What I learned about learning - by learning to snowboard - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

What I learned about learning - by learning to snowboard - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog My wonderful girlfriend and I are back from a great week of skiing and snowboarding in Alpe dHuez (she skis, I board) and I picked up a new little trick on the trip. Here I am just starting to learn it: Ive been snowboarding for a few years now, and Ive always wanted to learn to jump! This year I finally got around to it, and it is loads of fun! Now, Im not just showing of my rad new snowboard skills there are some points here about learning in the workplace. Heres how corporate learning could improve by being more like learning to snowboard. 1: Learn by doing I learned to snowboard by snowboarding. I didnt attend a snowboard conference, seminar or training session. I have no manual, training video or snowboard simulator. Nothing beats learning by doing. 2: Learn as you need it I havent attended a three-day snowboard training session that taught me everything a snowboarder needs to know, including fakies, 360s and ollies. I learned one thing and applied it and only then moved on to the next thing. 3: Learn when you want to learn Nobody tells me Alex, today you will learn to ride moguls. I learn what I want to when I want to. 4: Focus on where you are, not where you ought to be When I keep my mind mostly on how good a snowboarder I want to be, Im paralyzed by the gap I perceive, and I dont get there. If I keep my mind on how good (or bad) I really am right now, I constantly improve. 5: Make it fun If Im not having fun, Im not learning. Its that simple. 6: Learn all the time not just in the classroom Last year I was on a really steep, uneven, icy slope. I was standing at the top of it thinking Man, I really want my first couple of turns to work. If I fall up here, Ill probably slide on my butt all the way down into the valley. So when I did my first turn, I did something new without deciding to do it: I pulled up the tail of my board halfway through the turn. It worked and I did a completely precise, perfect turn. I have no idea where that came from, but I clearly remember thinking Whoa thats a neat trick. I pull that one out of the bag whenever I really, really want a turn to work. 7: One little thing can make a huge difference This year, I sprang for 2 hours with an instructor. Its pretty pricey but definitely worth it. He looked at my style, and told me that it looked great but that if I moved my body up and down during turns it would work much better. It took me about 15 minutes to grasp that, and it was a breakthrough. Suddenly my boarding was much more fluid and effortless. I did everything that I normally did, and that one little addition just made it work much better than before. 8: Learn from people who like what they do The instructor who taught me obviously enjoyed both snowboard and teaching. You learn much faster when things are taught with passion. 9: Enjoy your mistakes I looooove falling on my board. The more spectacular the fall the better. You cant really learn if you fear failure. Very little learning happens without mistakes or when you fear making them. Heres Patricia enjoying one of her mistakes: Following this advice, Ive made enormous progress on my board. Youve seen one of my first jumps in the video above. Here I am, later that same day: Wheeeee! Next year Im getting a helmet and a back shield so I can go for some serious airtime :o) Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related