Writing is a Skill the Successful Master

At the end of a recent MWA overview seminar I had given, the company COO was beside himself, amazed at what he was seeing his managers obediently do. I had ended it about 5 minutes earlier, and yet everyone still sat in their seats in no rush to leave. They were quiet, heads bent, intently focusing on what they were writing in the workbooks that come with my program.

I had moved to the back of the room, and Aaron (the COO) had left his seat to join me, looking at his managers like he was seeing them for the first time. He said, "I can't believe this; you have gotten them to completely change their behavior in just one 4-hour seminar."

My response was, "Well, not exactly. I've planted the seed, and given them a first practice. Changing their behavior is something you have to do, by repeating what I've done with them in every meeting, seminar and class you have going forward. If this practice is to stick and become habit, you have to make the repetition happen: If your facilitator doesn't give them quiet writing time, you need to own the last 5 minutes and be the one to give it to them. You'll know when the habit sticks when they start doing it on their own."

I do take pride in the atmosphere we create in our programs at Say Leadership Coaching, whether it be in a single class or within an organizational consulting package. However after we leave, maintaining that atmosphere is up to the leaders and managers we leave behind.

I am a manager through and through: Many parts of the skill set of managing are activities I feel strong in. Virtually everything I tackle is something that is managed: my tools, a project, an idea, a class or meeting, a week or a day, a conversation. My seminars are no different, and I manage them in a couple of different ways:

• We cover rules of engagement, where the values of working with aloha do trump any normal behavior that's become tacitly approved in the company. These are things like starting on time and never waiting for stragglers, and not talking when someone else is talking. I am continually shocked and disappointed by the lack of discipline and absence of good manners in the workplace.
• I teach participants how to take notes and I give them a legend of quick codes to use; they can later flip back through their workbooks and immediately pick out what they have decided to own versus delegate, projects versus next actions, personal goals versus strategic objectives, and ideas they must continue to cook. MWA is very much about replacing non-productive behaviors with productive ones.
  
• I give them homework, designed around specific operational tools that will get the training to become systemic in their workplace.

My managerial glue holding the class together in focused learning, is that they have to write:

I teach them what to write about, where to write it, and when to write so they can capture all the clues connected to articulating their ho'ohana. They write directly in my book, and they get a write-in workbook, specifically designed to include whiteboard lessons they can duplicate, and formats which will teach them the difference between journaling and documentation. We ease into each break they get, in that they must reflect and write on the lesson they were just given before they get up from their chairs.

My workbook has its own purpose: IN class it is for capture and learning, after class it is a road-map for subsequent action.

I make a distinction between writing to write, writing to capture, and writing to learn.

Writing to write is for authors in all their different colors and stripes. Writing to capture must be quick and efficient, where form and function are connected. Writing to learn is different, and in seminars we should have the intention to LEARN.

I am just as tech and laptop dependent these days as most business people are, however I do not allow people to take notes in my MWA classes on laptops or in their pda's, for this is when they must write to learn. Tech gadgets are extremely distracting in their multi-functionality. Second, and most important, there is tactile learning that occurs when we write by hand, and I find that too many people in business are losing that skill: It IS a SKILL, one that is very much connected to being successful.

Success demands an arsenal of writing habits, and I believe that managers must be writers who understand the differences between writing to write, writing to capture, and writing to learn, and who employ each to their full advantage. For instance, documentation is writing to capture, whereas journaling is writing to learn. It may be that you learn most about yourself in journaling, and you can't be so foolish as to discount how much that self-attuned knowledge helps you be successful.

I urge you to consider the skill of writing as one you will Kūlia! and Break thrū! with this month, as is our value and theme. To begin, learn to separate writing into the three different types I have mentioned, and start a simple log of when you do each one, and why. You may be surprised at just how much the skill of writing contributes to your effectiveness. Once you fully comprehend how much we take this skill for granted, you will also think anew about how much more writing can do for you.

Take note that I categorize the writing types by intention. When must you,

1. Write to write: Another way to look at this, is when you engage your more creative mind, your right brain. Bloggers will tell you that the posts they write tap into their creativity way more than satisfying any need to communicate.
2. Write to capture: This is when you write things you do not want to forget, and you are entering them into a productivity system you trust. In meetings at work, writing to capture is also a sign of respect and acknowledgment: Is whatever being said important enough to matter?
3. Write to learn: This is when you celebrate the value of 'Ike loa, learning to BE a lifelong learner, and seeking mastery with learning in the way that is best for you. We write to explore and to question, to explain and to clarify, to turn what we don't know into that we do.

Sidebar: For those of you who were participating in Joyful Jubilant Learning's Learn to Lead with Your Strengths project, and who are familiar with this verbiage, capture your loves and loathes after different writing activities. Clarify and confirm them to discover which are your strengths, and which seem to weaken you.

There is this misconception that only visual learners are the ones who must write to learn, and that simply isn't true. Writing as a learning process is intellectual, physical and emotional; and in writing to learn you will deepen each of these capacities. To resist is to deny yourself the breakthrough.

Comments

[Becky-Joe]

Aloha Rosa. I am so glad that you were able to put things into perspective for me. It sounds silly but I am always writing but until now, have not had a way to organize my ideas. Lol I am not confident that if I keep in mind my goal for that particular writing session, and separate them into the three categories [meaning three different journals] I will be able to find my entries faster.

[Rosa Say]

I understand what you mean Becky-Joe, indexing and archiving is a challenge for those who love to write and do so prolifically. Tools match-up is important in writing-to-capture, and I think that is where our new electronic tools come in beautifully. For instance, blogging is a kind of journaling where you soon discover how critically important your categories are - I am constantly tweaking them. Learning tagging, and starting to tag my internet reading via Del.icio.us ranks up there as one of my very best learnings since I've been online. You can see my Del.icio.us tags here: http://del.icio.us/rosa