Verified by 
Fake news troubles me on so many levels. Can I recognize it all the time? Should I discount it without thinking? Should I explore it to learn whatever it has to teach me? Do others have answers to these questions? Can they learn how to do so? If a resilient leader builds on knowledge, then there is a responsibility to be able to distinguish fake from real. This week, I have discovered and recovered some ideas that ease my anxiety.
In my book, Riding the Current, I recommend that those who seek knowledge find others to learn with them. One of these ‘others’ is the Practice Partner. Readers tell me that of all the strategies offered in my book, the most valuable is the strategy of finding a Practice Partner.
Practice Partners are selected not on the basis of what they know but rather on the basis of (a) how curious they are about anything, (b) how many questions they ask you, and (c) how much they delight in listening to you explore the questions with them. This last point is important. Listening to you with delight conveys the message that each question is not one of criticism but comes only from a desire to learn. (I wonder sometimes if the Athenians saw Socrates questions only as criticism rather than a prompt to learn
A Practice Partner is based first on the idea that learning is not a solitary activity regardless of how much we are told to study alone and in quiet. Learning is accomplished in conversation with others even when the other is a dead author as we pour over his or her writings. Second, the greatest block to learning new things is our own set of assumptions. Our minds seem to slip over assumptions like a dark corner. We just don’t see them. A good Practice Partner asks so many questions, that we find we have ventured into that dark corner and come face to face with our assumptions. Only then can we consciously decide if they are still valid or not.
For example, let’s say that I’m talking about grief with a child. I assume children know nothing about grief because they haven’t experienced it or because I think they would not understand what grief means. In the midst of a conversation, the child says something that reveals great insight and understanding. I’m dumbfounded and surprised that my assumption about how much children understand about grief is exposed. It’s as if an assumption was standing in front of this child so that I couldn’t see him or her fully. Suddenly, I see the child clearly, no longer in the shadow of my original assumption. I begin to rethink how I view children
This week, Harold Jarche wrote, “Critical thinking requires us to constantly question assumptions, especially our own. To develop these skills, questioning must be encouraged. This runs counter to most schooling and training practices. When do students or employees get to question underlying assumptions of their institutions? If they cannot do this, how can we expect them to challenge various and pervasive types of ‘fake news’?...Real freedom lies in the people taking control of their own education. It’s not easy and it’s hard work.
However, learning with a Practice Partner can be great fun, and fun always lightens hard work. Moreover, the questions of a Practice Partner will put us in the habit of being curious about our own thinking. They will put us in the habit of expecting questions to arise. They will put us in the habit of asking questions not as a critique but simply to understand more. They will put us in the habit of exploring implications and inconsistencies of what we see and sometimes don’t see. We need to bring light to what may have been hidden in the shadows of our assumptions
Who asks you questions? Do you allow your team to ask you questions? Who do you allow to ask you questions? What do you miss because you don’t see the question let alone the answer? Who is your Practice Partner?
