Having eyes,
see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember? Mark
8:18
Sometimes certain concepts get used so many times, by so
many people, in so many ways that the meaning of that concept can get confusing. When this happens I find it helpful to redefine that concept for myself in a coherent
way. The following two examples are relevant
to the remainder of this post.
What is smart person? A smart
person is someone who learns from their own experiences (mistakes).
What is a genius? A genius
is someone who learns from the experiences (mistakes) of others.
Using these definitions I strive to be a genius. However, to be a
genius one must expose themselves to the experiences of others. Many amazing people have captured their experiences
in the writing. If you would like a list
of books/authors/thinkers. I will gladly compile
such a list for you. The issue with reading
someone else’s written experience is that their message may not be the message
that the reader is seeking at that specific time. The beauty of the written record is that the
message will wait until the reader is ready for it.
Everyone has something to teach and everyone has something
to learn, is the premise of the School of Everything (http://schoolofeverything.com/). Please note, I never heard of the School of
Everything until my Google search a few minutes ago so please do not view this
as an endorsement of them, but rather I am using them to support the idea that
we are all students and we are all educators.
However, finding the right person to teach the lesson that you are ready
to learn next, is a can be a challenge, and this is the quest for a
mentor. Please see the link below from
Forbes.com about how to find a mentor.
I will share what I have learned about mentoring:
1. Do
not work for an existing mentor, this will change the dynamic of the
relationship and it will be difficult to separate current project issues from
long term personal/work growth items.
2. Mentors
will change over time, once you learn (this may take many years or never
happen) what someone is best suited to teach, someone else may be better suited
for your next message.
3. Many
people are disinterested in what you have to offer, so in addition to finding someone who can has much to teach you have to find someone who in interested in what you bring to the table, to create a reciprocal
relationship.
As you can see, I have much to learn about
mentor/menteeship. What can you tell me
about your journey in this space.
All the best,
Wendell
Also radio lab did an interesting bit about genius which can
be found at the following link.
