The power of choice in team learning
My deep belief is that learning happens best when you set intention for not only trying something new, but practicing and experimenting in small steps. Simply put, tap into your team's motivation. Sure, this seems logical, but it’s not something that happens everyday (or ever) at work. This is especially true for teams, who have many things they could and should focus on, but often are pulled in many directions in executing their work and achieving outcomes. But imagine if teams choose to focus on one or two small things to learn and improve—that's where the magic happens.
Motivation in learning is certainly clear in my own personal life. Recently I have taken up piano and though I am still a novice, learning music (Bach, Tellemann) brings me such joy — and the way I am engaging in learning is emblematic of how I coach teams to approach their own learning and improvement. And though I’m also focused on working, momming, friending, partnering, volunteering amongst other things (notice I don’t even pretend to add housekeeping to my list) I find time each day to sit down and practice and learn in tiny micro sessions. Here’s some reflections on the power of choice in your learning which you might discuss and incorporate into your teams.
Explore motivation & choose a small step. How are you making space on your team for members to reflect and align on what you’re curious about? Once you've decided on a focus, brainstorm trying small together. When I decided as an adult to take up piano after many decades (gulp), I started by just sitting at the piano and spending 15 minutes a day re-learning reading music. From middle C, to scales, to reading simple songs I knew by ear, I sat down with small, easy-to-achieve practices where I began to gain confidence.
What are challenges we'd like to overcome? What is something we are curious about? How might we try something small to explore or experiment?
Put intention into learning. For piano, I realized having a teacher would help me quite a bit. So I looked and eventually found a great teacher who not only pushed me to try music I wouldn't have even thought I could learn, but also break down how to learn something challenging. For your team, reflect and align on the how of your learning.
How do we approach learning? What is the right size? How many things do we tackle?
Stay close to your motivation. This is especially important to me in learning piano. I want to enjoy playing and practicing. And not all music feels like something I'm excited about learning. My teacher sometimes encourages me to try new composers and genres, and I give them a try. Sometimes I am in the zone, and sometimes I'm not as interested. So I reflect and talk to my teacher and focusing on what I enjoy (I'm talking about you Baroque music!). Teams should do the same as they go.
What feels right to learn? What happens when we are stuck? How do we build joy and flow into our learning?
As an adult, sitting down and practicing piano has not only given me great joy, but is like a puzzle to solve, and a way to disconnect from my racing brain. The act of breaking something down, engaging in repetition, and then putting the pieces together measure by measure into an entire piece fills me with happiness. I don't practice hours a day, but minutes--and I see improvement in those small sessions over time. Imagine if your team took a similar approach to learning and improving--the satisfaction and impact you would see?
