Illumination

Illumination is not about the light that is shed by the light bulb or the sun. It’s what your brain and eyes do with the light and the things you are able to see and interpret and do. You could fumble around in the dark and still get things done. It would just take you longer and you might even be harmed in the process.

My mom’s friend went blind in her forties. I’m amazed at how she has adapted. She even cuts her own hair and grills burgers! It just takes her longer, and she’s had to develop systems to figure out the things that you and I can see quickly and easily. Is the meat ready to be turned? Are my bangs even? Are they too short? Easy enough for you and me. Not so easy for her. In the beginning, she burnt and cut her fingers a lot, but eventually she figured things out. She took classes to teach her systems and processes to help with the things we take for granted.

Similarly, learning is not about what the person teaches you. It’s about what you do with that knowledge. I share the knowledge, but it is your actions that make the difference. Are you fumbling around in the dark with work arounds you have developed over time? You know there has got to be a better way. You just don’t take the time to stop and find that better way. You think you’re too busy to learn, so you keep fumbling around wasting more and more time. How much time have you wasted already, only a couple of weeks into this year, because you won’t take the time to stop and learn a better way?

Maybe some of your hesitation is because of time you have wasted with ineffective training that left you ill-equipped to do something afterwards. Too frequently, we are focused on learning as an event that happens. I went to training. I attended the webinar or CLE. Nothing happens as a result of those things. It happens as a result of you taking action and implementing the new knowledge you gained. But what if you don’t remember much of what you were taught? What if the action is 12 steps and you only remember 4? What if you were so distracted that you only caught 10 of them, but those other 2 were critical? Was the class so rushed that you didn’t even have time to take notes or ask questions? Where does that leave you? More knowledgeable, but still fumbling around in the dark, doing the best you can.

As trainers and learners, we both have responsibilities.

Mine as a trainer are to share information or lead you to information, use my knowledge of how the brain works to transfer information effectively, give you resources to help aid your retention, build a framework for you and others to practice and access resources, and ensure that you are able to apply what you have learned back at your desk with the tools at your disposal.

Yours as a learner are to show up ready to learn with your mind fully engaged and relatively free from distractions. You must also question those things that are not clear to you and ensure you have what you need, so that you will be able to put your new knowledge and skills into action not just today, but weeks from now when it really matters.

If you are stumbling around in the dark and not getting the things you need from training, I want to light a path for you. If you are a trainer who is only comfortable with instructor-led training and wants to see a better way, I want to light a path for you as well. Do not think your need is too small.

Those moments spent fumbling in the dark add up to hours of frustration.

There’s a better way. It is tradition with a bright future. Reach out. Let me help you.