We know what we know and we don't know what we don't know. And sometimes we know that we don't know but we pretend to know.
In my blog today I want to put forth the proposition that coming to grips with the fact that we don't know an awful lot is liberating and potentially very powerful for learning. The fact that I'm blogging is a great example.
So here's my story about learning, language and learning to blog.
Blogging has been around for years however I've been missing the point. I've been blind to the possibility of what blogging could be. I would hear about all the people blogging everywhere and I was really jealous. I felt that I was missing a big part of communication, or so it seemed. So I made a decision to find out what all the fuss was about. Why are people into blogging, what's the big deal? What's it all about?
How blind was I about blogging. I was totally clueless about it. I just didn't resonate in any way with the practice. It made absolutely no sense to me and at the same time, since everyone was into it, I began to allow my curiosity to get the better of me.
So how did I get into blogging... finally? I declared (linguistic act) that I was blind about it. I admitted it to myself and my writing team. I started having conversations with others because since everyone was doing it, I felt something was there and I needed to learn what it was.
I spoke at length with Deidra Lookingbill, our very smart director of communications and she was very useful and supportive. I looked at blogs on line and discovered that I wasn't interested in blogs from companies. I came to this conclusion because I wasn't interested in what companies thought about... I mean, companies don't even think. Companies consist of a network of people and it's the people I'm interested in. Then I had my conversation with my running friend Meghan who simple said that she writes about her passions in life. At that point it went clunk for me. Was it really as simple as writing about what I'm passionate about?
First I am interested in people and what their passions were. I think it's why some of the social networking web sites are so popular. At least my experience with Facebook, which I maintain for my family and my hobbies, would confirm this. When you look at my Facebook page, it's about family, music and athletics... my passions and my social network is built around
Having achieved a breakthrough about blogging was the result of admitting I didn't know and about having conversations with people who already got it.
While all this is great and I'm happy I've learned and begun to blog, there's a bigger picture. A much bigger picture which I'll explain like this. Blogging is a simple example of me being blind to something. However the practice of blogging is mainstream, it's out there in public view and it was certainly all around me. In my face so to speak.
What do we do about the things that we don't know we don't know? Now that's an interesting question.
In a way we are back to the beginning again. We know what we know and there is a much bigger world we don't know and we don't even know that we don't know. What do we do with that?
Because things are changing so much in the world these days, I've dedicated this coming year to education. That is, I've declared myself open to new ideas, new relationships and new ways of thinking. What does all this mean for me;
1. I've hired a personal coach to work with me for the next six months, beginning on Oct 14th.
2. I've been elected to a cabinet position of a group call the ODC (Ontological Design Group). I will be the Education Chairman for the next couple of years.
3. I'm hiring a professional triathlon coach for this coming season.
4. I'm reading more every week.
5. I've declared myself open to Learning in general.
In closing, being open to being open is a good way to sum it up.
Till next time.
Dan
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