What Can You Learn From a 2,000-Year-Old Technique?

Hands-on Learning isn't just for sewing, cooking or painting; A common name for Experiential Learning, this idea of immersing oneself in a subject in order to learn, has been around since 350 BCE. Aristotle wrote, "for the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them".  Two thousand years later, this idea became popular due to the backing of famous psychologists such as Jean Piaget, Kurt Lewin and John Dewey. Experiential Learning quickly became a staple in American education beginning in the 1950s.

Reference http://info.thinkfun.com/stem-education/the-importance-of-hands-on-learning

What does this have to do with your company? A Lean Operation is efficient and optimal in inventory, labor, costs, and time. However, learning lean concepts does not have to be tedious. If taught properly, it can be fun and engaging. Unique teaching methodologies help your team members enrich their skills by giving them the proper techniques to understand and implement improvements. You might have forgotten, but can you actually remember kindergarten?? Learning to color within the lines – making a dinosaur out of modeling clay. That was hands on learning! 

Think about teaching someone how to drive. Sure, you can tell them all about it in a classroom, but will they learn without actually driving the car? You know the answer. Learning from books in an academic setting is a proven way to learn, but some types of learning need hands on techniques. Hands on teaching challenges your brain by giving opportunities to develop skills and understanding at a different level. When performing an exercise, you can truly understand the implementation of it and replicate the process in another setting. Hands on practical learning combined with creativity are the fundamental skills of an industrial economy when addressing problem-solving.

There are a few main reasons hands on learning works so well. 

·      Motivation to want to come back and learn

o  This keeps your team from getting bored

·      Practical problem-solving skills

o  Teaches how to slow down and think to do things right the first time

·      Introduce versatile skills at all different levels

o  Increases learning skills for jobs that haven’t been created

The most fun people have is when they play games! How often do you come home and tell everyone you got to play with Legos or airplanes or cards at work? Incorporating these types of games into your learning initiatives will enhance the engagement and rigor of your programs. They will also result in longevity and sustainability when the practices are implemented in the real world. 

Creating a hands-on approach will allow for interest, engagement, fun and specialization. If it’s been working for two thousand years, then shouldn’t you try to improve your team’s performance?? Let me know your thoughts.