Cross-Pollination - Vol 1

Making seemingly random connections across disciplines...
​

CURIOSITY

Some considerations when in a teaching, guiding, mentoring, and/or motivational role.

Inspired by “The Psychology of Curiosity” - G. Loewenstein

Curiosity is the feeling of deprivation we experience when we identify and focus on a gap in our knowledge.

The student needs to feel this gap. They must have some level of knowledge or awareness before they can get curious. In a way, they need to be beyond the “don’t know what they don’t know stage”.

Therefore, often “to induce curiosity about a particular topic, it may be necessary to ‘prime the pump’”. To use intriguing - stimulating - teaser information to get them interested in order to actually become curious.
​

TRUST

Some words on trust, from Brene Brown:

“Trust is the stacking of small moments over time, something that cannot be summoned with a command - there are either marbles in the jar or there are not.

Trust is a living process that requires ongoing attention...You cannot establish trust in two days when you find yourself in a crisis; it’s either already there or it’s not.”

This is an imperative consideration should a disconnect between two individuals be sensed. Even better, this should be considered proactively.

Consistency in actions, always play the long game.

​ASK THEM

Continuing from above, this excerpt is from Brett Bartholomew's Conscious Coaching Field Guide.

"Quit trying to tell people everything you know. A more effective approach is to ask them about what they know. Learning about their world will help you modify your approach and provide more opportunities for you to reframe and relate a concept to help them better understand."
​

CROSS-POLLINATION

​I believe the value of lateral thinking / cross-pollination of ideas is immense. When we think of an individual whom we consider wise, often it's because of their ability to link connections across disciplines. Steve Jobs states, 

"That's because they were able to connect experiences they've had and synthesize new things. And the reason they were able to do that was that they've had more experiences or they have thought more about their experiences than other people."

Further, as Maria Popova states,

“… in order for us to truly create and contribute to the world, we have to be able to connect countless dots, to cross-pollinate ideas from a wealth of disciplines, to combine and recombine these pieces and build new castles.”

More on this here.
​

 FAILURE

A quick note on this, not unlike everything else.

I recently failed an online exam. The one time exam required an 80% in order to pass and this was made clear prior to taking. Although I was aware of this, it was my choice to go ahead and take the exam - unprepared - during a short block of time in between patients. The exam took me 26 minutes to complete, of which a maximum time of 80 minutes was allotted. 

I achieved 75%. 

Although devastated, I was glad this happened. Really, my heart sank. But guilty as charged. As the saying goes, "Success is the worst teacher." Should I have passed the exam, I would have received my certificate and CE credits. But most importantly, I would have failed to obtain a deep understanding of the material. 

As I tweeted recently, "If you're going too fast, life will somehow find a way to give you a speeding ticket. Heed its warning before you get into an "accident."

This was my speeding ticket.
​

SOCIAL

Back in the blogging days it wasn’t uncommon to be called out on one's content in the comments section. This peer review or critical appraisal in my opinion was conducive to getting better.

Other than twitter, I’m not sure this happens much anymore. Especially on instagram. Today, it's far too easy to block those who disagree with one's opinion and as a result little accountability exists.

It's okay to not "like" a post. Again, "Success is the worst teacher."
​

NEW VOCABULARY

JOMO

• Joy of Missing Out - I love this. 

TSUNDOKU

• My scape goat, my excuse, my vice. Although I'll will be giving myself an indefinite hiatus as of the new year.
  
• TSUNDOKU - Derived from "doku" (reading) and "tsun" from "tsumu" (to pile up). As stated on BBC, buying reading material and piling it up. Or as elaborated upon in the New York Times, "the sight of a book you haven't read (to) remind you that there are many things you've yet to learn."

DARE TO LEAD

I just finished Brene Brown's newest book. Here are some of her one-liners to leave you with:
​

• Studying leadership is way easier than leading
• Leaders must either invest a reasonable amount of time attending to fears and feelings, or squander an unreasonable amount of time trying to manage ineffective and unproductive behaviour.
• Empathy is infinite and renewable... the more you give, the more we all have.
• In conversation, a well-placed cuss word or three seems really good, but in writing, it seems more intentional and less organic.
• If I miss the boat, it wasn't my boat.
• To opt out of conversations about privilege and oppression because they make you comfortable is the epitome of privilege.
• Mastery requires feedback.
• If we don't have the skills to get back up, we may not risk falling.
  
• Stay curious, learn to resist needing to know.
  
• We fail the minute we let someone else define success for us.