It’s day 18 of our 30 Day Brainstorm Challenge – Common Sense Ain’t Common
Today I flew home, and once again had the opportunity to sit and observe mankind try to navigate the world of travel.
Recently, I started a hashtag #AirportCommandments – this is where I am making note of the crazy, silly, and downright odd behaviors of people traveling. It really is intriguing, how people lose all sense of logic once they step through the doors of air travel. I mentioned this before, in this challenge post about eliminating the weight. Although obviously, the topic still lingers, and I still feel to urge to wonder about people’s behaviors.
Common sense would tell us not to walk through the airport in skyhigh heels – especially on the slippery tile.
Common sense would tell us not to lollygag when people are trying to walk around us.
Common sense would tell us not to be rude with the person who is directly in our way between finding a seat or being stuck in perpetuity at Chicago O’Hare.
But as my grandmother always used to say…”Common sense ain’t common”. This brings me to my aha moment today. Actually it’s a spin off of yesterday. Trainers helping trainers, has been on my mind. Why is it that trainers don’t help themselves more? A good friend, who also runs her own consultancy in the L&D world, asked her audience recently, “What are the barriers getting in the way of your own professional development?” In her words, 100% of the responses indicated that both, “time and money” are the barriers.
I’m trying to understand this perspective. We, the people responsible for moving the needle for the professional development of others, believe we don’t have enough time and money to develop ourselves? Common sense ain’t common. Is what we are saying that we don’t believe developing ourselves professionally has value? What kind of craziness is that? What is our time worth? We can spend time fumbling around, struggling with the same issues day after day, or invest some time and perhaps some cash, in getting help.
I know we can make the case of , “I don’t know what I don’t know.” This is fair, and in this case I might suggest spending some quality reading time with your favorite blogger, find some podcasts to listen to, hangout in a twitter chat. There may be a question that provokes enough curiosity to provoke further research. Find a coach or mentor to help point you in the right direction, helping to discover what you don’t know. My Grandmother also said about people who should know better…,” he doesn’t have the sense God gave a goose.” she was filled with such words of wisdom.
This should give all of us even more reason to reach out to others. Befriend someone in your workplace and discuss the benefits of networking, and knowledge gathering. Then tell yourself to make time in your schedule to build your knowledge, then make an appointment in your schedule once per week that is sacred time. Spend that time reading, or talking with someone who is mentor to you. You see, investment in yourself doesn’t have to cost a lot. You may not have the time to attend workshops and courses, but find the time to attend networking groups such as your local chapter of ATD. Does this mean you might have to invest some cash out of your own pocket? In some cases yes, but you’ll be happy to know taking classes that help to improve skills are tax deductible…There’s a point in the win column!
It’s time to make common sense common. What would tell someone who was looking for ways to improve their skills?
#LETSDOTHIS
NO! It’s not too late to join! See the original 30 Day Brainstorm Challenge post here
See previous post: Day 17: Trainers Helping Trainers
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