Posts Tagged ‘growth’

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It’s Just the Beginning of the Journey

December 25, 2013

The culmination of a month or longer of anticipation and build-up to the moment. I’m awake and downstairs before the kids. Soon, they’ll be up, tearing wrapping from presents and reveling in what Santa brought. Then it’s over.

Mary and Joseph had about a 9-month build up. Then a birth. Then visitors. Then fleeing for their lives to Egypt. Then back home to Nazareth. With them it was not 30 days of hype and then poof it was over. They had to live with results.

Birth really isn’t the climax–the end of the story. It’s actually the beginning of the journey.

For each of us, a reminder of a beginning. Perhaps an invitation into a new beginning.

Last year I had a new beginning even at my advanced age. New beginnings can happen.

Merry Christmas. And here’s to a beginning of a wonderful new journey for you.

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Giving and Receiving Appropriate Feedback

December 19, 2013

I can’t believe I had gone so many days without writing. Yesterday I tried out a new iPad app for WordPress. It published before I added categories and tags. Today, I’ll play around with it a little, but I’m far behind in my other two blogs–not to mention a feature article about using Ethernet networking in manufacturing and a column on automation standards.

These days much of my leadership seems to be behind the scenes guiding others into thinking through things so that they arrive at sound decisions and move their projects forward. In the midst of that, I forgot that others are constantly evaluating me.

Someone in a position of some authority offered some feedback that just seemed a little lame to me. So, I pondered the feedback and what sort of feedback is useful. Part of the feedback was that “I hear great things about you, encourage more people to tell me how good you’re doing.” Was that useful feedback? What sort of sample size was that? Was it just one or two off-hand comments?

Then it sounded like how we are trained to offer feedback to soccer referees after a match where we are assigned officially as an assessor–point out one or two strengths and one or two areas for improvement with guidance containing a strategy for improving that area.

The soccer feedback assumes that I as the assessor know what constitutes good officiating and that I have already proven myself so as to lend credibility to my feedback. In other words, if the feedback is given from a person whom I respect and given to help me improve my performance, that’s one thing; but if the feedback is superficial pointing out only superficial things that do not really guide me into a way to improve, then it just feels lame.

I spent the better part of ten years setting and developing the direction of a magazine and constantly asked people wherever I went for ideas on improvement. Starting from September, I’m doing that all over again. In this case, I didn’t start the magazine but rather have assumed leadership of one that is older but has been failing for several years. So, I want ideas on what I could do to improve the property. My ideas will be shown next month to the public. Then I start the feedback process again.

A few thoughts:
Solicit feedback from people affected or people with expertise
Offer feedback that is truly helpful
Consider the feedback, but neither be unduly uplifted by superficial praise nor discouraged with unthinking criticism
Take all feedback as a source of potential personal improvement

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Posted in Attitude, Leadership | Leave a Comment »

Avoid The Inoculation Theory of Learning

August 19, 2013

My 6-yr-old grandson was in town for his first overnight a couple of weeks ago. We told him we were going to church on Sunday. He asked why. ” Your grandpa is singing,” was one answer–which didn’t impress him. “To learn about Jesus,” was the next answer. He said, “I already know that.”

I see this attitude often. I have taught and mentored kids and adults to become soccer referees for over 20 years. Most take the entry level class and think they should immediately start working top level games, and, oh by the way, I really don’t need to return for additional training year after year.

Many years ago I ran across a quote. I don’t remember its entirety any longer. The concept remains. People think of education like being inoculated from a disease. You get a little injection of it, then you’re immune for life.

Continual learning

The thing is that life requires of us to keep learning. One reason is that we need to learn new things simply to survive. We learn about new dangers–why we should watch carefully at intersections for cars running stop signs, why we should buckle seat belts, why we should be careful of the influx of coyotes in the neighborhood.

We also need to learn in order to grow. Early in my life, I was a baby. I just reacted to stimuli. Then I went through all the stages of growth that developmental psychologists have described so well. At every stage you may think you are mature, but you aren’t. Years later you look back and think about how poorly you handled a situation that today you’d handle much differently.

That is why one of the most important Spiritual disciplines is study. Read from the Bible or other thoughtful writing every day. This weekend I was leading a discussion on the first part of Exodus. I’ve read it before. I saw the movie when I was a kid. There are insights I just picked up yesterday. You never stop learning.

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Posted in Disciplines, Study | Leave a Comment »

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