• rookie moments when doing something challenging and meaningful
• “I don’t want a job I’m qualified learn or there would be nothing to learn.”
• Questions to ask yourself about rookie moments:
• how di dyou feel
• how did you operate
• what did you do when you didn’t know what to do
• what was your aspiration?
• We operate in simple small gritty and powerful way
• Experience - “Once we have knowledge we tend to make assumptions and they can often be bad assumptions.”
• With experience, sometimes we see what we expect to see and sometimes we can miss things entirely.
• Inexperience - bound to make some rookie mistakes
• has an upside that must be explored
• The upside of inexperience - operate in hunter gatherer mode to seek expertise from others
• LEARNING CURVE: delight > discovery > desperation (fire-walker mode–quick and careful) we tend to learn the most when we are feeling a bit desperate > deliver > delight > comfort OR hubris - signs you are on a plateau - things are running smoothly
• you already have the answers
• you get positive feedback - when we are at the top of our game we are in danger
• you’ve become the mentor
• you’re busy but bored – soul-sucking and contagious
• can we be dulled to danger simply because we feel comfort?
• when you have nothing it forces you to turn outward
• when challenge level goes up, satisfaction level goes up
• the secret of the rookie zone is it is powerful because we don’t like it–we want to reduce the tension (rubber band stretch between people)
• as leaders we sometimes stretch too hard or we reduce the tension to rescue people
• How do we rekindle rookie smarts?
• master the art of the pivot of Leader & Learner by trying the following: - things are running smoothly SO INSTEAD throw away your notes in order to have fresh thinking
• you already have the answers SO INSTEAD ask the questions
• you get positive feedback SO INSTEAD admit what you don’t know
• you’ve become the mentor SO INSTEAD let someone else lead - leaders need to be able to stop and to be able to go in reverse
• try following someone on the team
• go and spend time with the newcomers and allow them to renew you
• you’re busy but board SO INSTEAD disqualify yourself and put yourself back at the beginning of the learning curve - when we put ourselves back in the rookie zone we do our best thinking and find our greatest joy “It’s awkward but it’s exhilarating”
• “If you want your team to stay relevant, lead them into the unknown”
• stay a learner and know when to put your rookie on
• Our greatest joy comes from daring to begin again.

Originally published on stephen.braunius.org