Learning Matters
By Marybeth Fidler

"THIS LEARNING MATTERS COLUMN IS SIXTH – AND LAST -- IN A SERIES
EXPLORING THE SEVEN PRINCIPLES EMBODIED IN THE LEARNING EXPERIENCES
OF THE CENTER FOR ASSOCIATION LEADERSHIP. THIS COLUMN FOCUSES ON
THE PRINCIPLE, “LEARNING IS AN ONGOING PROCESS OF SELF-DISCOVERY.”

Who Are You Today?
I practice yoga daily. It is a learning discipline -- a process of self-discovery. The yoga
teacher says, “Come ‘new’ to the yoga practice today. Don’t assume what you were
yesterday is what you will be today, and most especially, do not assume it must be
“better than yesterday.” Approach it like an adventure in a new place. Look around with
curiosity, make note of everything, be present in the experience, discover what is true for
you today…”

There is a compelling television commercial for Microsoft – a customer makes a
request for something strange and totally outside the expected customer behavior
profile. Theemployee serving the customer is perplexed and has difficulty responding, because thisnew information does not fit existing beliefs about the customer. Unlike the employee, thecompany’s computer software is busy recording and integrating the data into a new, expanded view of who the customer is and what the customer wants and needs. In the background, a voice says, “Always perceptive, never
perplexed. Agile business softwarefrom Microsoft.” The implication is that as humans
we have blind spots caused by ourbeliefs, our worldview, and most especially, our
view of who we are and that we have difficulty simply seeing “what is” when
that differs from what we believe.

Learning is not just about acquiring skills or information. Learning is also about
letting go of limited perceptions and allowing more awareness of what is -- and
what is possible. Self discovery is a critical element of the learning process.
If I am to be -- or help others to be -- an innovator, a creative thinker, or one
capable of leading the reinvention of an organization, then I must be able and willing
to discover new things about myself. I must be willing to reframe who and what I
am based on new experiences, new learning. If I cannot allow myself to self-discover,
to expand and change, then I will not be able to allow my organization or those
around me to change.

I know in my heart that the instruction to come “new each day” to the practice is
really encouragement to let go of attachment to who and what I am in order to
find out more about that very thing.

There are some things that help me -- and that may help others -- be more
comfortable and open to the process of self-discovery. One of these things is
ACCEPTANCE. I have found it necessary and valuable to adopt the notion that
“what is, is” and that any self judgment about the good or bad of that impedes
my willingness to “tell the truth about what is.”

A second thing is to LET GO OF STRIVING. I have been surprised and delighted by
the discovery of new aspects of myself. What I have come to appreciate is that
these more delightful aspects of self rarely, if ever, reveal themselves in a strident
or striving environment. They must be coaxed out – cajoled. They must be offered
a soothing, safe environment.

I was talking to a friend and respected colleague the other day. I was being
critical of myself – not self-accepting and definitely full of striving. She simply said,
“It sounds to me like you are doing all the right things.” Her validating words
soothed and relaxed me. I suddenly felt free to see what I needed to see and take
action. Criticism and fear of making a mistake cause us to implode on ourselves.
Letting go of this creates spaciousness – creates the void out of which the next
great discovery or insight will be pulled.

A learning environment that encourages an ongoing process of self-discovery will
be one that:

	Rewards people for accepting what is true today;
	Reminds people there is no destination – that learning and self-discovery are a journey;
	Soothes, cajoles, and coaxes out the most dear aspects of self; and
	Accepts mistakes as a normal process of life, replacing fear with the spaciousness.

AUTHOR LINK Marybeth Fidler is an independent consultant and co-author of
Successful Association Leadership: 21^st Century Competence for the CEO.