When I was 12, we were living on a boat in Fiji that Dad had built and we were anchored at an island called Waya. One day, I was invited by a group of local kids to go catch fresh water shrimp.
I didn’t speak Fijian, and they didn’t speak English.
Late morning, we headed off up a steep river, with big boulders, barefoot. I didn’t know what we were doing, or where we were going.
I got the gist that I should follow them closely.
Eventually we stopped at some coconut trees – they started to collect some fronds, strip them down and tie them into nooses, or loops.
All I could do was get the hint that I should copy them and make my noose.
Then later, we got to a stream – they sat in a squat position on the edge, chewed up some old coconut and started spitting it into the water.
I copied this too.
When I spat out chunks that were too big, one kid would shake his head and point until I got it right.
Eventually, I heard a murmur and watched one guy lower his coconut frond noose into the water slowly, near his chewed up coconut that was near a rock.
Suddenly, quickly, he drew the noose shut and pulled out a big shrimp that had come out of hiding to eat the coconut. He had stalked and trapped the shrimp with the coconut as bait his little loop. Simple, but very difficult.
Of course, it then took me a lot of tries to get my first shrimp, with plenty of head shaking and nods to help me in between.
At the end of the day, I contributed maybe 3 shrimp to the group. They had about 10 each. We divided the total into even amounts and took our lot home.
There are times here or there, when a guidebook, a speech, or a tutorial are effective.
Then there is every other time, when we can expedite the learning process by realising that the quicker we figure it out, the quicker we can be of use to the group, the quicker and more effectively we can contribute.
Today, this of course requires a concerted effort. A seeking out of this group. However, this accelerated method of learning transcends language, age, location and even the complexity or perceived difficulty of the activity. We can accelerate learning by observation and pitching in for both personal and professional development.
There are a couple week still until our Access Potential Academy program begins. There are some amazing people coming together who are dedicating both physical and emotional energy to levelling up this year.
If you would like to find out more about this and how it can impact your mindset and your work, hit reply and we can organise a conversation.
