Each Thursday, I keenly look forward to participating in #lrnchat, the weekly Twitter-based discussion among learning and development professionals. I was very pleased to work with David Kelly, Aaron Silvers and Meg Bertapelle to create a set of questions teasing out the learning lessons from the Star Wars canon.
Dave does a fabulous weekly summary of the discussion, so I will leave it to him to tie together the wider themes, but I did compile a quick anthology of some of my favorite tweets of the morning.
Thanks to everyone for the great discussion!
Q1) What are some lessons you take from Star Wars?
@delasare Hokey religions & ancient weapons (old school teaching methods) are no match for a good blaster (high tech methods).
@2GFred To be a Jedi in your field requires practice, discipline, and a qualified mentor.
@bschlenker “[Luke:] I can’t believe it. [Yoda:] That is why you fail.”
@stipton It’s the always the rebel (Han) that will force people to take chances they otherwise wouldn’t. Don’t shut down the rebel.
@mjk60631 When Luke… closes his eyes & destroys the Death Star, it reminds me importance of faith in self
@aaronesilvers OR maybe… the tighter your grasp, the more systems will slip through your fingers?
@Quinnovator bad characters can destroy the experience
@LnDDave If there’s a huge gaping hole in your story, people lose focus on the story and focus on the hole.
@briandusablon Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. (see Episodes 1, 2, 3, Jar Jar Binks, etc.)
Q2) How do you fix your Podracer in the middle of your race? (overcome challenges while still keeping up with your projects)
@Quinnovator don’t get into races where the judges are fixed and there are no safety measures
@LnDDave Make sure your podracer has an ejection seat – seriously, did NO ONE think of that?
@KatieStroudPro Shift focus to what is vital, shed the rest.
Q3) What “Jedi Mind Tricks” do we employ in our trade-craft?
@LearnNuggets “Do or do not. There is not try.”
@stipton this is the learning solution you want (wave of hand) we can continue this process (wave of hand)
@MJK60631 “That’s no moon, it’s a space station.” Learning brings misconceptions into sharp focus.
@weisblatt Honesty is a Jedi mind trick. No one ever suspects it.
Q4) How would you describe your/your org’s Dark Side? How do you avoid becoming Darth Vader?
@Tracy_Parish “Mandatory training” is the path to the Dark Side. “It” leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.
Q5) Before leaving Dagobah, Yoda pleads with Luke to complete his training. What could inform Yoda that Luke wasn’t ready? #lrnchat
@LnDDave If you listen, you can faintly hear Yoda screaming as the engines roared “But you didn’t complete the evaluation!”
@Quinnovator: Luke wanted to learn on the job, not away from the problem
@Quinnovator: eventually, Luke *did* go back and complete his training, once he recognized he needed it…
@petersonandrew yoda’s funding was probably based on completion rates. It had nothing to do with Luke’s skill
@weisblatt: Luke Skylearner to Darth PowerPoint: “Father I know you can transmit ideas without being lame.”
@KatieStroudPro My Yoda doesn’t give me all the answers. Sometimes I have to figure it out on my own. #lrnchat