Watching a segment of the public television show, NOVA, the other night I was reminded of the truth in the adage, “everything old is new again.” The segment was titled “Schools of the Future” (link below) and it described the latest research and practical applications having to do with public education at the high school level. The essence of the episode (SPOILER ALERT) was the positive effect of an emotional connection, with a task - in this case learning. When there is a deep emotional connection with something we give it value. It means more.

While watching I vacillated between joy (helping individuals and organizations realize this reality is what we do at Meaningful Trainings), disbelief (Really? How did we forget our nature in the first place?), anger (Are you serious?) and back to self-satisfaction (Meaningful Trainings has been doing this with our clients for years!). The program concluded, my emotional rollercoaster disembarked and I fell into my delayed slumber with a gnawing thought, why did that NOVA segment get my juices flowing?

I do my best thinking while asleep. How do I know this? Upon awakening I’m given insights into perplexities that stymie me when awake. No wonder they make me tired! I must intuitively know that the answer lies in the netherworld of dreams and creative subconscious musings. Lo and behold I awoke and realized why that NOVA episode resonated so loudly; we named our business after the truism presented, Meaningful Trainings. Small world!

Of all the reasons we chose our name the number one was our experience that meaning contributes greatly to motivation. Our stock and trade, the raw material that imbues every Meaningful Trainings engagement is the belief that intrinsic motivation is the key that unlocks the treasure. That treasure is the individual. No matter the task, collective or individual, if it doesn’t inspire – if there is no meaning or emotional connection then everything else wanes accordingly.

If you have time – here is the link.
 http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/body/school-of-the-future.html
Enjoy!

This extension of the previous blog is an exploration of shared experience. The question beyond how we come together, putting aside affronts, injuries and self is why come together? From a base perspective the answer is self-service – if I don’t gather the information you have about certain situations then I may not be able to survive. Times have changed but it once was that planting instructions for crops, recipes for homemade tinctures and how to get from one place or another were a bit more involved than a visit to the grocery store or Google Maps.

The lessons that carry us through our quotidian challenges all have a fine point in common, someone helped refine the insight we’ll use to reach our goal; small or large there is virtually nothing we do alone. Be it family, friends, neighborhoods or more formal constructs such as organizations or businesses the need to work in concert for the greater goal is no less imperative than in the days of maps edged with dragons or wondering if eating that plant would result in my demise. Clearly we need each other. As a good friend of mine says “we are connected as f**k.” I’ll reveal he is nineteen years old, thus the poor articulation of what is no doubt an understatement.

The entirety of our mission at Meaningful Trainings is to help organizations and individuals create sustainable processes that support the core building blocks of purpose; stones etched with the questions “Who Am I?”, “What Am I Doing?”, “Who Are We?” and “Where Are We Going?”. A bit ethereal no doubt (try and make a living at it!) but crucial to the sustainable, innovative longevity of any community, personal or professional.

The raw material weaved into our workshops and coaching interactions are what we refer to as “Ancient Knowledge”, lessons that while endlessly reinterpreted, repackaged and re-represented arise from principles that pre-date recorded history. While Meaningful Trainings relies on Montessori learning theory and peer support principles I was reminded the other night they can never replace the “real thing”; only made manifest by the interactions we share in the range of our spoken words, not with a post like this or similar intellectual finger-painting exercises.

My reminder presented itself as I stood in a beautiful gathering space within an orchard and winery among three generations. Dropping in for an end of summer farewell my oldest daughter and I spent three hours with another family’s patriarch, wife, child and exuberant canine. As we stood conversing, trusting, sharing, imagining and hoping I was overwhelmed by the presence of my recently departed father, our family patriarch referenced in the prior post, Odds & Ends. It was as if he was there fully engaged in the conversations adding to our thoughts, checking our comments…and I realized he was, made present by our interactions. The simple acknowledgement of another as to what’s possible versus endless concern with self is a core definition of “Ancient Knowledge”. Imagine if those before us had chosen to forego the investments we harvest today and let us consider; what seeds are we planting for others to harvest tomorrow?