This morning I went to a studio session at my local gym. Fresh start for September, new ideas, new moves. When the instructor simply did the new moves to the music it was hard to follow her straight away. When she began with the simplest step, added the next and the next, and then showed us how it all came together, everyone got it. She did it all without missing a beat.
It’s a striking metaphor for how we learn or offer something new. When we are in conversations at work, with friends or at home we often want to offer new information, even instructions or advice. What do we do? We tend to offer it all at once. We try to explain it so that they can see the ‘move’ as we see it, as if they are standing in our shoes. What struck me so forcibly today was noticing that to help someone to get the move we need to start from what they can already see, and build on that as a progression. This sounds so obvious, yet it’s so easy to rush our information and fail to build.
I’m thinking about this in the context of creating a great Thinking Environment. How much does someone need to know about the 10 Components (http://bit.ly/2Nxi0Te) or about the power of assumptions in order to be able to think well?
What do you need to know in order to be able to think well, and as yourself?
What a great question. 🙂