Is there a better way?

What if there was a better way to learn?  

A way to be better in your role?

Michael Matthews is an Australian cyclist. As a designated sprinter in his professional team his chances of winning often come down to the final metres of a 250km race. The final stroke of the pedals, the pushing of the bars and the lunge to the line. Any deviation in course, any momentary distraction or slowing rider means the difference between winning and losing, achieving his goal. Not all races suit the sprinters. They need flat stages, fast paced. They do not fare well with mountains and time trials. In professional races there are 20 teams. Twenty teams with 20 sprinters, each trying to get their own sprint train at the front of the arrowhead. Each teammate peeling off after ‘pulling a turn’ of what might only be a few hundred metres at 65kmph. One after another until the designated sprinter has one or two wheels to drag him the final few metres before sling-shotting to the line at 70kmph. Welcome to the life of a sprinter.

What if you could change the way you worked? What if you gave yourself a greater chance, better odds, more opportunities to succeed? Michael Matthews did just that. He saw that the opportunities were limited, and that as he matured from the style that won him the Junior Men World Road Race Championship in a sprint, he needed to find another way. He trained differently, using the same skills albeit differently. This renewed lease on life made him an allrounder, but with the same killer sprinter. He could get over the mountains without losing touch, he could make repeated attacks and make breakaways. He could stay away on his own or manage to outfox others in small groups. Instead of a 1 in 200 chance group sprint, his odds would narrow with each splintering of the peloton. 50 riders, twenty, 14 and so on.

And so, it was on the 14^th stage of this year’s Tour de France where he gradually broke down the opposition, piece by piece. High paced riding, attacks, and counter attacks until he was alone in front…with a substantial climb still ahead in the dying kilometres. After shedding two other riders before the climb to the Mendes Aerodrome, he was joined by the Italian Bettiol, a credentialed climber. In pure grit and determination Matthews held on to his wheel, going with him as he attacked. His newfound confidence, not only in his skills and strength, but his new processes, allowed him to launch a counterattack. He broke Bettiol, pulled away with his diesel like engine ticking all the way to the final few hundred metres where he had such a gap that he coasted to the line, arms aloft.

Matthews used experiential learning to make the most of his transferable skills. Adults work best with experiential learning. They understand the world and need engagement and activity. This is scaffolding, and it works. It motivates.

Transferable skills are currency. They produce procedural knowledge rather than declarative. Transferable skills promote understanding and inquiry and are recognised by leading psychologist Feuerstein as Bridging Metacognition with one simple process.

i)                How did you perform that skill?

ii)              Where else can you use that?

As simple as that, by constantly using and retrieving these skills you build brain power like doing reps in a gym. Education theorists now believe that 70% of Professional Development   must be devoted to active learning of skills, at the zone of proximal development (where you are stretched into new areas). This is NOT recalling knowledge.

It’s the difference between giving a fish or teaching to fish.

Where could your transferable skills take you?

Start by making a list of your best attributes – and remember they are skills. Forget about them being ‘soft skills’ – they are hard!

Now, think of your dream job, role or initiative. Where can you use those skills?