Skip to main content

Myths that persist

Over the last few years, I have had the privilege of viewing learning and development from a ringside perspective as well as from the inside view. It is interesting to see how many myths persist in this space. This is just my perspective  - based on what I have learnt.

The myth of Left Brained and Right Brained people. This myth refuses to die - despite being proved by research. Like many myths, there is a certain element of truth - the brain is indeed divided across hemispheres The brain is far more interlinked - this much is very well known-- but to categorise a person as Left (artist - yay cool) or Right brained (accountant - hence boring) is just laziness.

The myth of multi-tasking. This was hight on the radar a few years ago - it still persists, but again, has been largely disproved. There is almost no such thing as multitasking - the changeovers during switching affect productivity - and all our devices make it worse. Read this piece for all collection of insights on it...

The myth of Learning Styles. This myth which states that people learn through various styles - visual,  auditory, kinesthetic - among others. This myth has been comprehensively broken down here...but we continue to have conversations about 'how are you going to tackle this learning style'. The fact is that we mostly, only learn by doing. There is no other way. Step out of your comfort zone, learn, do, repeat till it becomes a habit - everything else is a shortcut that goes nowhere.

In your experience, which other myths continue to persist?



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The man who saved Pumpelsdrop

This was a story we had in college if I am not mistaken. Perhaps it was in school, but a delightful story it was. The story goes somewhat like this ( reproduced from here ), but the college version we had was slightly different from this.  I t was a dull, gloomy and a depressing morning in a town named Pumpelsdrop in northern England. The Great Depression had brought all the businesses to a standstill. The bored automobile dealer was spending time alone, as usual. But, this seems to be an unusual morning as an odd entity (customer) appeared on the horizon. A man in a bright suit walks up to the dealer and says, "I need to buy a Rolls Royce Phantom II. We have a business conference coming up and I need to impress my customers". Then proceeds to pay 10% of the deal with a single check for 2000 pounds. The rest he says will pay when he takes the delivery.   The auto dealer was stunned. He was delighted to hear that someone is holding a business conference of some kind and ...

The Most Powerful Idea in the World

The above titled book by William Rosen (and I am still reading it) has set me thinking. As it goes through the industrial revolution (rather, the beginning of it) - it explores as to why the industrial revolution happened when it happened. Rather, how a lot of factors came to play in making it happen. For that alone this book is worth a read. It is worth reading how a 'dotcom' kind of ecosystem existed in England with the combination of tinkerers, rich patrons, correspondence and of course, the right kind of institutions. When one studies engineering, or even science, what we hear are the rock star stories. For instance, we know that Archimedes had a 'Eureka' moment. Likewise, in this book, I realized how a 'Eureka' moment helped James Watt resolve the problematic steam engine into a workable design. While it is very romantic to believe that discoveries happen accidentally, the fact remains that somebody like a James Watt (or others) slogged through many man...

Narendra Modi, Presentation Skills

This is the latest speech by Narendra Modi which was delivered yesterday at the India Today Conclave. Much analysis has been carried out on this speech, but here is a different perspective. I have written about Presentation skills - and to me this is a video that touches upon almost all aspects of presentation skills. For someone who wants to learn public speaking, presentation skills this speech is a great example. It is well worth your time, if you want to see presentation skills in action (and the bonus of a great speech). The speech is largely in Hindi, though there are parts in English as well.  Mr. Modi uses a video at the start (which is missing here) - so the speech uses other media as well - surprising the audience - since politicians arent generally given to videos. That initial video has made the audience look forward to more. The speech is extempore - which can only happen when one knows the subject thoroughly. I personally don't know how much Mr. Modi practices...