner with others, you pursue the power-packed cumulative effect possible when those involved with you harness their individual power and everyone joins forces. Everyone learns that collaboration, cooperation and alignment are much more effective than individual spurts of power. Together, you become a force to be reckoned with - in myriad great ways!

This includes you, leading by action and calling versus by title.

You lead by being Alaka'i (the hawaiian value of leadership); that is, with your own great example. With your own authenticity and yes, very transparent vulnerability, willing to let others in on what you consider to be your strengths and your weaknesses.

This was another comment at Tim's post:

Tim, Your words light our way. You capture the moment, the journey, the future.

I somehow feel that #7 speaks to me directly. Relatively new to the community, I lack knowledge regarding the strengths/weaknesses within the partnership. (Perhaps I am not alone in this respect.) It is hard to know where to put my efforts or to determine what project might make a meaningful contribution to our learning. Therefore, your guidance - to do less and to work in an area of strength - is valuable.
~ Blaine Collins

The subtitle of this chapter in Buckingham's book asks, "How can you create strong teams?" I submit to you that the better question that gets to the real heart of it, is, How can you BE part of your own strong team?

Motivation is an inside job, and you'll have to work on yourself to proceed further with us in this Learning Project. We have already heard from others that this is the point of Go Put Your Strengths to Work which gets challenging, and so I had afforded two full weeks for this step: Plan well, and let today be a brand new day.

Will you get powerful?

Will you speak up?

Will you create powerful partnerships?

If your answer is YES! you will Be Strong. I ask for your voices here: Let's support each other.
~ Rosa

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This posting is part of our JJL Learning Project #2: Learn to Lead with your Strengths, a two-book read and learn project.

Here is an index of links to all previous posts within this project:

Jump on the Learning Flywheel!

As this new year of 2007 begins I look back on the first three months of Joyful Jubilant Learning and wonder how we can sustain or even intensify the learning momentum that this thriving community has generated.

This wondering brings to mind the image of a flywheel – a rotating device that takes maximum effort to get going, but once it gets going the resulting momentum makes sustaining the rotation effortless.

That’s how I see JJL on this first day of the new year – a “learning flywheel” that we’ve cranked and turned and pushed forward as a “blogospheric” vehicle to promote, share and celebrate what we believe is an essential human process – to keep our brains active and alive with new knowledge and experiences.

Has the JJL flywheel reached that point of forward inertia where the learning activity is flowing, constant and effortless?   Not yet.   What will be the tipping point?   You!

You, our fellow members of the blogging community, can provide us with those last few pushes we need, by contributing your own learning experiences, ideas and methods. Click the “How do YOU get involved” on the left side of this page and “jump” on the flywheel.

One of my most rewarding discoveries of 2006 was the realization that I needed to learn as much as I needed to breathe – that is what drew me to JJL and the concept of sharing (and celebrating) learning.

If our Learning Flywheel can reach that tipping point with your help, there’s no telling how much more enrichment we can bring to our collective lives.  And since the momentum will then carry us all along for the ride, this enrichment will also become effortless.  Doesn’t that sound like fun?

I look forward to your contributions, and my very best wishes for a joyous and jubilant 2007!

Eleven Things

“Learning and connecting have been around forever, but they have been limited before because of locality. It often was only by chance that one would come into contact with others with similar goals, thought processes, and communication styles. What the Ho‘ohana Community has achieved is to bring us together, in ways that, as Phil's #11 says, was never possible before.”

“Is the Ho‘ohana Community a team? In terms of collaborative learning, absolutely! Three key characteristics of a team are that team members share common objectives, have complimentary skills, and are mutually accountable for results. I believe that the Ho‘ohana Community shares the common objectives of learning and connecting, and participants clearly have complimentary skills. I ask the community, to what extent is there mutual accountability for results?”

—Blaine Collins, author of Stronger Teams Blog within the learning dialogue of Joyful Jubilant Learning 2006

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This, is incredibly exciting.

This, is the passion of the Ho‘ohana Community.

This, is the birth of Joyful Jubilant Learning as an all-year endeavor.

Join us each day for an invigorating shot of LEARNING. Participate in it, and thrill to it as we do.

Here’s what I can tell you about us so far: