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Linking Proficiency to Purpose

The Gift of Focus

Shared vision is vital for the learning organization because it provides focus and energy for learning. Innovative learning occurs only when people are striving to accomplish something that matters deeply to them.

Peter Senge

Adult learning and child learning are different when it comes to focus. Children are patient with delayed application and the promise that “someday you’ll find this helpful.” Adults question the worth of knowing the correct answer to the test question about the ingredients of the pie at the king’s banquet in Beowolf. As adults, we want real-time relevance and immediate application. And if the tie to usefulness is unclear or absent, our motivation drops and our attention drifts.

Proper protégé motivation is vital to protégé learning. Motivation is surfaced in part by linking what is being learned with a grander purpose. Call it “competence with a cause,” to suggest that as learners we need the “why” as much as we need the “how.” We want our pursuit to be in the direction of some desirable end point.