Rapid Fire Learning | January 2007

Today, at Joyful Jubilant Learning, Rosa Say submitted a post that exposes her creative blogging genius. The post, entitled Rapid Fire Learning is a collection of five things that Rosa has learned over the past month. She gives them to us now because there's five days left in the month of January.

Five days left in this month to learn something new.

Rosa writes: "You've learned way more than 5 things, (trust me, you have) but the first five you can now think of are likely the ones that have made the biggest impression on you this month, and they are worth tracking..."

So I'm adding my five, in hopes of encouraging you to add your five (either here or over at JJL).  Here we go...

1. Made To Stick may be the best book that I read this year. It's pure gospel in telling the reader why some ideas stick and why others don't. I'm going to pull every bit of content that I can from this book. It confirms a lot that I know and taught me a lot that I didn't know. Learning question I considered: What is it about your idea that stirs an emotion in others?

2. Stranger Than Fiction is a movie that made me think for days after I watched it. I haven't felt that way in a long time. Learning question I considered: If you know how the story is going to end, do you still do the right thing?

3. My favorite motivational quote is now this one - A year from now you may wish you had started today!" - Karen Lamb. Learning question I considered: What is keeping me from pursuing my dreams today?

4. The best team doesn't always win. Sorry, had to throw this one in even though I've learned it before. But the San Diego Chargers loss to the New England Patriots still has me bitter and confused. It wasn't supposed to be this way. Learning question I considered: Even though I dislike Bill Belichick's (Patriot's coach) sweatshirt he wears on the sidelines, is there really magic in it?

5. Braincast is a cool, FREE program that assigns you a telephone number that you can call and leave voice memos, messages, or audio files. You can sort your audio files, attach notes, and email them to others. Wow! (thanks Marc for the tip) Learning question I considered: How do I write down a note or message when I don't have a pen?

So what have you learned THIS month? I've answered all of my learning questions. What about YOU? Leave your list below in the comments.

Comments

[tim]

Blaine...

I just discovered jott.com. It will convert your voicemail to text and send you an email and text message with your transcribed message. It's very cool.

[tim]

Thanks Blaine. The questions were my little addition to this exercise.

I can't say enough good things about Made to Stick. I will be posting more about it in the near future. It is really helpful in the process of formulating and communicating ideas.

[Blaine Collins]

Love the learning questions, Tim!

I passed up Made to Stick at the airport last week thinking I had too many other books in my "to read" pile already. After your endorsement as possibly the best of the class, and raves from many other bloggers, I'll move it up the list.

I've tried Braincast a few times. Good stuff. I do wish it would use voice recognition to convert my words to text and e-mail me the text. But VR is tough going anyway and calls from cell phones in the car or train would likely be a nightmare to convert to text.

[tim]

You're hilarious Phil.

While I've only played around with Braincast, it appears to be very cool! I'm also playing around with a new online todo list called Gubb (www.gubb.net). You can create lists and then Gubb will send you your lists by SMS or email if you send Gubb an SMS or email.

It's just fun knowing that I could do it if I needed to.

[Phil Gerbyshak]

Tim - You had me at Made to Stick!

I'm not using Braincast (yet) but I have been known to leave myself a few voicemails. With you and Rosa saying it's great, I'll have to give it a shot.

[tim]

I wonder if we like the number 5 because of fingers and toes. I'll file that one under "Things that make you go hmmmm...."

I agree Steve. Belichick is one of the best playoff coaches around. But it doesn't matter who you play if you give the game away...which is what I think the Chargers did. Oh well...at least I had the Chargers losing to the Colts, so I'm looking forward to the Super Bowl.

[Steve Sherlock]

Maybe there is something to the number of fingers one normally has on our hand?

I understand your concern about the Chargers Tim. I think it does come from the top management and environment that Belichick and coaching team creates. It is something Shottenheimer could learn from. He does well during the season but has a real problem post season (only 5 wins of 18 games, the last one was in 1993).

There is an opportunity for learning in trying to understand the difference in coaches and performance and the keys to success.

[Rosa Say]

There is this cool cadence about 5's isn't there? For me, the Daily Five Minutes sealed the deal!

[tim]

Thanks Rosa. Yes, Made To Stick was so good on audio that I went ahead and purchased the hardback as well.

I'm a big fan of things that come in five's. I think this has the potential to dovetail nicely with my 5x5s.

[Rosa Say]

I love the spin you put on this with your learning questions Tim - outstanding!

I MUST get Made to Stick with all I continue to hear about it (and especially because YOUR opinion on books carries a LOT of weight with me).

Want to add my thank you to Marc too, for I've been loving BrainCast since he introduced it to us on JJL. It would've been #6 on my own list there, but I thought I should follow my own rules... Mahalo nui Marc.