Quickthink

I am an advocate for accelerating learning. It is really, really important. Why? Because we have to learn faster if we are going to be able to cope with the types of global challenges that we face these days. And because we want to in order to learn how to live better. And because we can.

We can? Sure. Technology is offering us tools that allow us to re-think how we learn and how we can learn more efficiently - and more meaningfully. But we need to learn how to use these tools.

For example,we know that video is the most powerful content delivery medium we have. Check. And we are seeing more presentations (knowledge transfers) that used to be done in class (lecture) or via books now offered via video. So what is the relationship between that experience and what we do in groups? Or are groups no longer needed? Should we ditch the whole idea of classrooms and just learn by attending MOOCs?

I think we still need to get together - but not to sit there listening to lectures all day. Getting together gives us a chance to learn in ways that we cannot do so well alone.Like what? Well, in groups we can help people learn how to use information (not just absorb it). And we can discuss the value of what we know. And we can learn how to interact more efficiently. And we can generate new ideas.

Right so, what should the relationship between remote learning and intimate learning look like? I think Salman Kahn has a good vision here and it is worth checking out.

Enjoy!

In one of my prepared remarks, I like to point out that mankind has made huge progress towards our current “civilized state” only during the last 2% of our time on the planet. For the earlier 98%, we were far too busy just surviving.

What happened that changed the game? It was not that man suddenly got smarter. If you go back to the beginning, man had the same 100 billion neurons in his brain that we have. What happened is that man discovered some highly useful tools that accelerated the acquisition and dispersion of learning. As man learned how to use these tools better, the learning accelerated and innovation (applications of learning) became more routine.

Conventional wisdom is that internet is the most advanced tool ever devised to accelerate exchanges of information. That may be so. But having the capacity to do exchanges does not mean that we will do it well. We are still looking for tools that accelerate our acquisition and dispersion of learning.

In that regard, check out what Bloomberg Businessweek has to say today about Evernote.  I do not argue that Evernote is the magic tool that we seek. But I do find the distinction made between Evernote and Facebook et al to be instructive. With Facebook et al, we transmit to the world what we want the world to see. This is not necessarily the most useful information that we have. With Evernote, we record the information about who we really are.

My point - we have a way to go yet before we stop thinking about marketing as a form of manipulation and start using it more to promote learning. My bet is that we will figure this out, and soon.

Dan Pink is a good writer. By that, I include the idea that he is good at selling an idea. So it is no surprise that his book about selling (To Sell is Human) is a good sales job. How does it start?

Step one is all about forming a group. Eliminating the distance between Dan the writer and you the reader of his book. BTW, people who are not so good at sales don’t feel that distance and so they don’t realize it is a barrier to making the sale. But Dan is different. And perhaps you are too … Dan and you know that to get to the sale, you need to make your target feel like he or she is connected to the group of people … who are already sold.

It is a kind of invitation. But an invitation of a special sort. Not to a party that is going to happen, but to an important party that is already happening.  One that we might miss, unless we join in. ‘

Once we are at the party, the sales work can move on to the next step. Bu not until then. BTW, that is the genius behind the design of the Apple store. Going to the store is very much like going to the party. You join in by walking in the door. No wonder they sell so much stuff!

In medical terms, seeing double is a problem. It suggests a problem with the eyes or brain. And our brains are hardwired to see only one thing at a time. So in this picture

We can either see the young lady or the old lady. But we cannot see both at the same time.

But … that is not the end of the story. If we accept that there are two or more images there, we can go back and forth between them. And the same is true what we experience in day to day life. A transaction at the store is paying money. It is also (perhaps) community building, a social encounter, and so on.

That brings me to Elon Musk. He argues that people tend to limit themselves too much by reasoning from analogy rather than first principles. So if a thing is like it was in the past, it will not change. We can’t see the possibility of change.

Well, not all analogical reasoning closes us to the possibility of change. But closed analogies do. And breaking things down into their elements helps free us from our bias of permanence. The bias that things are one way and so they will stay so forever.

Right. So how to break things into their fundamental principles? The first step is to learn how to see principles not just things. We can do this if we believe that they are there.

Hint: Remember the old and young lady? It’s the same process.

One reads a lot these days about things speeding up. As if we are traveling at “warp drive”. And what is that? From Wikipedia

Warp drive is a hypothetical faster-than-light (FTL) propulsion system in the setting of many science fiction works, most notably Star Trek. A spacecraft equipped with a warp drive may travel at apparent speeds greater than that of light by many orders of magnitude, while circumventing the relativistic problem of time dilation.

We have gotten used to the idea that this is good. That going faster is better.

But … what if in the 21st century, we begin to realize that we are running faster … simply to stay in the same place? Like the Red Queen in Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass. Alice, naive girl that she is, has the courage to question this

“Well, in our country,” said Alice, still panting a little, “you’d generally get to somewhere else — if you run very fast for a long time, as we’ve been doing.”

“A slow sort of country!” said the Queen. “Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!” ^[1]

Here is the classic image by John Tenniel (who was knighted by Queen Victoria in 1893)

What if we change strategy and start to slow down? What if people begin to see the value of doing less but better?

What if, indeed! There is no question. If you want to learn more, you need to do less. So slow down, my friend. Smell the roses and see what is around you.

“But … but ….” I hear, “won’t others take advantage? Won’t they get far ahead?” The answer is no. They will not get ahead if you have a clear strategic idea of where you are going.That kind of vision is rare and more rare when people run around like poulets sans têtes. So think strategically … and relax.

You might think that this is a post about space travel. It’s not. It is about the limits we impose on ourselves by the metrics we choose. Hmm? Right. To decide whether we are “successful” or not, we generally compare ourselves with something that we know. Something that we see or read about. And if we exceed that standard, life is good. We are great. Here is an example - HBO comparing itself to Netflix.

But … why that standard? If a thing were truly important and we had the skills, why not go further? Well, this would look rather different. Consider the praise other NBA stars are heaping on Lebron James.

“You have to guard him close, you have to play him tough and we did that. But, I mean, we’re just human. He’s not.”

We’re just human?

I have been on an “accelerating learning” binge this morning. And here is the grand finale. To build the capacity to learn faster, we need a strong starting point. Something to push off from. Why? To make a strong commitment to the learning challenge at hand.

Here is the tip - you cannot do this while you are berating yourself. That weakens you. And yet, we are all hardwired to do that. From time to time, we all say to ourselves “Boy, am I a loser, or what?” Or we dwell on a failure or failures from our childhood. To be blunt, we need to cut that out. It weakens our capacity to commit to learning.

Here are a few exercises that can help you do this.

1. Practice expressing gratefulness. To yourself and to others. Being grateful puts you in a great position to look to the future instead of dwell on the past.
2. Repeat positive messages to yourself. Tell yourself “Good job!” when you do a good job. And btw, do this to others too. Repetition builds stronger mental pathways.
3. Don’t accept negative conclusions without a fight. We are all hardwired to give up a tough fight. To cut and run when things seem really scary. It is a survival mechanism. But this gets out of control and is often out of place in the modern world. Stand and fight broad negative conclusions.

How did I figure the above out? I didn’t. I just happened read it in Entrepreneur by Nadia Goodman and agree with it.

And why do I agree? Because I have learned that thinking about something (like positivity) changes the neural structure of the brain to cause us to become that thing. Think of it this way - thinking about exercise is enough to make your muscles stronger. Thinking about getting smarter (and how to get there) will in itself make you smarter. That is the power of thinking.

It is all because of dendrites. Because of dendrites

 The more ways you learn a fact, the better your chances are at remembering it.

Why? Because repeated encounters with the fact create new dendrites connected to the neuron in your brain that uses that fact. From schooleforlife.com. So get those dendrites growing around the facts you need to learn!

BTW, this way of thinking provides us with some insights into how to communicate more effectively as well. Like dealing with the amydala, cortisol, etc.

Dan Pink delivered this quote to me today

“You don’t want to be the best at what you do. You want to be the only one who does what you do.” – Jerry Garcia (probably)

Thanks Dan!

I really like this idea because it captures one of life’s traps - believing that being better at something is the ultimate. It is nice. And it can be much better than nice. But in terms of life’s ultimate meaning, being the best doesn’t cut it. The ultimate meaning comes from being unique in your life’s story.

BTW, this is a profound strategic idea. It enables you to remove competitive distractions from your radar screen and focus on where you are headed. Because the trick is to bring this unique quality that you have into what you do. That is what made Jerry Garcia … Jerry Garcia.

Thanks again Dan!

One last point. To make this work, we need to keep in mind that we don’t just automatically become that unique person. It starts from a decision that we make that we want to be that person.  That starts the learning process off, so we can figure out how to realize our vision. Without that decision, this is all a lot of hot air.

I posted this morning on some tools that can help us build better web platforms. Fun stuff. But I was not totally happy with it. The model is too complicated. Too many elements. This complexity takes away the magic. And that is a big problem. Because great platforms — like great parties — generate great magic. So how to get the magic back?

I was lucky to bump into another word that helps pull all of the elements together. and presto! Here it is - paracosm. Seth Godin posts about using paracosms today. He writes

A paracosm is an ornate, richly detailed imaginary world. Whether you’re a three-year old with imaginary playmates, or a passionate inventor imagining how your insight will change just about everything, a paracosm gives you the opportunity to hypothesize, to try out big ideas and see where they take you.

My mirror neurons are bleeping! Seeing an ornate, richly detailed imaginary world works as a precursor to fitting into a better real world. Platforms need to “pull” us into a paracosm to work. Here is a fun example of a video that pulls us into a paracosm.

Enjoy!  … It appeared to be a ship, but then it vanished.

You read it a thousand times - ” … in order to find success, you need to set goals.” Message received. And we know also by now that not all goals are alike. Abstract goals like “doing your best” are not as useful as concrete goals like “getting to work on time every day.” Again, message received.

But gaming has delivered a refinement to the above, that has helped me. There are at least two dimensions in which our goal setting has effects. The first dimension is in the long term. Like when a child decides to become a professional musician. Making that choice as a goal is critical for learning. For a variety of reasons, it makes that child more creative in how he or she learns, and speeds up the learning process (by as much as 300%). Great stuff!

But there is a second dimension to this - the short term. Setting short term goals generates steps up to the next level. And it gamifies the process - it makes it fun. So goal setting actually is not so simple.

Damn!