Ask, Not Tell

I have the pleasure to attend the facilitation skills class by our internal Master Facilitator this week.     I learnt a great deal.

The first concept I want to share here is called ‘Participation Ratio’.   Imagine a class size of 20.  If your question is being answered by 1 learner, the Participation Ratio is 1/20.    If you have the learners to discuss in groups of 4, the ratio is 1/4.   If you make them do ‘mindful repetition’, the ratio is 1/2.    If you ask them to answer your multiple choice question by picking 1 corner of the room and really moving there, you have 100% participation.

A higher ratio indicates that learning is taking place to a larger extent.   I find it a good idea to evalutate my existing programs by the ‘Participation Ratio’ – a quick test on learning effectiveness.    In the future, when I have to pick among different modes of delivery, the ‘Participation Ratio’ will be one of the criteria!

I raised a question in my previous post i.e. whether the 70/20/10 principle is about ‘how learning normally happens’ or ‘how we should allocate time’.   I looked into the input from Paul Wong, and googled a bit more.  I realise that the principle is more about the former.   As Paul pointed out, the principle was developed by Morgan McCall, Robert W. Eichinger, and Michael M. Lombardo at the Center for Creative Leadership.

“Lessons learned by successful and effective managers are roughly:

• 70% from tough jobs
• 20% from people (mostly the boss)
• 10% from courses and reading”

The principle was specifically mentioned in the Career Architect Development Planner by Robert W. Eichinger, and Michael M. Lombard.

So, the original meaning of the principle is about “how learning normally happens for effective managers”.   Interestingly, what is claimed in the learning world today e.g. learning philosophy claimed by employers (e.g. Nokia) is a bit different.   It now basically says “If we follow the principle, we can learn more effectively.”     Strictly speaking, the original meaning supports but does not necessarily imply such a claim.  Ideally, we conduct a research with some practicing the principle and some not.   The result can then confirm the claim.

Having said that, the claim “If we follow the principle, we can learn more effectively.” makes sense to me.   At least, I believe that when we think of how to help other learn, we should not just look at the options of formal learning.