Experiential learning is a extremely powerful way to identify opportunities for improvement.  Through observation and feedback you can uncover things to change, try or even not to do.

Surprisingly, often the learning is something you already knew and you might  think “ I knew that, why did I ignore my inclination and proceed anyway”?

There is no answer to this auestion, that I am aware of, beyond the fact it is human nature to not always pay attention to your inner thoughts.  Sometime they are just  present to be ignored.

Play to your Audience

The other day I encountered a clear case of experiential learning.  It was about something I understood intuitively, but ignored.

I failed to focus on the audience perspective during a recent information share to a group of colleagues.  I often interract with groups of technologists with a strong foundational knowledge of digital software and infrastructure.

Without thought to the core background of the audience I proceeded on the assumption basic technology concepts did not need to be explained.

Assumptions are Dangerous

Assuming knowledge leads to misunderstanding, confusion and worse disenfranchising the audience such that they are not receptive to any message.

The opportunity to share information for the benefit of all could well be lost because of the simple misstep of assuming rather than confirming, ( i.e knowing with certainty)

Through observation and subsequent feedback it was clear I had been guilty of this simple principle.  This is not to suggest being overly simple but rather tailor the information exchange to match the audiences perspective.