doug smith training

Even brilliant minds sometimes fall behind. Keep learning. I say it a lot, and yet can't say it enough: keep learning. That's a note to self as well as anyone else. What have you learned today? -- doug smith 

  How many times a day are you aware of forgetting something? Where you put your keys, where the phone is, what time that appointment is, why you walked into the room you just walked into...we forget things all the time.  While it does make sense to do what we can to develop and retain our memory, we just aren't ever going to remember everything. Plus, most of the stuff that we once tried so hard to remember just doesn't even matter anymore. That ninth grade algebra test? That phone number to an office that no longer exists? The mission of that business that would not hire you? Gone and gone and gone. We forget more than we'll ever remember so just keep learning.  Keep learning new material. Keep learning new skills. Keep learning new things about the people you love (and the people you don't yet love!) Keep learning! What have you learned today? -- doug smith

  We all make mistakes. If we take the time to reflect on what happened and what we would do the next time a similar situation occurs we can build on our reserve of wisdom. It's not the only way, but it helps. We also build wisdom by continuing to learn, by reading long works (not just social postings), and thru deep, vulnerable conversations.  We cannot perfect the past but we can paint a better future.  Wisdom won't wipe out what came before, but it will provide a way to endure. What is your favorite way to build more wisdom? -- doug smith

  If it's worth learning, it's worth teaching. If you want to be sure that you've acquired a skill, do your best to teach that skill to someone else. You'll quickly find your gaps. You'll humbly stumble in some of the difficulties. And that will all help you learn while you share the knowledge that you are gaining. If it's worth learning, pass it on. -- doug smith

Ever have to repeat a lesson because you didn't get it the first time? Of course. Me, too. I figured out that the biggest reason is that I was in such a hurry to get back on track that I got back on the wrong track. Before you know it, same mistake, and basically the same lesson. Slow down enough to learn the lesson and you might not need to repeat it. I'm hoping that works for me. How about you? -- doug smith  

It may be comforting to lean on what we've already learned, but it's not enough. That doesn't mean that we need to abandon everything that we've learned, just to pay attention to what is changing. We can rely on learned foundational principles like continuous learning, ethical leadership, participative leadership, respectful communication and other core strengths that serve us well and that still matter. We also need to react to and find ways to manage brand new learning. Just exactly WILL we lead completely virtual workforces? How WILL we manage misinformation? What SHOULD we do about creating fair opportunities? There is much to be learned, but then again there always HAS been much to learn. The challenge now is to keep up the pace, to distinguish truth from deception, and to treat people with respect while building our own flexibility. What we've learned is important. What we still must learn is critical. -- doug smith 

If you're at all like me, there have been times when you thought you learned something but then didn't put it to use. By the time we get around to putting that new skill to use, it's gone.  The key is to put that skill to use right away. That day if possible and certainly within a week. Practice makes the skill stick. It won't be perfect at first (or ever!) but practice makes it better. Wisdom forgotten is not on your side. Wisdom applied is a trustworthy guide. -- doug smith  

We need bridges more than ever. Bridges to understanding. Bridges to shared meaning. Bridges over the turbulent conflicts toward and into peace. When we know how to build the bridge, we should. When we don't, we need to learn how. I don't know how actual bridges across bodies of water were invented but I imagine that it was little by little, innovation by innovation, failure after failure, lesson upon lesson. Learning can be difficult and yet it is always necessary. Learning builds bridges to better results. And, sometimes we need to remind ourselves how to learn. -- doug smith  

  What's the life span of wisdom? We learn all sorts of things that expire, that become untrue or useless. For example, all those hours I spent learning Wordperfect. Gone. All the knots I learned as a fire fighter, mostly forgotten. The lines that I memorized from productions years ago -- gone. But learning need not be frustrating. While we can't remember everything (or even most things!) the lessons that lead to wisdom will benefit us forever. The wisdom we acquire that allows us to treat other people with dignity and respect. The wisdom that makes us cautious enough to avoid mistakes we've made before. Wisdom does not expire. What have you learned today? -- doug smith  

How you grow is up to you, but you can learn a lot from how others have already grown. You can skip many of the same mistakes. You can build where they have established a foundation. You can grow by developing similar healthy habits. Growth never needs to stop. How are you growing today? -- doug smith  

Are you good at everything? Me, either. The list of people who are good at everything is short. That's OK. You don't need to master everything, but you DO need to master something. What are you working on to master these days? -- doug smith  

What you learn today is valuable for every day that follows.  Learn it now -- you may not get another chance. -- doug smith 

It may sound weird to plan for future learning, and yet we should. We should plan to keep learning confidently.  There are more lessons to be learned ahead of us than all of those we think we've learned already. Bigger lessons. Better lessons. Built on the lessons we've learned from before. What will be your next great source of learning? -- doug smith  

How long does it take you to recognize when you've made a mistake? It varies. That time as a child when I put my little hand on a hot stove, I knew immediately that was a mistake. But that time that I lost weeks of work and sleep over a broken relationship, that took awhile to figure out. It's even possible to rationalize a mistake.  It's as if a thief says "I deserve this because I've had a hard life" or a counselor says to themselves "of course it's fine for me to love that client in that possibly inappropriate way because they do love me don't they?" That's dangerous territory for a leader. We might even need other people to let us know when we get close to the margins so we can pull back to safety. We might need hedges around our walls around our moats to keep us safe. And unless we recognize a mistake, we won't learn from it.  It's hard to correct mistakes, and harder still if we keep defending them. -- doug smith  

Sometimes people can get on your nerves. Interrupting, ignoring, disagreeing, even laughing at the wrong time can feel like an intended insult. Taking that kind of interaction as an insult, though, will not improve the quality of the interaction.  I like to think of the people who drive me crazy as the people who spark more learning.  It might not be the lesson they want to teach me that I learn, but there is certainly something there worth learning. If we missed all learning that wasn't fun we'd miss a whole lot of learning.  Those annoying learning opportunities are sometimes exactly what we need. -- doug smith ]

Surprise! Learning is happening all around you, sometimes even TO you. I plan learning all the time, by reading, by attending workshops, by teaching, by scheduling adventures, by trying new projects...but you know what? Sometimes the best learning comes by surprise, when I least expect it.  From a problem...from a mistake...from a customer's remarks...from a student's suggestion... You don't have to have asked for learning for learning to show up.  "Keep learning," I tell myself, "Keep learning." -- doug smith

  Leaders make mistakes. Oh wow, do they make mistakes. At question is, are we learning from those mistakes? Can we manage our emotions? Do we redirect our misdirection? Do we serve instead of pander? Leadership is hard. That's why people are asking you to be in charge. Learning constantly will make it better, but it will always be hard. When it stops being hard, ask someone what is it that you're missing -- because you are definitely missing something. -- doug smith

You CAN get there from here.  When you think about it, you can't get anywhere except from where you are. We always start where we are. We always grow from our current level of development. We don't always know what that level is, though. Seeing our level of development is like finding a map to a treasure. The treasure is the better you, the better us, the better world. What does it take? Development, learning, and growth. To reach our potential (which may well be unlimited) we need to keep moving. To keep moving, we need to know where we are.  We can identify our level of development by asking the people we work with what works, and what needs work. We can attend training both in the skills we need in our work and in knowledge and skills that may not (on the surface) have anything to do with our work but that keep us growing. Growth is on your side. Go with growth. -- doug smith What have you learned today?

Do you like tests? I'm not wild about them. I'd rather write a paper than take a test. I'd rather read ten extra books than take a test. I just don't like tests. But...we do need some kind of test to prove that we've learned something. It could be demonstrating the skill, the way that a fire fighter has to be able to demonstrate connecting the hose to the fireplug. The way that a carpenter might have to demonstrate cutting the proper length of wood. It might be the way a pianist must perform a recital after hours and hours of practice. You might think you know something completely, but it's not as valuable as it is when people can see the results. You probably haven't truly learned something until someone else sees you do it. Are you learning? Are you practicing? Are you putting that practice to use? -- doug smith

I don't have it all figured out, how about you? Every day there is more to learn. I do my best to anticipate what I'll need to learn next, but some things emerge by surprise. Some things reveal themselves as lessons to be learned right in the middle of the lesson. Sometimes we don't know what we need to learn until we start to learn it. Whats's the answer? Keep learning. -- doug smith