index.php/meta/blog/ en maggie@metalearningsolutions.co.uk Copyright 2009 2009-08-28T16:00:00+00:00 http://www.meta-learning.co.uk/index.php/site/supporting_local_and_global_communities/ http://www.meta-learning.co.uk/index.php/site/supporting_local_and_global_communities/#When:16:00:00Z Social care and responsibility is more than just a business statement. Our world now depends upon people around the globe who have open hearts and minds. Let us work together and share resources to protect local, national and global communities for the benefit of all of us. Perhaps, those of us who are willing to work together for the benefiit of all our people and our beautiful planet will find a way of healing our world. Helen Keller (1880-1968) once said: I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything but still I can do something. I am one and I will keep working towards a world that is caring and sharing.  We invite you to help all of us to find a way forward. 2009-08-28T16:00:00+00:00 http://www.meta-learning.co.uk/index.php/site/examining_the_potential_for_accelerated_learning/ http://www.meta-learning.co.uk/index.php/site/examining_the_potential_for_accelerated_learning/#When:14:21:00Z At the Birmingham City University Teaching and Learning Festival held between 6th-10th July, Maggie was invited to present to a wide and diverse audience of academics her creative problem solving skills and accelerated learning techniques. The aim of the Festival is to celebrate good practice and excellence,as well as to enthuse and equip staff to incorporate innovative approaches and effective techniques into their teaching practice. The session, focused on inviting around 16 University staff who attended to:
Understand current perceptions of traditional learning practice
Compare differences in the application of accelerated learning techniques and stakeholder perspectives as applied to specific learner groups.
Appreciate the instructional content design for introducing accelerated learning practice into vocational (work-integrated) learning programmes
Evaluate the potential for accelerated learning techniques to bring about meaningful learning impact for vocation (work-integrated) learning programmes
Explore the applicability and the potential for using these techniques for training trainers of other learning programmes in future. Key issues addressed included an introduction to how human intelligence can be likened to a muscle that is developed and learning how to learn is the key. The Session set out to prove that accelerated learning does in fact specifically, exactly and precisely that. “If the practice of accelerated learning were to be applied, particularly in the delivery of vocational (work-integrated) learning programmes, then a) the learners would benefit overall from a more meaningful learning experience, b) the learning programme content will be delivered in a shorter time (i.e. less than 2 academic years) and c) the learners would have gained greater levels of knowledge and understanding of the subject matter in practice”. Key elements of the Accelerated Learning concept developed by Rose C. (5th Ed. 2005) suggest that in the current economic climate ability to absorb information rapidly and to think logically and creatively are becoming the most important skills that learner’s can possess. Accelerated Learning does not only work by setting up memorable visual and sound associations in the mind. A high proportion of all learning takes place at the subconscious level. Thus, Accelerated Learning presents the Learner with new material in such a way that it is simultaneously absorbed by both the conscious and the unconscious mind. Information, for example, is positioned so it can be absorbed in peripheral vision, and sentences are short and rhythmical because such facts are easily remembered. Maggie was warmly congratulated by the delegates for her fascinating demonstration of how the learner needs to put in no more conscious effort than in a normal learning situation; in fact less because they were relaxed they learnt faster (in an accelerated way) and the learning was more meaningful.. There is much more to accelerated learning processes still to be explored. With more than 15 years working as a Coach, Counsellor and Trainer in business, education, health, and the community, Maggie uses story-telling, creative problem solving and accelerated learning techniques to understand human behaviour and provide individuals and organisations with the opportunity to exceed their potential. Contact Maggie if you have any questions about this blog or to discuss her presenting for your organisation or group seminars and courses in creative problem solving and accelerated learning processes: Tel: 0845 116 1871 or email: maggie@meta-learning.co.uk 2009-07-10T14:21:00+00:00 http://www.meta-learning.co.uk/index.php/site/a_winning_mind/ http://www.meta-learning.co.uk/index.php/site/a_winning_mind/#When:11:22:00Z A Winning Mind: Steps to Achieving Success in Business and Life “We will either find a way, or make one.” – General Hannibal A winning mind in business and in life is essential for success. A winning mind is something that must be actively cultivated and become a part of your everyday way of thinking and being. “Concentrate on winning; losing will take care of itself.” Winning is an attitude and a champion must take on this attitude in order to take the top prize. So how do you develop a winning mind mindset? Here are 8 steps to guide you through developing a winning mind: 1. Know yourself. For you to develop a winning mind, you must first take stock of yourself by exploring your strengths and weaknesses. Once you have this information, use it to help you concentrate on building on your strengths and then work to reduce your weaknesses. 2. Set realistic goals. The winning mind comes from having well defined goals with well formed outcomes. It is easier to focus the mind if you have realistic aims, objectives and goals. A well formed goal is specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time driven (SMART). Never lose sight of your ultimate goal because it’s the fuel that drives you forward to achieving it. 3. Learn to be confident. Confidence is a key component of the winning mind. To win, you need to be extremely confident in yourself, your ability and in your belief that you can and will win. People respond favourably to confidence. A confident person commands respect. The use of positive affirmations is another technique to help you build your confidence. Repeating phrases like, “I will do,” or “I can do,” helps to train the mind to think possitively. 4. Seek personal excellence. Winning takes a lot of dedication, commitment and sacrifice to be the best. If you want to develop a winning is everything attitude, you must proactively seek personal excellence. Personal excellence is doing things with heart. A winning mindset demands that you give 120% effort and then some. To quote a noted sage, “Do or do not. There is no try.” That’s personal excellence. 5. Focus. To have a winning attitude you have to have the ability to focus exclusively on the task at hand. The focus of planning, writing goals, and training should all be geared toward winning. Although you may have the support of family, friends, coach or mentor, in the end, all the effort comes down to you. You have to focus and strive to reach your desired goal. Block out the distractions and focus on what you want to achieve. Henry Ford once said, “Obstacles are the things we see when we take our eyes off of the goal.” Stay focused. 6. Honesty. To have a winning mindset, you must value honesty and be honest with those closest to you: your coach, partner, boss etc. Importantly you must be honest with yourself. Graham Greene once wrote that: we can never truly know another person. Only you will truly know in your mind if you are giving your all in the pursuit of winning. 7. The three C’s. According to the psychologist Suzanne Kobasa, people with a winning mindset possess commitment, control, and challenge. The winning mindset requires you to be committed to achieving your goals. You must also feel in control of events rather than letting events control you. And you must see challenge as an opportunity and embrace it as a key part of being a person with a winning mind. 8. Never give up. The dedication to winning can be tough. But the true champion, the true winner, never ever gives up. It doesn’t matter how hard things get or how difficult the task becomes, the person with the attitude that winning is everything, never ever gives up. If you are serious about the pursuit of winning, you must cultivate a winning mind. By following these 8 steps you will be well on your way to seizing the mantle of victory and living the idea that winning is an attitude. “There is no substitute for victory.” General Douglas MacArthur Contact me if you feel you would like help in becomming a Winner. 2009-05-19T11:22:00+00:00 http://www.meta-learning.co.uk/index.php/site/creativity_is_it_alive/ http://www.meta-learning.co.uk/index.php/site/creativity_is_it_alive/#When:18:46:00Z At a recent conference held on the subject of creativity and education, I was inspired by the number of speakers who were promoting creativity as the way forward. Nowhere has the timeless power of narrative been more apparent than in a conference of stotytellers, artists and innovators both professional and individual using the personal tale to entertain, educate and inspire to action. If these stories inspire you to tell your own, consider submitting it to us here at Meta-Leaning Solutions. Who knows what creativity we could generate together? Follow this link for some inspiration on the subject of creativity http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html Keep on being creative because without it as Ken Robinson in the clip linked above says, we risk our very own survival.  2009-04-27T18:46:00+00:00 http://www.meta-learning.co.uk/index.php/site/change_the_way_you_think_to_be_happy_at_work/ http://www.meta-learning.co.uk/index.php/site/change_the_way_you_think_to_be_happy_at_work/#When:09:33:00Z Life” is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it And, this alone is as good a reason as any to make changes to our thinking about work. There are some traditional perceptions, ideas and maxims that are holding us back from achieving truly fulfilling and happy work lives. Many people and workplaces focus all their efforts on changing the external circumstances at work – for example salaries, bonuses, promotions, careers, pension benefits. However, the more important issue is how and at what level do we pay more attention to our internal mental processes in particular, our happiness to be at work and if we are not so happy, any more, to change our thinking on some key points. Here are the most important ones. From “Work is tough” to “Work is fun” For the last 200 years, through the industrial age, work has been perceived as tough, unpleasant and hard. In fact, that is one reason why we were paid money. And for most of the industrial age, this was mostly true, with many jobs being hard, boring or even dangerous. Today, this is less and less so and there are many, many more interesting, creative, fun, pleasant and happy workplaces to choose from. But none of this will matter if we go on expecting work to be hard and rough - for the simple fact that we tend to get what exactly we expect. Therefore we must change our thinking, and start expecting work to be fun. From “You can’t be happy and successful” to “You can only be really successful if you’re happy” What is business success worth, if you’re not happy? I have seen successful business people break down crying over the realisation that they have wasted large parts of their lives chasing money, fame and success - while never being happy themselves. It makes absolutely no sense to me to sacrifice your happiness at work simply for success. It’s just not worth it. From “Success requires hard work” to “Success requires happiness” Interestingly, you don’t need to give up on success in order to be happy. Studies carried out by the Chartered Institute of Personal Development (C.I.P.D.) show that happy people are more likely to be successful! Which is hardly surprising when you remember that people who are happy at work are also more motivated, energetic, likable, creative and productive. From “Happiness at work is nearly impossible” to “Happiness at work is easy” Everything we need to create happy workplaces is easy to get and readily available to almost any workplace in the world. It’s not about budgets, mission statements, strategies or corporate policies. Happiness at work comes from the simple things. From the things “you and I do here and now”. Anyone can do it! From “Happiness at work is trivial” to “Happiness at work is crucial” Happiness at work is not a trivial little detail that we can leave to an overworked HR department to maybe do something about. It’s not a side issue to address once you’ve achieved the right salary, title and company car. Happiness at work is crucial to your health, success and general happiness in life and it’s the #1 factor that drives corporate success. That’s why happiness at work needs to be at the very top of our priorities - both for employees and businesses. So considering the fact that happiness at work is crucial, easy and really, really good for you… My question is: Are you happy or unhappy at work? Is your workplace happy or unhappy? How does this affect you? And if your workplace is not happy, what would be different if you and most of your co-workers liked your jobs so much that you looked forward to going to work almost every morning? What would that do for you and for the company? To end, Albert Einstein has been quoted as saying: The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honours the servant and has forgotten the gift. So why not take these words and act upon them by changing the way you work or the way others around you work. Do you have any thoughts, comments or views on this article? If so please get in touch. 2009-03-09T09:33:00+00:00 http://www.meta-learning.co.uk/index.php/site/zooangzi_and_the_link_to_creativity/ http://www.meta-learning.co.uk/index.php/site/zooangzi_and_the_link_to_creativity/#When:15:54:00Z Zooangzi – the founder of Creativity The name Zooangzi, refers to Zhuang Zi in phonetic writing, a taoist philosopher and his book of wisdom written approximately 360-290 BCE. The book transfers its wisdom through storytelling full of prose, stories and parables. It is one of the first books of wisdom where creativity as a concept is addressed. In what may be the earliest Chinese dragon ballad this text is extracted: “…the dragon moves freely from an underground water home to an irrigated field. Then, driven by a drought, it flies to heaven to conquer a new empire. The dragon is now believed immortal and omnipresent with abilities to change form or become invisible”. The book reveals a holistic way of thinking where complexity is respected by ‘seeing’ the overall structure, seeing the way of least resistance and then using the least effort for the maximum returns. History shows over and over again that applied creativity and creative leadership seemingly effortlessly and in a holistic way brings maximum returns. At Meta-Learning Solutions we are seeing this result in those organisations in which we have supported external change management programmes through guest facilitation and coaching Leaders and change agents skilled to develop partnerships identify opportunities and create entrepreneurial energy with appropriate supporting structures will be successful in changing their institutions. Learners, learning to learn can find support in each other’s experience. Our individual and collective ability to learn is huge and by using new improved, creative learning techniques we can facilitate change in structure, culture and our client’s overall learning experience.  Contact us if you would like to know how your organization can be helped in today’s challenging times to think differently and thereby become more sustainable in the future. 2009-02-09T15:54:00+00:00 http://www.meta-learning.co.uk/index.php/site/storytelling_some_new_ideas_from_wikipedia/ http://www.meta-learning.co.uk/index.php/site/storytelling_some_new_ideas_from_wikipedia/#When:17:37:00Z Found this new and interesting link to a valuable source of independent knowledge about the art and history of StoryTelling. We thoroughly recommend you take a look. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storytelling 2009-01-07T17:37:00+00:00 http://www.meta-learning.co.uk/index.php/site/creativity_beyond_reactive_problem_solving/ http://www.meta-learning.co.uk/index.php/site/creativity_beyond_reactive_problem_solving/#When:14:36:00Z Some of you may have heard of the author Peter Senge, who developed some of the original thinking about Learning Organisations. His latest book, which he co authored with others is called the Necessary Revolution, how individuals and organisations are working together to create a sustainable world. It certainly is a riveting read. Particularly, the points he makes about Creative problem solving in which he says “Problem solving is about making what you don’t want, go away. Whereas, creating involves bringing something you care about into reality”. He goes onto say, “Creating draws its energy from dreams or visions of what people truly want to see exist, in concert wih accurate and insightful understanding of what is”. This is so true. He comments that reactive problem solving by contrast, draws its energy from crises, usually driven by an underlying emotion of fear - fear of the consequences if we fail to solve the problems. Prophetic words indeed and ones we closely allign our training to. If you are interested, we thouroughly recommend this inspiring and revealing book. Best wishes 2008-06-29T14:36:00+00:00 http://www.meta-learning.co.uk/index.php/site/blog_entry/ http://www.meta-learning.co.uk/index.php/site/blog_entry/#When:13:39:00Z More companies are using mentoring to improve the performance and career prospects of the their managers (Sunday Times 30/03/08) There are of course many examples of situations in which mentoring has helped individuals to move forward. Someone may be searching for a new career direction. A small business leader may need an impartial opinion on the best choice of direction for next stage of business devolopment. In any situation, a mentor is an excellent sounding board to help you take a step back to consider your next move, provide a new perspective on the situation and allow you to see the big picture, in a new or different contect. Mentoring is becoming increasingly popular in large companies. Those organisations are slowly moving from traditional command and control structures to more facilitative, and supportive structures. Vodafone for example estimates that about half of their 4,500 management team had mentors. Terry Kramer, group strategy and human resources director has said; “We actively encourage it” David Clutterbuck author of Everyone Needs a Mentor suggests that training mentors and the people who receive mentoring to get the most out of their interaction could make enormous difference. He estimates that without training, 30% of mentoring delivers real value. Where both parties are trained, that figure rises to 90%. Clutterbuck also identifies that Mentoring is the most cost-efficient and sustainable method of fostering and developing talent within an organisation. As my surname is Foster, I guess this statement confirms that I am best placed to be your mentor!!! Another contributor to this topic is Anna Guest, a director of the Coaching and Mentoring Network, who said that mentoring helps to boost the careers of the mentors as well as the people they were guiding. She added that “Mentors help to expand their skills and give them more responsibility so when a position does come up, that individual is better equipped to apply”. People who have mentors are better able to think quite deliberately about how they are doing their jobs, talking through what is happening at work and how to approach challenges that are coming up. Metaphorically speaking, a mentor is able to hold up a reflecting mirror to ideas of a person and allow them the opportunity to pause for thought and enable them to be more informed about the decisions we make and take. As a skilled and trained mentor, I know how important it is to explore how different processes for modifying and reframing thinking can serve you effectively in the future. If you would like to know more contact us: enquiries@meta-learning.co.uk 2008-04-19T13:39:00+00:00 http://www.meta-learning.co.uk/index.php/site/beyond_storytelling_to_narrative_intelligence/ http://www.meta-learning.co.uk/index.php/site/beyond_storytelling_to_narrative_intelligence/#When:14:01:00Z Whilst the term storytelling is intriguing as a management training tool, there’s also something basically wrong as taken literally, it implies a kind of one-way relationship: “I tell and you listen."The kind of “storytelling” that has the most impact is interactive. There’s at least as much “story listening” as “storytelling”. An ability to navigate successfully in this quicksilver world of interacting narratives is termed narrative intelligence (Steve Denning 2007). To illustrate this point, an article was recently published in the New York Times entitled: “Chatty Doctors forget Patients” and said: With the emergence of “narrative medicine”, doctors have been increasingly encouraged to use storytelling as a way of connecting with their patients. In a study published in The Archives of Internal Medicine, Doctors told stories about themselves in a third of the encounters with patients, and in those encounters, there was no evidence that any of the doctors’ disclosures about themselves helped patients or established rapport. They were so busy “storytelling” about themselves, they didn’t get round to listening to their patients’ stories. They thus, lacked narrative intelligence. Beyond storytelling: narrative intelligence The concept of narrative intelligence is important as it identifies the importance of the two-way interaction between the speaker and the listener and avoids the notion that—If I tell the story and you are to listen. Successful leaders are not just good at storytelling—they generally display strong narrative intelligence. It is no surprise that the primary role of storytelling is a communication about change. History has taught us that for centuries human beings have been thinking in stories. They dream in stories. Their hopes and fears reside in stories. Their imaginations consist of stories. They plan in stories. They gossip, love, and hate in stories. Their emotions have a narrative character. Their decisions rest on narratives. Although the idea that storytelling is a key leadership communications tool, at first glance, it often strikes business executives as profoundly counter-intuitive. This is not what we were taught at school. It is not how we have been trained. It is not the norm in formal organizational meetings. Our culture often leads us to thinking that analytic is good and anecdotal is bad: it is not logical to generalise the idiosyncratic vagaries of a single story to an entire population. And so we go on making PowerPoint presentations full of abstractions and bullet points, like medieval doctors slicing the evins of a patient to remove excess blood, not realising that everything we are doing and saying is making the situation worse. The notion that a deep understanding of narrative is key to transformational leadership strikes many people as surprising and in some sense an unacceptable idea. Steve Denning (an American expert in narrative Intelligence) says that it is true that we think in stories, and make decisions in the form of stories, and this means that all forms of communication directed toward action are not just stories themselves, but questions, metaphors, images, offers, challenges, conversations or arguments are effective to the extent that they generate a new story in the mind of a listener. These varied communication tools are effective when they point to a story. A story provides a unifying concept to understand whether and to what extent, any communication directed toward action will be effective. And if that is so, then narrative intelligence “the ability to think narratively about the world” is central to leadership. But what exactly does it mean to think narratively about the world? It means the capacity to understand the world in narrative terms, to be familiar with the different components and dimensions of narratives, to know what different patterns of stories exist and which narrative patterns are most likely to have what effect in which situation. It also means knowing how to overcome the fundamental attribution error and understand the story. It implies the ability to anticipate the dynamic factors that determine how the audience will react to a new story and whether a new story is likely to be generated in the mind of any particular audience by any particular communication tool. The ability to think narratively that is, narrative intelligence, reflects a recognition that the narrative aspects of the world matter because human goals matter, and narratives encapsulate human goals. The pattern of words that we use matters: are they abstract, cold, impartial, objective, inert, seemingly remote from human goals? Or do they have all the richness and texture and objectives of human existence, making them likely to engage an audience? And the sequence of patterns matters: one order generates excitement; the opposite generates hostility. And the stories that these patterns of words elicit in the mind of the listener matter. And the responses, wittingly or unwittingly, in the form of a nod, a smile, or a frown from the listeners are important. What a Leader does about those responses also matters, whether the responses are encouraging or discouraging. And the interaction among narratives matters, an interaction that is taking place in seconds: a single word, or phrase, or sequence, at the right time, or out of place, makes all the difference. The outcome, either way, will be decided in a flash. An ability to act and react agilely in this quicksilver world of interacting narratives is the gist of narrative intelligence. 2007-08-27T14:01:00+00:00