Old Farts Learn Differently

OLD FARTS LEARN DIFFERENTLY

Looking at the first month at a 30 year break from University Schooling (what a wonderful word) it has become very apparent to me that the coaching from an old friend, Bill Potter from DU-IT in New Zealand was so so right when he showed me that Training/Coaching needs to be LIFE RELEVANT  to “OLDER PERSONS”

When one is younger, your brain is ready to learn as you don’t know what information you will need to live your life. You take all that information in, formula’s, equations, quotes and definitions are all part of the food of life.

A younger you, needs to take it all in because you may need it for a job so you can provide for you and your family, you may need it to understand if you may be under threat and you may need it so you can flee to a safer place to survive.

So the University system is made for this grinding out of information, some that may be relevant in your future, a lot that will not be, but what is what, so you had best take it all in.

However as an older person, to survive the grind of information that is bombarded day in and day out over the years, you have to sieve through it all to take in what could be relevant to your life. If it is not relevant, then you do not take it in and discard it.

So to learn in this type of environment that is targeted towards younger learning styles, is difficult for people that are better suited to a different style, a more relevant hands on – learning by doing styles.

So I have learnt that you have to change the way that the information is put across, so that it can be LIFE RELEVANT to me.

That is the same for the process with your team members, different learning methods not just for different people but also for different time frames of their lives.

This is important to understand if you are trying to give relevant information to your team to take your business forward, otherwise  you will not only waste time and resources, but your team will not have the relevant information to take your business forward.

If you wish to understand an ALE (Adult Learning Experiences) then contact me at tony@businessgardener.com.au.

As an International Accredited Learning Coach with JCI, I have the understanding that I can assist you in developing your teams knowledge to make your business grow.

Tony Park

Head Gardener.