If I Don't Use It I Lose It

So much training and teaching depends on “rote “ learning.  The teacher either lectures on subjects, imparting their “knowledge,” or asking you to read something.  They then expect you to understand on your own how to apply that knowledge in your life.   It hardly ever worked for me.  I was a terrible student.  I would sit in class and listen to the teacher or read a little at home but hardly anything would stay with me.  My grades can attest to this.  I never got an “A” in grammar school.

I had a wonderful memory that forgot things as fast as they were poured into me.  Even today, I can read a mystery book and years later read the same exact book and not know who “did it!”  I can watch a movie and a year or two later see the same movie again and enjoy it just as well.  I have probably seen the movie “Mash” over 20 times and still find it a joy with each viewing.  But, if I experience an event, it sticks continually in my mind.  I love to tell stories for each story comes from some wonderful moment in my life.

A few weeks ago, on an airplane in discussion with the flight attendant, she said to me,  “If I don’t use it I lose it.”  “Precisely, the same for me.”

Recently, I walked through a manufacturing plant looking for variability and opportunities to improve.  From my experience in visiting over 250 plants in Japan, it was easy for me to see many things that should be done.  But, the challenge is how to teach so that others can experience and learn on their own.  Sure, I could tell them what to do and if they did, improvements would follow, but real learning would be limited.  Instead, I will take a few pictures or a video and gather a group into a meeting room.  Then I will challenge the group to look, study and come up with ideas for improvement.  Afterwards, I will ask them to go out into the plant and “do it!”  Believe me it works.