Learning: “Do we have to fan the fire?”
From the beginning of times people trusted on their instincts to hunt, to protect themselves, to survive. Then came the urge to understand, the urge to go further, higher, faster, the urge to win. The human species want to live well, healthy and comfortable and try to adapt the environment and society to their own wants and needs.
A baby turns to his belly, wants to crawl, wants to stand up, wants to walk, and wants to go forward. The baby learns how to communicate and learns the rules of society. He’s supported in this experience by his parents, relatives and later by his teachers, friends, and colleagues. It’s a road of falling down and getting up. Yet only driven by instincts?
Do we learn instinctively, or is it driven by ambition or motivation? A dictionary learns that instinct is an internal feeling that leads to action. Ambition is described as ‘a drive to’. Motivation is the encouragement, the stimulus, the inspiration.
Instinct, ambition, motivation? Is there an order? Which of these three is the most important? Are there connections between these three or does one feed the other?
Instinct, ambition, motivation? Is there an order? Which of these three is the most important? Are there connections between these three or does one feed the other?
I want to share my opinion: instinct is the ‘spark’, the match that ignites the fireplace. Motivation is the wood or the fuel that is needed to keep the fire burning. Ambition is the oxygen to arrange the intensity of the fire. Separately, none of them can produce long-term heat, but when brought together a nice, warm fireplace occurs. This warm fireplace is for me a metaphor of enthusiastic and passionate working and learning.
Oké I hear you … and now?!
Our current society offers a large quantity of possibilities. People zap.
Students try out different studies or even switch between disciplines. Employees try different jobs. Sportsmen don’t stay in one club or school their entire carrier. Even monogamy is down-grated to an option…
We adopted this way of thinking from popular TV shows like “Big Brother” and other “Temptation Islands” where every week someone else gets voted off.
Luckily there are also people that see in these situations changes to learn.
A lifelong collection of experiences because the answer to the question:
“What would you never forget from this experience?” always is…
· I’ve learned to push my boundaries…
· I’ve got to know myself better…
· I’ve learned from my fellow participants and which relations are important…
For these people learning is the essence anywhere, anyhow, anytime. We call them: instructors, teachers, trainers, coaches…
Goals of learning:
Get to know yourself, your close relations (work and private) your boundaries. Learn new approaches, to think differently, see new angles in various situations. Learn to go better, more efficient. Learn to keep moving. Learn to find the balance in the desired state for the future and a personal design to become a better person.
Trainers and coaches can support these new ways of learning by making learning more attractive and feasible for everyone. Learning must be FUN! It’s their role to seduce people with interactive and exciting ways of learning. Trainers have to develop courses together with the student and/or customer to their required standards.
Starting by getting acquainted and reflect together by asking:
“Where is this course supposed to lead to?”
This has proven to work powerful to me in various fields of learning for organizations, teams and individuals. It’s my way of learning and inspiring others to take a firm grip on their personal development.
What does this mean for shop floor training?
Learning is not the key business for any economic organization.
Although managers are fully aware that the organizations ability to learn is their biggest asset and it will give their company a big competitive advantage.
Life duration of products and processes are becoming shorter. This means that time to market needs to be shorter and more innovation is needed. We must be flexible and decisive to get an answer for customer needs.
For me this struggle for market shares is just like surviving in the prehistory. So we have to set up ways to think faster and to learn faster than our competitors. We have to make use of all the brainpower in our organization from shop floor to top management.
Grass doesn’t grow by pulling; it grows by water the roots. Therefore I plead to use a strength based approach. Use people talents build it to strengths so that the individual (motivation, well being, joy) and organization (results) will benefit.
The role of the trainer/coach is to inspire people, give them tools and challenges so that the fire of learning doesn’t need fanning, but is stirred up (ignited) from within the individual themselves.
Companies have to fill in 2 conditions
1. The shop floor must be the most powerful learning environment (where we connect strengths of people to the work that needs to be accomplished)
2. A transparent rewarding system with appreciation for acquired competences or talents that have become strengths.
By this we create a win-win situation between the ambition of the employee and the goals of the company.
I hope, as an advisor for Philips, to contribute to the evolution of our organisation by developing our employees and set up ways for constant learning. This learning must able to “shift” to the needs of our customers. By reflecting on these processes we will gain knowledge productivity which we need to come up with timely innovations which improve people’s lives.
A. Swannet, Los Angeles May 2011
