Combine these two mental models to 10X your growth
Elite leaders are learners. They love to learn. They love to learn because it makes them better and they are obsessed with getting better.
There are two mental models that combined can massively boost our growth. The two mental models are:
Stress + Rest = Growth
The Feynman Technique.
I'll be brief on both.
Start with Stress + Rest = Growth. Several years ago I came across this "growth equation" by Brad Stuhlberg.
If you look back at those seasons where you grew the most, I am guessing that you can see this equation at work.
There was a period of stress. You were in the crucible of your job, you were learning something new, you were embarking on a new journey, etc.
Then, after a period of stress, you probably experienced a period of rest. The stress subsided and you were not taxing your mind or body.
You look up in several months and you can sense and see the growth in yourself. Stress, then rest, and the end result is growth.
The Feynman Technique is a learning method that helps you come to a deep undestanding of whatever subject matter you are learning. The method is comprised of four steps:
Select a concept to learn.
Teach it to a child (or pretend you are teaching it to a child)
Review and refine your understanding.
Organize your notes and revisit them regularly.
So lets take two examples. One for coaches and one for administrators or those in the business world.
The first example is a basketball coach learning a new press break. The stress is the study. It is diving into film study, talking to other coaches, reading books, listening to podcast, etc.
This might not feel like stress but it is much like lifting weights. You are adding 5's and 10's to the barbell each time you watch, listen, talk, or read. This deep study is adding weight to your bar, which is adding stress to your muscles.
Once you have extinguished all your resources you will now teach it to your staff/friend like they are five years old.
You will get feedback/pushback on your concepts and articulation of those concepts. You then go back and reflect on the feedback and make tweaks/changes.
Teaching it to another person (preferably another staff member) helps you in ways that you might not even be aware of.
We often think we know a concept when it is in our heads. It actually sounds great as is rolls around in our head. But then we open our mouth to share it.
Oh boy. We sound like a jumbled mess. Teaching it to someone actually reveals where we don't understand it or are not yet able to clearly articulate it.
The combination of 'stress' (the deep dive) and teaching will 10X your growth and understanding.
Then rest. You have done your deep dive. You have taught it to others (which again and maybe even ironically, helped you learn it at a deeper level). And now you rest. It sinks in. You are not doing another deep dive (at least not yet.)
Now let's talk about an AD. He/she wants to do a deep dive on leading better meetings.
Again, this leader reads, watches, listens to, and talks to others about how to run better meetings. Once that deep dive is complete, they teach it, get feedback, reflect and make tweaks.
Then they rest.
If we would do this 4-6 times a year, think of the improvements we can experience in our profession. Instead of just working 'in' our job, we actually are intentional about pulling out of the daily grind to work 'on' ourselves and our growth.
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One of my weekly disciplines is scouring the internet for articles/tweets I can learn from and/or use with those I work with. Below are two that I hope help encourage and equip you.
Article 1- Why don't they teach this in school?
Article 2- Why are incentives so important?
Podcast: Rob Vaughn, Baseball coach at the University of Alabama. One of the best young coaches in college baseball. Star in the making!
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