Average companies give their people something to work on. The most innovative organizations give their people something to work toward. – Sinek, 2014
I recently saw this Simon Sinek quote recycled and turned into Mime or inspirational image and I knew I had seen this before. I did a quick search in my “write about” notebook and saw that back in June of 2014 I clipped this Sinek quote and had planned to write about it in some way. As many good intentions go I got busy and put off writing about this until now.
The timing is actually better than when I first made note of Sinek’s insight because I now have a better context and can make a more meaningful connection to the CSLE+COVA framework. When you create significant learning environments where you give learners choice, ownership and, voice through authentic learning opportunities you are also giving your learner the opportunity to work toward something rather than just work on something. We all know what it is like to work on a meaningless assignment and there is a tendency to put in just enough work to get that A or B and check this off the list.
In contrast, when you own an authentic learning opportunity you shift to the mode of working toward the realization of a bigger goal, purpose or solution to a genuine problem or issue. Purpose and meaning will intrinsically motivate a learner to work toward something and make their own meaningful connections…which is at the heart of genuine learning and development.
Are you asking your learners to just work on make work assignments or are you giving them the choice and ownership to work toward making a difference in the world around them?
References
Sinek. S. (2014, June 14). Average Companies… [Quote]. Retrieved from href=”http://startwithwhy.cmail2.com/t/ViewEmail/r/3791C3AEE6A2A7A62540EF23F30FEDED/8B0470DEB97941AE4BD7C9066BE4161D”>
