Snapshot.

By the end of this… I don’t know, 10 minute read, you, my dear reader, would have read this. No, really.

Seriously, though, by the end of this article, I would have written all of this off the top of my head, first for clarity, and then for retention.

By the end of this article, you would have read the 2 main points I gathered and am ready to assimilate further to the rest of my communications… and to the rest of my life, I guess.

First, a bit of background, by way of apology: I’m sorry I haven’t been writing for the majority of May and June. I’ve been busy. Last weekend, through Monday and yesterday, for example, I was at an online training involving interactive adult learning.

Now that you’re up to speed, let me continue. The past four days were not a waste of time, and I would not be doing the lessons any justice if I was to go any further with my time without writing about it.

Focus & Technique

Actually, the words I wanted to express here came out clear as day when I told them to the facilitator during that one feedback session: During my stint as a public speaker, there was a point that I didn’t have anything to say. Then it came to a point that I had too much to say. What I learned from the 4 days were ways to focus on what to say.

That’s where techniques come in, in the whole order of things – First, you fill yourself up with things to say, and then when you’ve overflowed, and when you’ve run your mouth, that’s when you start finding – and appreciating – the techniques for you to make your words count.

The techniques – the 4 I’s, the ABO, the 7 questions to ask in the right order – the techniques extract quality from quantity, true to our goal of honoring those who have entrusted their time and other resources to us.

And what wealth was there to learn from technique – because see, it did not just leave a greater impact upon those who were listening, but it should be noted that this was achieved with less effort on our part.

Delegation & Facilitation

An adage I apparently subscribed to, many times in the past, was, ‘If you want it done right you gotta do it yourself’ (I say ‘apparently’ because I just noticed now, how I’ve been taking all of the workload for too many times, at work, at home, and in church)… The training I went through also reminded me of the importance of (1) leadership and delegating a team, and (2) influence and facilitating for an audience.

Im growing older, I get it. And I suppose this is the wisdom that comes with age: that we couldn’t do it alone. We need each other, and we need to involve those we interact with, whether we sit in a one-on-one conversation, or stand before the multitude.

Other Wayward Thoughts

Quantity projects one’s knowledge of the material. Quality projects one’s wisdom with the material. Technique brings the quantity to quality, by way of clarification, specification, and elimination.

We disrespect our own perspectives if we do not place other people’s thoughts and ideas into the picture. We improve by way of expansion, and this is done through facilitation and delegation.

Something else: I’m reminded of Jocko Willink’s guidelines. Focus and Technique sound close to his Prioritize and Execute, while Delegation and Facilitation sounds a lot like Decentralize Command. But, see, here’s the thing – I’m fascinated about how these two separate learning opportunities connect, rather than dismissing one material because I’ve heard of something similar to it earlier in life.

Conclusion

I was very open to the team about how vehemently skeptical I was against devoting more than 40 hours of my time on something I wasn’t necessarily passionate about. I was told that it was mandatory and you couldn’t imagine how much more that irked me. There were other details here and there that had me dragging my (virtual) feet at first, but a final thing that I learned was more of a reminder from my adventurous mother – always have an open mind.

In fact, when I talked to her about all this, she asked me, ‘when was it an option for you to NOT have an open mind?’

Pastor Rey said what we’ve always been saying – ‘if we stop learning, we stop leading.’ I say if we stop learning, we start dying.

However anyone can see it, I believe we can all agree, that one sure way to commit mental suicide is to say, ‘Alam ko na yan.’

I say again what I tweeted one time – be a learn-it-all to tell the know-it-all’s to go jump in a lake. And that’s saying it church-friendly.

What do you think? Did I get through to you? What thoughts went through your head as I talked on focus and facilitation? I’d love to hear from you, much as I would love to hear how this all hit you.

Later.