How Do You Learn?

If I have a task to accomplish, I like to know the directions or be able to ask questions from someone who has already accomplished what I am trying to do. However, my wife is opposite; she will jump right into the task and get started without having to understanding everything.

The other night, our children wanted us to play a new card game with them. My oldest daughter (who is a lot like me) began to explain all the rules of the game. She showed us each card and told us what that card meant. She continued with examples of things that could happen during the game. By this time, my wife had listened to more directions than she wanted to hear and interjected. We began playing. The first round was a little bumpy but we then got the hang of it and had a great evening of fun, laughter and memory making. The next day, my wife shared something with me. She said she listened to very little of the directions given. She said she could not WAIT to just start playing the game, so she could understand how the game worked. Thank goodness we understand our opposite learning styles!

The Model of Human Behavior suggests that the population can generally be split into two types of behavior…one is more Outgoing and the other is more Reserved. These two types seem to learn differently. Outgoing individuals (my wife) like to go and do, move and shake…make something happen! Reserved individuals (me) like to stay with the tried and true, move a little slower through life to enjoy it!

In order to understand something, the Outgoing personality will jump in and begin to experience it. From that experience, this personality begins to understand it. However, the Reserved personality takes the opposite approach. They want to study and learn what is required in order to understand it, before they will try and experience it. Neither approach is right nor wrong; they are just different. Both methods work for that particular behavior type.

Think about someone that you have a relationship with. Are they more outgoing or more reserved? Which behavior toward starting a new task do they display? If they happen to be the opposite type from you, their approach to the task may give you challenges. Maybe you had a hard time understanding their behavior. Remember, it’s your differences that make each of you unique!

Wisdom Words - attitude

The only one thing I can change is myself, but sometimes that makes all the difference. ~Anonymous

What might you need to change about your perspective or your attitude to become a more effective communicator?