separate ways. I am sure that this would have been a wonderful
experience for all present.
But, at the time of the breakfast Charles and his wife Elizabeth had
just publishedThe New Alchemists, their compelling examination, in words
and photographs, of some extraordinary individuals living in London. In
most of these portraits there were strong connections to be made
between personal events in the past and their views about learning and its
value to their business today.
Working with a specialist learning and communications company,
Purple Works, we created some learning mats, based on ideas contained in
The New Alchemists.The mats were designed, in full color, to provide visual
stimulus to conversations over breakfast, focusing on areas such as the
influence of school, family, trauma, failure, and the context of a very rapidly
changing world.They were placed on the tables as highly unusual
tablecloths.
From many of the chief executives who attended, you could sense
an immediate “What’s all this then?” sort of reaction. Learning mats were
not in their current learning comfort zones. But, inspired by Charles
Handy, all of those present rapidly overcame any initial apprehensions and
discovered just how useful such a tool could be in structuring
conversation without the need for intrusive facilitation.
The chief executive of a large construction company told me
afterwards that he had not been so stimulated for years and volunteered
quite personal information about a traumatic sporting experience that had
powerfully shaped his personality at work. He had clearly enjoyed
journeying outside his comfort zone.Where does your own learning comfort zone stop? Look through this book, especially the A–Z
of techniques at the back. How many of these have you not tried? Choose one new one to
focus on over the coming month.As Tom Peters puts it:The good news—and it is largely good news—is that everyone has a chance
to learn, improve, and build up their skills.
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