Peter Honey opinion
By Peter Honey (August 2006 Issue)
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Some odd things happened to me at the conference. I might have guessed that I was in for an eventful day when, on my way to the hotel, I came across a notice on a street bollard saying ‘Wet Paint’. The paint looked fresh, but it didn’t look wet, and I fell to wondering whether the notice was correct. I even examined the notice to see if it looked as if it had been there for some time. There were no tell-tale signs that I could detect. So, knowing I was succumbing to a silly compulsion, I put a tentative index finger on the paint. It was still tacky! I laughed aloud to think I could have been so foolish. I consoled myself by deciding that my behaviour had been an admirable demonstration of curiosity – a bonus for any experiential learner.
It was a similar feeling of curiosity that took me to an excellent session led by Graham Shaw called Using Cartoons in Learning and Development. To my delight, the session turned out to be much more than ‘using cartoons’; it was about how to draw them. Graham gave a demonstration of how to draw a face and then asked us to follow him, using an exact sequence – nose, eyes, mouth, ear, hair and chin.
Everyone, even people who said they couldn’t draw, immediately produced totally acceptable cartoons. We then went on to experiment with different permutations – different sexes, noses, chins, and so on – and Graham reinforced our efforts by asking us to hold up our work and show it to our colleagues. Everything he said was positive and helpful.
The whole session – having a go, sharing, appreciative laughter, collaboration and loads of encouragement – was a superb example of a learning environment; a microcosm of the conditions we all need to create in our places of work.
My adventures continued. After lunch I mistakenly went into the ‘wrong’ session – I miscalculated which of the identical doors would lead me into the session of my choice. It was five minutes or so before I realised this wasn’t the session I had planned to attend. What to do? Get up and tiptoe out? Stay put and make the best of it? Have a nap at the back and hope nobody notices? I decided it would be too disruptive to get up and walk out, so I stayed.
What unfolded was an inspiring case study about change management in the Midland Co-operative Society, led by Tracey Orr and Sarah Peter Honey reflects on the TJ Conference and draws some important conclusions about his learning experiencesCook. They were commendably open and honest about what had worked and what hadn’t, and I gained a great deal from the session.
I realised that this experience was a splendid example of accidental learning! I had entered the room convinced I was somewhere else. Once I had made up my mind a) to stay and b) to learn from whatever was on offer, my ‘mistake’ became a welcome learning opportunity. This exactly mirrors many unplanned learning experiences that we happen to stumble upon, or that present themselves fortuitously when we least expect them.
Finally, something strange happened to me when I ran the final session of the day. I had decided to take a risk and draw cartoons on a flip chart to illustrate my main points. This was foolhardy because, as you know, I had only learnt to draw cartoons a few hours before. What happened in the event (besides my cartoons being somewhat inadequate!) was that I concentrated so hard on this novel routine that I actually forgot some important things that I had planned to say.
It was only afterwards that I realised what, in my anxiety, I had left out. The missing part was to spell out the implications for trainers of some trends that I had described (and attempted to illustrate!). There is no question that this was an important omission and that the ‘interference’ of drawing cartoons publicly for the first time in my life had caused it to happen (either that or put it down to senile dementia!).
So, why bother to share all this? It is because I believe that pondering my experiences, some planned, some unplanned, some welcome and some unwelcome, is a vital part of the learning process. These aren’t necessarily the ‘official’ lessons that the organisers of the conference expected me to learn. But that is typical of messy experiential learning. The key is to reflect on what happened, to tease out the lessons learned, and then to articulate them – even if it is only to yourself.
It was a similar feeling of curiosity that took me to an excellent session led by Graham Shaw called Using Cartoons in Learning and Development. To my delight, the session turned out to be much more than ‘using cartoons’; it was about how to draw them. Graham gave a demonstration of how to draw a face and then asked us to follow him, using an exact sequence – nose, eyes, mouth, ear, hair and chin.
Everyone, even people who said they couldn’t draw, immediately produced totally acceptable cartoons. We then went on to experiment with different permutations – different sexes, noses, chins, and so on – and Graham reinforced our efforts by asking us to hold up our work and show it to our colleagues. Everything he said was positive and helpful.
The whole session – having a go, sharing, appreciative laughter, collaboration and loads of encouragement – was a superb example of a learning environment; a microcosm of the conditions we all need to create in our places of work.
My adventures continued. After lunch I mistakenly went into the ‘wrong’ session – I miscalculated which of the identical doors would lead me into the session of my choice. It was five minutes or so before I realised this wasn’t the session I had planned to attend. What to do? Get up and tiptoe out? Stay put and make the best of it? Have a nap at the back and hope nobody notices? I decided it would be too disruptive to get up and walk out, so I stayed.
What unfolded was an inspiring case study about change management in the Midland Co-operative Society, led by Tracey Orr and Sarah Peter Honey reflects on the TJ Conference and draws some important conclusions about his learning experiencesCook. They were commendably open and honest about what had worked and what hadn’t, and I gained a great deal from the session.
I realised that this experience was a splendid example of accidental learning! I had entered the room convinced I was somewhere else. Once I had made up my mind a) to stay and b) to learn from whatever was on offer, my ‘mistake’ became a welcome learning opportunity. This exactly mirrors many unplanned learning experiences that we happen to stumble upon, or that present themselves fortuitously when we least expect them.
Finally, something strange happened to me when I ran the final session of the day. I had decided to take a risk and draw cartoons on a flip chart to illustrate my main points. This was foolhardy because, as you know, I had only learnt to draw cartoons a few hours before. What happened in the event (besides my cartoons being somewhat inadequate!) was that I concentrated so hard on this novel routine that I actually forgot some important things that I had planned to say.
It was only afterwards that I realised what, in my anxiety, I had left out. The missing part was to spell out the implications for trainers of some trends that I had described (and attempted to illustrate!). There is no question that this was an important omission and that the ‘interference’ of drawing cartoons publicly for the first time in my life had caused it to happen (either that or put it down to senile dementia!).
So, why bother to share all this? It is because I believe that pondering my experiences, some planned, some unplanned, some welcome and some unwelcome, is a vital part of the learning process. These aren’t necessarily the ‘official’ lessons that the organisers of the conference expected me to learn. But that is typical of messy experiential learning. The key is to reflect on what happened, to tease out the lessons learned, and then to articulate them – even if it is only to yourself.
Dr Peter Honey, FRSA, FCIPD, FIMC is a chartered psychologist and found of Peter Honey Publications. He can be contacted on +44 (0) 1628 633946, at peterhoney@peterhoney.com or visit www.peterhoney.com
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