Reading this chapter, felt more like it was still focused more on learning how to “know ourselves” rather than learn the world. In a sense, I understand that to know the world you must first know yourself. And I guess that since we never fully understand ourselves we could also never fully understand the world, but it is something that grows over time and is ever-changing. With that said, to know the world, from what I understand from this chapter, is to know how to learn and not necessarily adapt to conventional ways of thinking and learning. In the beginning, Bennis discusses learning and he quotes Walter Wriston when he says “things that matter cannot be taught in a formal classroom setting.” What he meant by this is that we are shaped by our experiences and that is how we truly learn. Sitting in a classroom, memorizing information to later regurgitate it on an exam or when asked a question by the teacher is not really learning. Bennis calls this type of learning “acceptance of conventional wisdom.” People tell you this is the way things are or ought to be and this is what you need to know and you forget to listen to your “self.” Intuition, gut feelings, what you feel is the right path or thing to do, is often pushed to the side because someone else told you “this is the way to do it.” Bennis goes on to say that innovative learning is the best and most realistic form of learning. Being active, imaginative, listening to others, listening to yourself (impulses and such), and participating are all a part of innovative learning. I recently read an article where it says you should drink alcoholic beverages at work, not to get drunk but because it liberates the mind of conventional thinking and allows one to be more creative. You may not be able to solve an intense math problem but when they did their research they found that moderate alcohol consumption can reduce people’s ability to pay attention (as anyone who’s ever been drunk can attest), which frees them up for creative problem-solving tasks. In essence the alcohol served as a stepping stone to get the participants to think innovatively. They were not worried about what they thought the right answers were or trying to recall a memory of when they learned the solution back in a classroom setting, instead they acted on impulse and as a result they performed better than the sober control group. I thought the article was rather interesting in how it connected to Bennis’ “innovative thinking” discussion.
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