This is further to my last post on ‘Learning Zone’. I ran another workshop in Dubai last week. I had a bigger Aha on the piece of ‘How Learning happens’ A few things / thoughts coming across my mind last week:
‘How comfortable are they?’ – An observer in the workshop asked me this question in the middle of the class. It did make me think. I thought the learners were rather comfortable. But I was not sure what I could do to raise their discomfort. The observers did kindly suggest a few good ideas. People will naturally feel uncomfortable when they:
· Disclose about themselves (especially the ‘dark’ side) e.g. sharing personal failure in leadership
· Give feedback to others e.g. telling fellow learners how much they trust each other
Challenge and Support – My co-facilitator ran an impromptus session in the middle of the workshop to check learning progress. The underlying theory is interesting – one will learn if there is enough challenge and support. See the link for the 2x2 matrix. If you are keen to learn something, it is excellent to assess your learning status by putting yourself onto the matrix.
Personal Reflection – We ran a few new processes last week. I chose to go ‘unsafe’ partly because I was piloting processes for the re-design work. On the other hand, I deliberately put myself into discomfort. I like such attempt though it was really scary. I think I am making progress in being more flexible.
On further reflection, I always think WIIFM is the most important element for learning to happen. How does this ‘Challenge and Support’ thing compare to WIIFM? Does the ‘Challenge’ piece in fact create WIIFM already?
