Jump in, the water's fine

I consider myself a pretty positive person. And well, when I received a notice in my e-mail about Thiagi giving a webinar on Happiness, I must say I was more than a little intrigued. I mean, I have noticed that the word "Happiness" has been showing up in his monthly newsletters for a while now - and I am curious about that word. Happiness. It has a connotation of rainbows and Ziggy cartoons for me - a very 1970's word. But here it is 2010 and it is showing up in Thiagi's newsletters.

I know, I sound like a skeptic, and honestly I am not. I really love happiness. The real essence of what it is - I am very pro-happiness. But my skepticism comes from the advertising and media's interpretation of happiness. All sugary sweet, and although it tastes good, it isn't really good for you. It is like calling HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) sugar. But I attended this webinar today and donned my scarf of skepticism and waded into the webinar pool.

Now I must also tell you that I love grouchy people. I am not sure where it comes from, but show me a curmudgeon and I am all smiles. And I have met Thiagi, although I am confident he wouldn't remember me, but there was something I really liked about him when I introduced myself. And it became apparent to me when he self proclaimed to be a grouch. Tada! I knew it. And I settled in to listen to what he had to say about happiness. He even said that those of us love to teach the subjects we most need to hear. Ok. Well, he and Tracy started by presenting facts about happy people - how more creative they are, how much better they deal with work/life balance, how much better team members they are, the list goes on. And I promise not to ennumerate the entire webinar because that would be redundant - if you want to listen to it go here(http://www.trainingmagnetwork.com/discussions/show/2095).

But by the end of the hour, I found myself really feeling authentically happy. And realizing that our authentic happiness is dependent on a mix of several factors. 1) 50% of your happiness is based on your genetics - nothing you can do about that - it is just what it is. 2) 10% of your happiness is based on circumstances - not a whole lot you can do there either. But then 3) 40% of your happiness is based on your deliberate choices of activities. Well, that is something we can effect. Pretty cool. And notice - none of the components really have anything to do with other people - of course genetics do - but I mean in the sense of other people making you happy. Aha! We make choices. We reflect on how those choices make us feel. We choose to make choices that help us feel better - leading us to feel more happiness. Simple right?

Well, here's something I challenge you to do... in fact while on the call I challenged my family to this as well - and this was totally an exercise from the webinar - write down 3 things that over the last 24 hours you are grateful for. And for bonus happiness points, try doing it for 30 days. If you write more than 3 great - but at least put down 3. See how you feel. You might even want to write down how you feel before you start the 30 days and then at the end, write down how you feel post 30 days. I mean, it couldn't hurt right? And if you want to do even more, check out this website (https://www.positivityratio.com/survey.php) where you can find out your positivity ratio for today and if you want, track it for 30 days. I started today... and am looking forward to seeing where I am "floating" in 30 days. So I will say it again, jump in, the water's fine.

Letting the Shelf-Life Drive the Design and Delivery

Being someone who is quite visual, I was struck with an image during a conversation with a client last week.  It was one of those rare meetings where your client says they would like to hear about all of the different services your companie offers.  It is a pleasure of course to recieve that type of request.  And it is during these times that there is a lot of good conversation about how we could help them do more creative things.  Brainstorming, new possibilities, innovation - sign me up.  For a short while, there is no discussion of budgets or constraints.  Together we are thinking out of the box. 

And then I started thinking, what are the best practices, what are our recommendations for this or that type of technology?  How can I distill the decision making process into a manner that is clear and easy to follow... aha a picture.  A chart really, about how much a given course is expected to change... yes yes.  And what technologies are easy to edit and what technologies are more complex and possibly involve outside resources to build and modify?  Yes yes, we now have our X & Y axis'.  What about our trend line? Volitility yes, from low to high.  By George, I think I've got it!

I like this image because it helps me remember to ask the client about change. How often do they expect the material to change - even a simple name change.  Because the answer to that question can help you recommend how the course should be delivered - and how it is designed.  If the product name is going to change twice in a year, but the general content of the material is relatively static; then maybe we find a way to put the name in a frame that can be easily edited in house, and keep the name out of every piece of flash. 

To close, I would like to quote former British Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881) who said that, "Change is inevitable, change is constant." And remembering that in meetings with clients can help them and you make better decisions about how to deliver their content.

When a wrong makes right...

So many of my insights for this blog come out of our ADDIE to Improv web class.  I am sitting there in class and ideas and thoughts come to me and then I am off into a world of idea association.  I have found that if I make a short note, something I can come back to later, I can quickly avert the "down the rabbit hole" excursion and stay with our class.  And this topic is definitely one of those topics.  We talk about the value of practicing the wrong or ineffective behavior, and the benefits of using humor to highlight this kind of behavior.   Jeff Foxworthy comes to mind with his "You just might be a redneck..." bit.  I came across a short video (5 minutes or less) when reading the Rapid E-Learning Blog that did a great job of highlighting some of the wrong or ineffective behaviors around e-mail.  It has something for everyone - those of us who are frustrated by e-mail to those of us that are clueless that what we are sending in e-mail might be frustrating to others.  If you have the time, I encourage you to take a short jaunt down this rabbit hole. Go to this link .   Make sure to watch the  YouTube Video

But getting back to the idea of practicing the wrong or ineffective behavior... In the Improv world this game is often known as the game: The World's Worst.  And the idea behind it is to say things that embody the world's worst _______________(fill in the blank: Occupation).  

 Here's my example of The World's Worst Trainer:  (In a monotone, soft voice, sniffling from allergies) As you can see here in bullet point 6, that I highlighted the most important concepts in light gray, and the less important words in darker gray... I will just leave the slide up for a moment so you can jot down notes before I move on... uh Susan, go ahead and order lunch for everyone as we should easily get through this 106 slide slide deck by 1:30.

Thiagi has a great description of how the game can be played in an applied situation and he has a great list of the World's Worst Salesperson lines under his field notes section - Aside from all the wonderfully bad statements - where does this get us?  What is the value in practicing the wrong behavior?  The gold is in the debrief.  Thiagi recommends using a debrief he calls THIRTYFIVE .  The debrief is the area of where trainers can be eager to get past - because, this leads into territory that is less controlled, less planned.  Things can happen out here.  Unplanned discussion - but valuing that discovery and seeking it can really help your adult learners to process and think about what they have just been asked to do.  

Thiagi takes it a step further and asks the participants to rate the debrief responses that are written on cards -further instilling the thought process about what they just witnessed - and if that isn't enough, the participants, as a part of the debrief, asked to talk to one another - which by the 3rd round you most likely are talking to people you don't know so well.  Eek! Pushing the comfort level for both the traditional trainer, and the participant.  Wow!  But we learn empathy, by experience.  We get the opportunity to experience things first hand, in someone else's shoes.  We may even see ourselves from a different perspective.  We practice the wrong behavior to turn the whole problem inside out and see it from another perspective - and then we talk about it.  

The Importance of Listening

It struck me in our last ADDIE to Improv class, when we got to talking about the importance of listening, how difficult it can be to really listen.  Be it our spouse, our customer, our team members.  This cartoon came to mind.  I used to have it pinned up in my cubicle many years ago - and it speaks to the truth of not listening. 

We all want to be useful and helpful.  We all want to use our skills, especially when our economic situation has been so trying.

But how many of us are comfortable with really listening?  To set aside the impulses to jump to a solution before really hearing what is being said and then staying present in a dialogue about what the problem really is.  Does our culture make this easier or harder?  And why?

For me I think the reason I tend to jump to a solution before the person is finished talking is mainly fear.  Fear of not looking smart.  Fear of not having all the answers.  Fear of not being in control.  Ooh, I know.  Big stuff.  I also know that I cannot demand that my fears just go away - but I can recognize them.  Allow them to be there, but still move forward, still listen, remain present, ask questions that further open the conversation, follow the dialogue. 

Because in the end, we come to a better place.  We have authentically built our relationship with another person and ourselves.  We can share our thoughts and ideas and hopefully have a better solution, one that actually addresses the current issues rather than an egocentric solution that is built on what we already know how to do.

Vizualization is a powerful business tool

The beginning of a new year and the ending of an old one tends to drum up a lot of media about assessing what happened in the last year. Looking back, what happened, what can we learn from it? It sounds like classic text book stuff. But I challenge you to try something different this time. Try not doing it. Ok. I know that is nearly impossible. But how about this. Try doing it only 10% of what you might normally do. And in place of the remaining 90%, think about how you see 2010 unfolding. Oh yeah, and here is an advanced move... think about it as if it has already happened or is happening right now.


A good friend of Nancy and I at KnowledgeShift, Adam Hartung, wrote a book called the Create Marketplace Disruptions. Adam has a unique way of looking at businesses and innovation. And it is from Adam that I was reminded of this visualization concept. Adam has a step in his evaluation process called "Scenario Planning". And what is so special about it to me is that it is focused on looking at the future. What does the future at a macro level look like. Say 2-5 years from now, how is the landscape going to change and what does that mean for my marketplace. I think we can use the same concept to look personally and see what our personal futures will look like. What things can affect us negatively, what things will most likely stay the same. It is a process of opening up our minds to options, possibilities, seeing challenges that we might not have seen - or been unwilling to see.

So now I take you back to my challenge at the beginning of this blog... once you have an idea of what your future looks like, dare to think about it in the present tense. This is a great way to see the places where your own internal voice may be judging you or worse, sabotaging you. If you hear that voice, don't shun it. Talk to it. Ask it why it says those things. This is really your fear talking to you. And changes in thinking and perception about yourself, can bring a lot of fear. Keep on. Walk with your fear. And if you don't have any little voice talking to you about why this is a stupid exercise - then good job... I mean it really.

As a very practical application, I have recently been doing this with sleeping, as my dog has been getting me up in the night to go out. And then when we return to bed, I found that I couldn't get back to sleep very easily. My mind was racing with lyrics to songs, stuff I heard throughout the day, worries, etc.... So, I decided to try telling myself the following: I am a sound sleeper. I fall asleep easily. I have relaxing and peaceful sleep. zzzzz

Thinking is the first step. The next step is writing, followed then by verbalization which leads to action. But baby steps first.

I would love to hear about your experiences with this - either by your own experimentation or your personal stories with this type of work.

Happy New Year everyone - it is a great year!

Law of Emotional Learning

It is no surprise that we are big fans of Thiagi.  And if you aren't familiar with him, well then you are in for a treat.  You can check him out at http://thiagi.com .   This month's Thiagi letter is full of great information.  The part that really jumped out at me was a section called "Laws of the Adult Learner".  We talk about the value of emotions in our ADDIE to Improv class.  And Thiagi has a section called Laws for All Creatures Great and Small that echos that sentiment.

Law of emotional learning: Events that are accompanied by intense emotions result in long-lasting learning.

Use training games, simulations, and role plays that add emotional elements to learning. Make sure that emotions don't become too intense and interfere with learning. Make sure that participants don't learn dysfunctional behaviors because of intense emotions. Debrief participants after emotional activities to reflect on their feelings and learn from their reactions.

John Cleese and Lily Tomlin both are known for not only their comedic genius' but also for educational training.  Pretty cool, huh.  The simplest idea behind it is that if you are laughing you are learning.  But if you take that a step further and think about the evolution of our brains.  We have what is called a Triune Brain.  Three, three, three brains in one.  

Long ago we were reptiles, and we still have deep within our brains, the reptilian brain or it is also called the R-Complex.  The Reptilian Brain is responsible for basic functions - fight, flight, breathing, digestion, circulation - basic but very important stuff.  As we evolved over thousands of years, we developed a Mammalian Brain or Limbic Brain.  The Mammalian Brain is the type of brain you find in mammals - and the differences between reptiles and mammals is quite apparent.  Mammals have "feelings".  It is this part of the brain that controls emotions, moods, memory and hormone control.  It is here that we are advocating that you look for ways to incorporate emotional experiences in your training.  Scenarios, exhibits, games that put you in the moment (hey, that's an improv term) and allow the student to experience and practice the skills they are learning help to stimulate the Mammalian Brain, raising the learning.  And it is important to stress that whenever you are using an emotional component to your training that you allow time to debrief.  To allow your students to talk about their experience.  The talking is part of the processing of the information.

And for those of you who need to complete the circle of our story, the last part of the brain is the part that humans and primates have, the Neocortex.  This allows us to be able to do things that other mammals cannot - such as complex social interactions and advanced planning - and in humans this part of the brain has grown quite large, thought to be due to our development of language.

So I challenge you, what types of things make you laugh, smile, muse?  And how can you try to incorporate those types of experiences into your training?  When would it be inappropriate?  And why?  Let yourself go, wonder.  I would love to hear what you come up with.

 

Check out this website

http://www.psycheducation.org/emotion/triune%20brain.htm 

 

 

By Allison Black

Taking IMPROV to Heart

Taking our teachings in ADDIE to Improv to heart, I am often reminded of how Improvisation can be applied to everyday life.  It is with this Blog that I hope that our thoughts and insights on applied improvisation will be beneficial to you.  Sometimes the impact may be subtle and hopefully once in a while it will help you find an "Ah hah" moment.  I find the more you are aware of improvisation, the more you see it, and the more you become it.  So without further exposition, I give you our new ADDIE to Improv Blog (sounds of "TaDa" and cheering - and of course clapping, because that is what improvisers do).

Allison Black, KnowledgeShift