It is sometimes wiser to do the imperfect now rather than put off the perfect for later when … we have more time, skill, knowledge, support, approval, permission, forgiveness, data, guarantees, resources.

Praxis is an amazing word that describes what all learning in organizations and communities needs to be, as opposed to the usual slides-and-games that waste everyone’s time.

First … Praxis is the process by which a theory or lesson
becomes part of lived experience. Rather than a lesson being simply
absorbed at the intellectual level in a classroom, ideas are tested and
experienced in the real world, followed by an opportunity for
reflective contemplation. In this way, abstract concepts are connected
with lived reality.

and … Praxis is a complex activity by which individuals
create culture and society, and become critically conscious human
beings. Praxis comprises a cycle of action-reflection-action which is
central to liberatory education. Characteristics of praxis include
self-determination (as opposed to coercion), intentionality (as opposed
to reaction), creativity (as opposed to homogeneity), and rationality
(as opposed to chance).

Blogged with Flock

There is a useful distinction in sociology between problems and issues. Problems are generalizations like poverty, unemployment, and illiteracy. Issues are immediate, specific and realizable (actionable) aspects of problems.

Take the growing communities of 20 or so women in West Africa who have pennies to support their impoverished life situations. They have begun to see their situation as an issue rather than a problem.

How? They are now forming “saving circles” where they pool their pennies, using the growing bank to fund the greatest needs. The collaboration giving them more hope than they ever had with isolated resources.

The beliefs we hold about ourselves and our world have powerful magnetic qualities, attracting exactly what resonates with our beliefs. What we notice in life is not random, though our flow of attention is often spontaneous. What we notice corresponds to what we believe.

If I believe that I’m essentially a good guy, I’m going to notice what matches that belief. If I believe I live in a world of abundance, the spontaneous flow of my attention will be dominated by evidence and expressions of abundance.

We also tend to spend our time with people whose beliefs resonate with ours, shunning and avoiding people whose beliefs conflict with ours.

The question is: Is it possible to shift in our beliefs? Actually, it is. It happens throughout our lives as we get exposed to new people, new ideas, new experiences.

I was on the highway this past week and came along a truck with a sign on it’s side warning people that they have now entered the trucker’s blind spot.

It was a curious reminder that we all have blind spots. Wouldn’t it be lovely if we could somehow warn people when they enter them. Wouldn’t it be lovelier yet if we could eliminate our blind spots by expanding our capacity for noticing what’s changing around us.

I stopped into Kinko’s this morning to get online and check email (for free while Starbucks charges next door - guess who has my loyalty). The guy next to me was on his cell assuring someone, “It’ll be fine, it’s easier than you think.”

It’s nice that there are people who find joy in making things easier for others. It infuses the sense of confidence that helps people connect to enough patience and persistence through new learning curves. Good teaching, coaching, mentoring, and facilitating have this in common: they create a(n emotional) space for people to feel able.

I am continuously amazed at our tendency to associate intelligence with knowledge more than curiosity. When I coach execs and teams who are stuck, their cup is full of knowledge with little room for much new. In every case, they get unstuck with new questions. If educational institutions today reinvented themselves, possibly people could only “graduate” when they could demonstrate as many questions as they have answers.

Then we can take the next step and consider a good leader, doctor, teacher, nurse, architect, accountant, or engineer as one whose capacity for inquiry is as sharp as their capacity for memory.