Good morning from John Diefenbaker International Airport in Saskatoon. I’m headed back to Vancouver after a great session with a group of leaders in a credit union on empowering and motivating staff. I know I’m certainly motivated after working with them! In my travels over the past few days I’ve been reading Don Tapscott’s and Anthony Williams’ “Macrowikinomics” http://www.amazon.com/Macrowikinomics-ebook/dp/B0045U9U8Y/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1339508373&sr=1-2 which another credit union management group and board were kind enough to gift on the weekend.

I’ve been really enjoying reading it. I am intrigued by the image of “collaborative learning.” While this is important, even vital in educational institutions, it is at least as vital inside of your organization, or your team. The idea is simple, in the words of a great teacher of mine, Juanita Brown, “the collected wisdom of any given room is exponentially greater than the wisdom of the person standing next to the PowerPoints.” The question becomes, how to tap into that wisdom. The answer lies in the containers we create.

There are obviously times when a more directive approach is required; as a leader I may well need to tell you what to do, when to do it and how to do it, especially when you are first starting out in a job. But, more and more, and especially with younger people, having been educated in a far more collaborative system than their parents, once I know the basics, I want to learn in my own style, and on my own terms; more often than not, immersively and group learning are the keys to success. That is not to say that people with the knowledge already in hand are not useful; but rather than standing at the front of the room telling us what to do next, the appropriate role is standing/sitting within the group, guiding and coaching. Watch a group of kids learn to skip rope, or play a game of street hockey. The wisdom is already in the group; there may be an older sister or brother who explains the basics, and corrects and guides, but it is the kids themselves, immersed and in the group who actually play the game; and with practice become very adept at it. The worst thing the older sister or brother could do would be to line all the kids up in a row, wheel in a data projector and give a 1 hour lecture on skipping rope or playing street hockey. So why on earth would we expect that education, training and learning in our organizations or teams would work any differently?

And note here that I am not excluding teachers, trainers, and facilitators. Those of us in the craft know first-hand how powerful immersion and group learning can be; our focus point is moving though from the front of the room, into the hearts and minds of the people we teach and the groups we facilitate. We know about case studies; we know about powerful questions to spark dialogue and exploration. And so as leaders and managers we are called to the same shifts; our role is no longer to sit in the corner office; come out and participate, come out and learn with the group. Help construct the container in which the group will thrive, and keep them safe and secure in that space of learning and exploration.