Guidelines for Effective Learning

At the beginning of a course, I tell students – “I can “teach” you nothing.  But I can try and help you learn. My job is to try to provide you with an environment in which you can learn.  Ground Rules are part of that environment.  If established early they will surely help us avoid a lot of wasted energy later on. 

The following ten guidelines are about behaviour in a class - or discussion group (that includes online groups).  

These guidelines, often referred to as "ground rules" or "community norms," should provide the community within a workshop or class a framework to ensure open, respectful dialogue and maximum participation.

10 Commonly Used Ground Rules

Ground rules should be developed and adapted for every unique context. Appropriate ground rules may depend partially on age, region, and other contextual factors:

1.     Practise politeness. 

2.     'Listen with an open mind'

3.     Listen actively - respect others when they are talking.

4.     Speak first from good research; next from your own experience.  Be aware of generalising.

5.     Do not be afraid to respectfully challenge one another by asking questions, but refrain from personal attacks -- focus on ideas.

6.     Refrain from aggressive and disrespectful language

7.     Participate to the fullest of your ability -- community growth depends on the inclusion of every individual voice.

8.     Instead of invalidating somebody else's story with your own spin on her or his experience, add and share your own story and experience.

9.     The goal is not to agree -- it is to gain a deeper understanding.

10.                        Be conscious of body language and nonverbal responses -- they can be as disrespectful as words.

Listening with an Open Mind

One of the things I do to establish the ground rule of 'Listen with an open mind' is that I ask someone to pour me a glass of water. But just when they are about to start pouring, I cover the glass with a coaster. This makes the water spill and irritates the other person. With some humour I manage to get them say 'If you keep your glass covered, I can't provide any water to you'. Then I move in with my ground rule that if you keep a closed mind, this is exactly how others feel. Once water is poured in the glass ,it is not mandatory for me to drink it, is it ? I can taste it and if I don't like the taste or temperature, I can just leave there or even throw it away. Similarly all you need to do is to keep an open mind to let the information go in. After that you process it and decide what you want to do with it.

Establishing Guidelines for Effective Learning

Here is what I tell my classes:

I can “teach” you nothing.  But I can try and help you learn.

My job is to try to provide you with an environment in which you can learn

Ground Rules are part of that environment.  If established early and adhered to can they will surely help us avoid a lot of wasted energy later on.

Listening with an Open Mind

One of the things I do to establish the ground rule of 'Listen with an open mind' is that I ask someone to pour me a glass of water. But just when they are about to start pouring, I cover the glass with a coaster. This makes the water spill and irritates the other person. With some humour I manage to get them say 'If you keep your glass covered, I can't provide any water to you'. Then I move in with my ground rule that if you keep a closed mind, this is exactly how others feel. Once water is poured in the glass ,it is not mandatory for me to drink it, is it ? I can taste it and if I don't like the taste or temperature, I can just leave there or even throw it away. Similarly all you need to do is to keep an open mind to let the information go in. After that you process it and decide what you want to do with it.

Guidelines and Ground Rules

These guidelines, often referred to as "ground rules" or "community norms," should provide the community within a workshop or class a framework to ensure open, respectful dialogue and maximum participation.

Commonly Used Ground Rules

Ground rules should be developed and adapted for every unique context. Appropriate ground rules may depend partially on age, region, and other contextual factors: 

1.     Practise politeness. 

2.     Listen actively - respect others when they are talking.

3.     Speak first from good research; next from your own experience.  Be aware of generalising.

4.     Do not be afraid to respectfully challenge one another by asking questions, but refrain from personal attacks -- focus on ideas.

5.     Participate to the fullest of your ability -- community growth depends on the inclusion of every individual voice.

6.     Instead of invalidating somebody else's story with your own spin on her or his experience, share your own story and experience.

7.     The goal is not to agree -- it is to gain a deeper understanding.

8.     Be conscious of body language and nonverbal responses -- they can be as disrespectful as words.

A Perspective on Decision Making

There are three important things to remember about decisions:

First - a decision by itself changes nothing.

Second - at the moment a decision is made, it cannot possibly be known whether it is good or bad.  Decision quality, when measured by results, can only be known as the consequences of the decision become known.  A decision must be implemented for its consequences to become clear.

Third (and most important) more time living with the consequences of our decisions than in making them.  It is likely that the effects of the decision will be with us longer than it took to make the decision, regardless of how much time and effort was invested.

Familiarity Really Does Breed Contempt

Based on an article -  http://www.spring.org.uk/2008/05/why-familiarity-really-does-breed.php

People's intuition is that learning more about a new acquaintance will lead to greater liking. In fact, on average, we like other people less the more we know about them.

Given how irritating other people sometimes are, it's surprising how many of us are eternal optimists about forming new relationships. Indeed people seem primed to like others: the 'mere exposure effect' is a robust social psychological finding demonstrating that just being exposed to someone causes us to like them more.

A good example of the 'mere exposure' effect is a study by Moreland and Beach (1992) who introduced four fake students to a large college course. Each of the fake students - chosen to be of similar appearance - attended the course to varying degrees, some going to many classes, others to few; but none interacted with the other students.

At the end of the course the one student most people preferred, despite never having talked to her, was the one who had attended the most classes.

If the mere exposure effect holds for developing social relationships then, as we come to know more about others, we should come to like them more. It seems familiarity should breed liking. A recent study by Michael I. Norton from the Harvard Business School and colleagues certainly suggests that this is most people's intuitive understanding (Norton, Frost & Ariely, 2007).

Norton and colleagues first surveyed members of an online dating site, asking them whether they generally preferred someone they knew little about, or who they knew more about. 81% said they would prefer the person they knew more about. In a second survey of undergraduate students fully 88% said they would prefer someone they knew more about.

More than one Target Market = More than one Brand Promise. Agree?

Most views/definitions of branding take the position that it is the customer who actually determines what the brand means (to them).  Organisations try to influence them.  Hopefully by understanding what their target market wants from a brand.

Thus I have always supposed that any Brand is relative to a particular target market.  Many brands have more than one target market.  This does not become a problem when the TM's are grouped fairly close together of is the brand promise is fairly generic - but what about when two (or more) diverse Target Markets are involved?  It is going to be difficult to offer exactly the same promise/message to them.

So do you have more than one Brand message? What do you think?

Essential Intellectual Traits

These are the traits I think will help you develop better thinking.

Intellectual Humility …
Intellectual Courage …
Intellectual Empathy …
Intellectual Autonomy …
Intellectual Integrity …
Intellectual Perseverance …
Confidence in Reason …
Fair-mindedness …"
 
'What do you think?  What would you add?

The Benefits of a Market Orientation is a Competitive Advantage

Why would a company want to pursue a market orientation? What benefit is it to them? 

Werll - being market oriented will lead to superior performance for the business.

Some would argue that having a focus on customers and aiming to satisfy their requirements is a costly exercise. However, the benefits of market orientation have been shown to include financial gains for the organisation, improved customer satisfaction, improved workplace conditions, and superior new product performance.

Competitive Advantage

A strong customer orientation forms the foundation of an organisation’s sustainable competitive advantage. Developing a thorough understanding of all customer groups allows an organisation to develop products and services that are tailored to customer needs and requirements. If an organisation can provide superior value to their customers, there is a greater likelihood of purchase, repeat purchase, and word-of-mouth recommendations. This will lead to a potential increase in sales, market share, and profitability.

For a competitive advantage to eventuate, an organisation must provide value to its customer that is superior to that of its competitors.

If an organisation is going to achieve optimal quality and value for the customers it is essential that every employee in the “chain of production” be committed to working toward this goal. A delay in delivery, a production flaw, a rude credit officer, or an unreturned phone enquiry can all contribute to the customer’s perception of your offering.

If every employee provides a product (goods and services) of optimal value to the next person in the chain of production, then the final product should be of optimal quality. However, the end consumer will notice weak links in this chain.

Check out the previous article as well - Let me know what you think?