Lessons from Lifelong Kindergarten

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The Lifelong Kindergarten (LK) group is part of the MIT Media Lab. This is how they describe themselves:

“The Lifelong Kindergarten group develops new technologies and activities that, in the spirit of the blocks and finger paint of kindergarten, engage people in creative learning experiences. Our ultimate goal is a world full of playfully creative people, who are constantly inventing new possibilities for themselves and their communities.”

I believe this kind of creativity is at the heart of effective leadership. Even though we are well beyond kindergarten, the work of the LK helps me to better understand how we can cultivate creativity that makes a difference. The group identifies four elements that go into this process: projects, passion, peers and play. These resonate with me as a leader. Here’s why.

Projects

This is the real world. When you decide you need to do something, then you learn how to do it.

Life is about projects. Whether it's work, home, automobile or vacation, projects are how we move forward. In his book Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress Free Productivity, David Allen defines a project as anything that takes more than one step.

The important thing about projects is they force us to learn new skills. When I wanted to redo our laundry room I had to learn how to lay tile. When I wanted to start a blog, I had to learn how to develop a website. Thank goodness for Google and YouTube.

Project-based learning motivates us to learn because we have a specific goal in mind. Compare this to traditional school-based learning which is “purely academic. “ While many students are driven to learn for its own sake, or to get grades, it’s not surprising when a student is not motivated to learn because they don’t understand why they will ever need it.

The learning for me on this is that, as a leader, if we are working on something that is going to make a difference or move our organization forward, there will almost always be learning involved. This can be daunting but exciting at the same time. And when you realize this is just part of the process you learn to embrace it.

Passion

We usually expend our greatest effort on something we like or that interests us. We don’t do it for the reward. In fact, studies show that when we are motivated to do something for its own sake (intrinsic motivation), the offer of a reward (extrinsic motivation) will actually decrease our motivation.

When you have passion you are more motivated, and you are more likely to persist through challenges and obstacles. The LK encourages students to focus on things that interest them and get them excited.

This is true for people of all ages.

We all have to do things that we may not like or find boring. But we will do our best work when we have passion. In fact, I find that when I am able to work on things that excite me, it makes it easier to do the things that bore me. For example, I don’t like compiling and matching up credit card receipts. I love, working on developing new retreat programs. If I work on the latter, it makes doing the former easier. I can alternate “important” work with “necessary” work.

Google applies this principle with their now-famous 20% rule. Every employee is allowed to spend up to 20% of their time working on projects that interest them and could possibly benefit Google. That’s as much as one day each week. Gmail, Google Maps and AdSense are just of few of the ideas that have come from fostering passion with this approach.

When somebody comes to you with an idea that doesn’t necessarily seem to fit directly with what you are working on it’s worth considering how you might encourage them to spend a small amount of time exploring to see where it might lead. There is not a lot to lose and a whole lot to gain. Passion breeds effort, and effort can lead to results.

Peers

The Lifelong Kindergarten group's focus on peers is intended to encourage collaboration. We all need connection. Even introverts. For young people this goes beyond the classroom where they may work together on a project. Whether they are on an Odyssey of the Mind team, play in the marching band or on a sports team, or participate in theatre, collaborating as a part of a team makes them feel a part of something bigger than themselves.

This is certainly true for congregations, nonprofit organization’s and even some for profit organizations. When people feel a part of a team that is working toward a meaningful purpose, they are more likely to give their best effort.

More importantly, collaboration encourages different perspectives so that you can get the best outcome possible. You may be able to achieve something more quickly on your own, but you also may miss something in the process. Working together with others helps you to see things that you might not see on your own.

Finally, collaboration gives you an opportunity to learn to be self-differentiated. You can say what you believe, but give others the freedom to disagree. This is healthy for both you and the team.

Play

This is really about a playful attitude.

Kids are naturally playful. Somewhere along the line we are taught as adults to lose that. Sure we need to be serious about life, but if we are too serious it breeds anxiety. In family systems theory, playfulness is known to bring down the anxiety level of the entire system. This helps people to avoid the seriousness that keeps us stuck.

Playfulness is the willingness to experiment and take risks. Sometimes we are so focused on achieving the perfect outcome that we become bound by our own anxiety, which gets in the way of innovation and creative problem-solving.

A playful attitude fosters a willingness to try, fail, learn and repeat. As a leader, one of the greatest gifts you can give to others is playfulness. This will encourage others to know that if they try something and it doesn’t work, then the best thing they can do is learn from it and try again.

University of Alabama football coach, Nick Saban, would not be called playful. He’s driven. But he also has the attitude that we can always get better. One of his famous lines is, “So what? Now what?”

So what if you failed? What will you do now?

You can help those you work with to work on continuous improvement with this kind of attitude. And, as I wrote in this blog post, it doesn’t hurt to throw in some humor, too. That’s playfulness.

My guess is that if you’re reading this blog, you are a lifelong learner. For me, these “four P’s” from the Lifelong Kindergarten group help me to understand how I can do this more effectively for my own sake and for the sake of those I work with. I hope you can, too.

Questions for Reflection:

Which of the four P’s comes most naturally to you?

Which of the four P’s do you most need to work on?

How can you apply these principles to your own leadership context?

The Rev. Jack Shitama serves as executive director of Pecometh Camp & Retreat Ministries in Maryland.  This post is republished with permission from Jack Shitama's Blog for Non-Anxious Leaders.