chrisbrogan.com - Latest Comments in How Not to Learn

Re: How Not to Learn

susanwen — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 23:12:33 -0000

no need to be close minded.

Re: How Not to Learn

Audi — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 20:08:34 -0000

Good points, no need to be close minded.

Re: How Not to Learn

Luigi Cappel — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 05:32:00 -0000

It turns out that it wasn't Unilever trying to con us at all, it was the supermarket. I had a great conversation with someone from Uniliver who explained that they haven't changed the price for the new product, the grocer did. I'm quite relieved really and appreciative of the effort they took to explain it. I'm ready to criticise, but also to acknowledge it when I'm wrong. It's still a rip off though. http://luigicappel.wordpres...

Re: How Not to Learn

maikeru76 — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 02:27:34 -0000

Another great one,

Stopped me for a moment and think deeply...for having done that,

You are a supastah ;)

Re: How Not to Learn

Laurie Mayers — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 14:03:33 -0000

I really enjoyed this, and appreciated your call for open-mindedness. Story in the NYT today shows how the models/product specialists at the New York Auto Show are being badgered by people angry at the car companies:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009...

Re: How Not to Learn

Simon Stapleton — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 07:27:28 -0000

It's easy to criticize when you haven't tried!

Buy a concentrated product that uses less packaging and costs the environment less to ship, and pay more - then criticize its value. If you don't like it, ask for a refund.

Only once you have experienced it can you fully learn from it.

Re: How Not to Learn

@janieangus — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 01:46:49 -0000

It's like the difference between the menu and the meat. Which one do you want to eat?

Re: How Not to Learn

@JoshHurlock — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 01:13:45 -0000

Chris,

This is so true. Feelings and emotions are amazing in how they often get in the way of thinking, because of their strong nature. Put these aside and look at what is truly important- continuing the journey of life and learning.

Re: How Not to Learn

David Kaa — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 22:44:40 -0000

Carlos,

It's an interesting point. However, I don't know of any data in support of it. I do know studies have shown that once a group comes in with a certain set of facts and information, it's very hard for dissenters to change the groups mind (Garold Stasser, "The Uncertain Role of Unshared Information in Collective Choice", 1999)

Moreover, if the "herd" is following the dissenter, are they really a dissenter?

However, I'd be curious to see any studies in support of the theory.

Re: How Not to Learn

Christina Viering — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 20:10:08 -0000

A danger to learning is getting caught up in "inner turmoil" and not paying attention to reality.

Re: How Not to Learn

Carlos Hernandez — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 19:59:16 -0000

To: David Kaa

I like your observation about the need to have dissenting opinions which can benefit the learning curve.

However, I also find that the "following the herd" mentality can just as easily occur in the dissenter's camp. One can use dissension as a means to control a group, i.e. divert all the attention to themselves in an attempt to sabotage the group. Or it may be a reflection of the them "not being able to play well with others". I have observed this in professional circles and volunteer communities.

Re: How Not to Learn

David Kaa — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 19:18:26 -0000

"Learning" also includes taking into account dissenting opinions. Honestly, I don't see a lot of that hear. Seems to be a lot of the "following the heard" mentality. (Of course, I fully expect everyone to now justify the comments here, but that's what the heard does....)

This is a MAJOR problem for corporations, which tend to end up in "group think", and fail to innovate - something the car companies have failed to do.

In the meantime, looks like GM will be "learning" from a bankruptcy judge.

Re: How Not to Learn

friends finder — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 15:59:02 -0000

Son of a prosperous businessman to ask his father:
-Dad-how do you succeed in business?
Thanks for taking good decisions.
-And how do you take good decisions?
-Due to experience.
-And how you gained experience?
-Thanks for taking wrong decisions.

So we learn from our mistakes and this make us to succed. :)

Re: How Not to Learn

Carlos Hernandez — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 14:36:40 -0000

"You are, of course, entitled to your opinion, but where you run into a potential risk is by letting your opinions get in the way of learning something new."

I am resonating with your observation as scribed above. A litmus test for me is centered around my "willingness". How willing am I to not just learn, but to hear or read what is being communicated? Am I formulating a response and blurting it out before the other is even finished?

Some scenarios are more triggering than others, but moments of discernment, if only a few seconds more than yesterday often helps. An old school saying of "Don't dial while drunk" can probably be morphed into something catchy when applying a social media communication tool like a blog comment, Facebook status update or tweet.

Re: How Not to Learn

Silvana — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 14:13:20 -0000

Great insight Chris..thanks! Specially where you say: "...Getting caught up in the little things or falling into the story..." What a powerful way to say that life is about the forrest, not the trees. Sure the trees matter, without them there wouldn't be a forrest. But being able to step back (or outside or above) is what will keep us in control - in a world that's naturally changing.
Also thanks for the reminder that it's as important to learn what not to do as it is to learn what to do...Stay in touch...

Re: How Not to Learn

Jaquelyn Pierce — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 14:08:48 -0000

There is a huge lesson in social media that we have collectively avoided until now...the intimacy of it all has brought back integrity. The posers are out, REAL is in. I agree with you, Chris, there are wonderful lessons around us all the time. Technology has finally dropped it's shield, the wizard has left Oz and we're all in the field of poppies!

Thanks for your wonderful insight.

Jac

P.s. Is that your face I see in the little silver car! :)

Re: How Not to Learn

Rebecca — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 12:44:46 -0000

I had a light bulb moment a couple years ago when I realized that companies weren't monolithic and were instead actually made up of people, and those people were doing the best they could in the circumstances given.

Should companies or people not be challenged? No. Dialogue is essential. Both the good and the bad. And the good needs to be said several times over because most people don't pay attention to the good the first time.

Re: How Not to Learn

Jason Keath — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 12:30:26 -0000

I thought about reading this post, but the headline was not detailed enough for me. I'm pretty sure I did not miss anything important though.

; )

Re: How Not to Learn

Sanji — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 12:08:32 -0000

Great!!. What I got from this article is we all do get caught in the following below and miss the opportunity
Getting caught up in the little things or falling into the story instead of paying attention to its structure means a missed opportunity to learn.

Re: How Not to Learn

Julie — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 12:05:14 -0000

It's not easy to step outside your pre-concieved opinions... Sometimes we are on auto-pilot and believe what we are told, or what the media is telling us. This is a good reminder to really think about the opinions we hold dear.

Re: How Not to Learn

Zane Aveton — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 11:37:51 -0000

Ahhh. Learning...Learning is really just a choice, isn't it? I wish more people would view it as simply observing through both the positive and the negative and deciding how to be better or do better..or file it for future access...maybe more people would try it.

I learned how I wanted to treat peopIe growing up working for my parents local Pizza Joint - from boss to employee to customer - Treatment A = get these results, Treatment B = get these results, Treatment C = get these results and so on. I only had to decide what result I wanted from what I had learned (observed) and do my best to act accordingly to achieve the result(s) I wanted...and then I've had to keep observing (learning) as my world grew. Geez, summarized like that, it sounds easy to me, why aren't more people doing it? :)

So....Gear Head Brogan, what a great post made even better for me personally by seeing LIsa Hickey and Sonny Gill's comments...because I have learned from You AND them in totally different ways, when just a few months ago - each one of you was a complete stranger to me.

Life is so cool..but Life Lessons are even cooler.

Re: How Not to Learn

Kristiana — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 11:33:10 -0000

It's a good lesson to us all to "leave our baggage at the door" when making comments and instead remember that this is a space to contribute to the conversation in a constructive manner...constructive being the key concept there.

Chris, I believe that you took a very neutral approach when writing about GM; you spoke about the people, the products, and the technology - which a lot of main stream media has neglected to do in recent months.

Let's celebrate that you took a new approach to look at GM, because no matter what people think of the company (and I have my opinions as well), I'm sure everyone learned something from this recent series.

Re: How Not to Learn

Andy — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 11:12:01 -0000

Excellent comments, Chris. Worth sharing with my classes. Some students tend to confuse opinion with analysis, and suggestions to separate the two are always welcome.

Re: How Not to Learn

David Kaa — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 11:02:00 -0000

When the hell will we learn that bailing out bad companies doesn't work? Seems to me that we've missed the "big picture" that Detroit is broken.

Re: How Not to Learn

Eddie Reeves — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 10:53:52 -0000

Of course Chris makes a great overall point in this post. I have a long history as a political and community activist in my younger days, and I had the tremendous good fortune of interacting with several veterans of the Civil Rights Movement as a college student in Austin (by the way, I was at the first South by Southwest Music Festival, which as I recall was held over two day and had an audience of a few thousand to here mostly local and regional bands; the media breakout hadn't even been dreamed up yet.).

At any rate, one of the people I go to spend a good deal of time with was the late Kwame Toure, formerly known as Stokely Carmichael. And I will never forget one of the pearls of wisdom he shared with me: "Study every situation to see what you can learn from them to be a better organizer/leader. There is something to learn from everyone and everything."