Have you ever been in a situation where you knew how you were supposed to behave, but you were completely unable to do it? Maybe you were going in for a job interview. You know you are supposed to look smart and confident, but you were nervous and could not hide it. Maybe you went to talk to that attractive person across the room, but could only stammer incoherently. Maybe you were presenting in front of a group of people and felt shy and self-conscious. Maybe someone made you angry and you blew up, even though you knew that was the worst thing you could do?
Why do we do it? Why do we behave stupidly? Completely at odds with the behaviour that would be in our best interest?
It’s because most of us weren’t trained in behaviour. We behave the way we do because that’s how our parents behaved, or our friends, or our siblings. So we picked up our behaviors haphazardly. We didn’t choose them. We just picked it up from the people around us, the same way we picked up how we dress or the language we speak. But you can learn a different language. You can choose to dress differently. And you can choose to develop a whole different suite of behavious, ones that are in harmony with your goals, ones that will propel you towards your dreams.
Just like Eliza Doolittle and Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady. Has anyone seen this movie? What happens in it? A poor dirty flower girl passes herself off as a princess. But she works hard, tremendously hard, to change her behavior. If you don’t change your behaviour, you can’t achieve your dreams. It is that simple. And we are in the business of helping people achieve their dreams. We know that anyone can improve their behaviour. We have seen it. We have been through it ourselves. Have any of you been able to change a behaviour you didn’t like? Whether it was behaving more professionally, or quitting a bad habit, or learning to control your anger, we have all done some of this. But to change your behaviour, you have to engage not just your intellect. Sure, the decision to change is an intellectual one, but the behavioural change itself involves a deep awareness and ability to control your emotions and your body.
This is where experiential learning comes in.
Behaviours are complex. They engage our brains and bodies at every level. Because behaviour engages so much of our brain, because it requires not just our rational minds but the control of our bodies and mastery of our emotions, experiential learning is the only type of learning that can fully engage all of the behavioural parts of our beings. You can’t learn to champion a company vision, to persuade and motivate others, or to negotiate successfully by just sitting in a chair and reading about these things, just as you couldn’t learn to ride a bicycle or play the piano by just sitting in a classroom and hearing your professor talk about them. Students, learners, workshop participants have to get on their feet and interact to develop their behavioral skills. Through experiential learning, students learn not to just think confidently, but to grab their bodies and radiate confidence with every fiber of their being. They learn not just the polite language of social discourse, but how to persuade, motivate, and support people and win their advocacy. They get a chance not to just stand at the edge of the pool and observe, but to jump in and swim. These exercises have all been carefully crafted to develop the behavioral competencies that will help learners succeed in their endeavors. They have been used by trainers all over the world with profound results. They are powerful tools in your hands by which you can effect tremendous positive change in your own life, and in the lives of those students you touch.
