Inspiring Discovery

I’ve linked a few times to Kevin Eikenberry’s Website a few times. Kevin is a fellow member of NASAGA and a terrific motivational speaker. Kevin is releasing a book today called “Vantagepoints”. He sent me an pre-release copy of the book. You can order it through the book’s website.

Kevin has completely messed me up. I really thought I was onto something by working towards this model of the only true way to discover… learn… is to go places and do things you’ve never done before. Now Kevin wrote a whole book about how you learn through the everday moments of our life.

Anyway, despite my animosity towards the guy now, I agreed to promote what is a very good book. I also took some time to ask him some questions (it took more time for him to answer, so I got a tiny bit of revenge).

After the jump…..

Q: When was the first time you realized you could learn from everyday situations? Was it a major “A-Ha” or did it creep up on you slowly? Were you looking for it or did it surprise you?

I think I have always been a curious person and a person interested in learning new things. But about 20 years ago I realized I wanted to be involved in training and development activities full time at Chevron – where I worked at the time. Once I came to that realization, and was able to find a way to get into the corporate training group, I began learning about learning in earnest. I have continued that quest until today (and that is a quest I hope to be on the rest of my life).

Somewhere along that learning path I realized that most of us don’t learn nearly what we could from our everyday situations. I started using what I knew about how to draw learning from people in groups, and began applying it to my life.

Q: Looking back at all of your learning, what is the most important ways your life has changed?

I don’t really know how to answer this one Marc. I think sometimes we get caught up in finding things like the “most important” or “our favorite song, movie or food” – in other words forcing ourselves, or others to pick just one. In many cases this becomes a block to us reflecting – because then we think we have to have “the one right answer” (just like when we were in school). I’ve learned that when I want to learn what people think are really important things to ask it more generally, let them begin to make a list, then let them select it back down to a smaller list.

Sorry for the ramble.

Having said that, I don’t want to use that as a cop out and not answer your question. . .

I think my life, and all of our lives change, when we take action on the important things we learn. Knowledge is a fine thing, but it is skills and experiences that will change our lives – in other words, knowledge put to work.

Taking informed action requires knowledge acquisition, courage, the willingness to take a risk, and discipline. But without it, our lives won’t change.

Q: Does looking for lessons impede your ability to participate in your life’s events? Do you ever find yourself removed from what is happening around you as you draw out learning?

No not very often. We get the most from situations when we remain present, soaking in as much of the experience as we can. The reflection that comes later will then be richer and more valuable.

Q: I’m sure these stories have resulted in a lot of feedback to you from your readers. What have you taken from this feedback?

Well, I’ve taken that I am a pretty good writer, which makes me happy. I’ve also realized that stories, when told from a personal perspective can be very powerful learning tools and can provide people with inspiration as well.

I’ve had many people say very nice things about the words in the book. But more meaningful to me are the things people have said about what they are doing differently because of what they read. (There’s that idea of action again.)

Q: What is single most important thing you would recommend to people who are looking to learn from the ordinary situations in their lives?

Make the time to reflect. We have busy lives and if we aren’t making the time to think about what we can learn from our daily activities, then we are missing the cheapest and most powerful learning opportunities we’ll ever have.

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