Where’s your rudder? Inspiration for training & development specialists
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Creativity & innovation, Training & development, Travel
Regardless of whether you’re a landlocked lubber or a water born baby chances are you know where a boat rudder is. On the bottom of the boat. Right?
Not necessarily.
For a land crisscrossed with water (in fact 1/4 of it is below sea level), Holland knows a thing or two when it comes to getting around on the wet stuff. When my friend and colleague Gerd Junne took me about on a visit there, his natural gift for finding teaching moments led met to noticing what looks like a folded wing on the boat above.
Turns out the canals of Holland aren’t very deep, which makes having a traditional rudder on the bottom of a boat not work. The rudder would likely be torn right off as it scraped the bottom. The canals are wide however, which created the opportunity for literal lateral thinking.
Boats like the one above store their rudders on the side. When needed they are simply slipped down and into place. Voila. Problem solved.
Like training. Everywhere is a chance to learn. Every workshop is a chance to touch participant’s lives and welcome them into a world of learning.
There are always teachable moments.
In fact the best training and development comes from combining lived experience (participant’s own experience) with new information. It’s a form of praxis – a popular education technique where trainers cycle back and forth between theory and action. Theory and action. Theory and action. Theory and action.
Makes a nice mantra. Say it with me while floating your boat…
Tags: amsterdam, gerd junne, popular education, praxis, rudder
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