Issue: My audience has a hard time remembering what I teach
Solution: Learning from Failure
Have you heard of the Winter Blues? Do you sometimes get it? Growing up in Mexico I had never heard of it. Then I came to Canada, where the winters are cold, dark and long, and I am now well acquainted with them. (I know Californians have “the January hill” which is the weight of all the bills from the December festivities).
I have found ice skating as a very good antidote for winter blues, which is at its peak these days in our household. Here is a picture of my kid and I at the local rink:
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Myself I learned as a clumsy 30-year old falling over and over the frozen Ottawa Canal. Thankfully I had a sweet -Canadian- boyfriend back in those days to hold my hand and pull me back up every time I fell. With his help and guidance I did learn.
So I was watching my kid this past weekend how he fell, and stands up and tries again. Gets a bit further. Fell again. Stands up again, keeps going. Fell… But he is a lot better than last year when he couldn’t stand on his skates more than a minute before falling. Why? because every weekend we are out there on the ice, falling and trying again.
(unless it is one of those -40 C weeks, then we hibernate)
I’m writing this because you guys wanted me to expand more on this very topic of learning from failure from the last blog post.
A few ideas on how to include “regulated failure” in training activities without traumatizing anybody include:
- Questions: Make it safe to be wrong or half-correct. ALWAYS provide the correct answer.
- Coaching: Let them try, do it wrong or fail, and then point out the correct way of doing it.
- Scenarios: Bring out the storyteller in you: this happens… what would you do? and then always debrief what would be your take on it.
- Examples: Similar to scenarios but something already happened, so it is more of analyzing what was the outcome and how could it change.
- Simulations & role playing: combines all the above with a touch of fun and next level engagement.
- Knowledge checks, quizzes or exams: They are really questions but more formal. In order for learning to happen from them, the correct or expected answer has to always be provided after they try.
- Videos, documents produced by others: Learning from others’ mistakes also helps and takes the pressure off a bit. Add a bit of emotion with something in the line of: “imagine it was you”.
- Lessons learned sessions: If you have watched ER, Grays Anatomy or any medical TV show you have seen the townhalls where doctors talk about medical mistakes and how to prevent them from happening in the future. Team meetings and [virtual or live] classroom settings are the perfect venue for these conversations too. There needs to be a certain level and culture of comfort though, for people to be willing to talk about their mistakes or lessons learned in the spirit of collective learning.
The KEY in learning from failure or mistakes, is to always know what is the correct answer or path of action. (If not, one makes the mistake and doesn’t necessarily know it was a mistake. Or you know it was a wrong answer but you don’t know what is the correct one).
Take Action:
Plan opportunities for your audience to make mistakes and learn from them in a safe and controlled environment. Make sure you ALWAYS include debriefs or the correct paths/answers after these activities.
Wishing you a mild Winter blues / January hill season friends! As for us, we will be at the mountain lakes skating.
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