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Just before the holidays, I had the pleasure of working with Daniel Pink on a Training Magazine-hosted webinar entitled "A Whole New Workforce: Educating and Engaging Employees in a Right-Brain World."

 

For those of you who don't know Dan's work, I strongly encourage you to read his book A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future. In it he gives an overview of the importance of right-brain thinking in our modern economy and describes the six abilities that individuals and organizations must master to compete in an outsourced, automated world. It will certainly make you think about the ways our world is changing and the implications of these changes for our organizations, our employees and ourselves.

 

I first met Dan when he spoke several years ago to ISA, The Association of Learning Providers. In a high-energy, thought-provoking presentation, he addressed the need for educational suppliers to understand the implications of his research and conclusions as we design programs and services for our clients. His ideas resonated very strongly with me and reinforced Paradigm Learning's commitment to discovery learning as our foundational design methodology.

 

One of the six aptitudes that Dan explores in his book, for example, is the idea of "story." "Story represents a pathway to understanding that doesn't run through the left side of the brain," he says, adding that stories provide "context enriched by emotion, a deeper understanding of how we fit in and why that matters."

 

In all the business simulations that we've designed over the years, we use a story to engage learners in the experience, to move the learning along a path of discovery and to help promote long-term retention. In Zodiak^®: The Game of Business Finance and Strategy, for example, small teams of learners buy Zodiak Industries — a good company, but one that is not growing or keeping pace with the competition. As the story unfolds, the new owners make strategic decisions — about raising prices, investing in new equipment, adding new products, changing payment terms — that impact the top and bottom lines. The story is fun and engaging, but most important, it simulates a "real" company and helps learners see and feel the impact of decisions and actions over a period of three years. The ah-ha's are many, and the story is one that learners will remember as they return to their jobs.

 

Another of the six aptitudes is symphony. Dan defines this as "the ability to put together the pieces... to synthesize rather than to analyze, to see relationships between seemingly unrelated fields, to detect broad patterns rather than to deliver specific answers."

 

Designing ways for learners to grasp the big picture is always a critical consideration for us, whether we are developing our products or working with clients on custom projects such as Discovery Maps®. We use visuals, simulations, games and other experiential learning activities to build toward a holistic understanding — a symphony — of learning content. When managers and employees grasp the bigger context, they are more likely to act in ways that are in sync with the organization's strategies.

 

I hope that you'll take some time to view our webinar or to read Dan's book. For those of us in the learning industry — whether as suppliers or as organizational learning professionals — I believe that Dan's research and conclusions can guide us to develop training and communication programs that help employees think and act in more conceptual and creative ways.

 

PS. Dan has just released his latest book, called Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. More food for thought as we develop and retain employees!

 

 

 

I was attracted to a short article the other day titled "The Role of Curiosity in Learning." In a nutshell, the author defines a learning organization as one that encourages a culture where employees can – and do ask questions. Unfortunately, she says, many adults have forgotten how to be curious after having lived through the "sit down and be quiet" approach of many of our educational systems. And our organizations haven't always made it easy for employees to be curious!

 

The article reminded me just how important it is for companies to use the power of questions to help employees through the turmoil of change.  

 

What, why, how, when and what about me? These questions are very real to employees as change occurs -- new systems, mergers and acquisitions, senior leadership changes, reorganizations, layoffs and more. When organizations use one-way communication during times like these, questions will usually get answered around the watercooler -- and not necessarily answered correctly. Employee morale, retention and productivity can suffer.

 

Organizations need to tackle change questions by getting employees to talk. Conversation is the key ---but it needs to be structured conversation that allows participants to explore the right questions in a setting of participation, honesty and safety.

 

That’s why Discovery Maps® work so well for major change initiatives. This high-involvement approach  drives discussion around issues that employees are already highly curious about. It guides small teams of learners to discover answers and to raise even more questions of their own. As they learn, they  integrate new information (ah-has!) into their own knowledge base.

 

Here’s what the author says about "great questions" (paraphrased):

 

When Paradigm Learning helps clients communicate strategic change, our biggest challenge after understanding the change issue is to help them come up with great questions -- those that get at the what, why, how, when and what about me concerns.

 

Questions that tap into employees' curiosity.  Questions that guide deep thinking. Questions that are simple yet relevant and revealing. Questions that point the way to new insights  The second challenge, then, is to integrate those questions into an experience that is engaging, challenging, nonthreatening, targeted, relevant and honest. 

 

For change communication professionals, then, one of the keys to success is posing the right questions in the right setting.