I've been lucky to spend some time with Optimal Workshop recently. One of the coolest things about their office is the large library they have in their main meeting room.
An entire wall of shelves bursts with books, packed with the latest and greatest thinking on all things business, change, design, leadership and personal development.
With all those books on hand, is there any point in getting together for learning and development? Surely there's expert commentary on the shelf that's more accurate and informed than what I can come up with?
Sure... but that's not how change works.
While books remain, in my opinion, the most incredible and low-cost way to learn anything new there's a limit to their useful application (in isolation.)
We have access to an infinite supply of learning and information, at low to no cost. Whether we're searching online, watching webinars, surfing YouTube or reading books, there's little we can't discover for ourselves. Yet the market for training, coaching and facilitation continues to grow.
In fact, the more information we have access to, the greater our need for shared experience. The more people read my books, the more students the more people sign up for our training - even though they already know what we're going to teach.
Information might give us knowledge, but knowledge doesn't lead to execution. The value that any leader, coach, trainer or facilitator brings to any environment is not what they know. It's their ability to deliver a meaning-making experience that makes information useful.
TLDR: it's not what you know. It's how you connect people to it. Focus less on what, and more on how.
How are you making your expertise meaningful to others?
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Alicia McKay