Isaac Newton invented calculus in isolation.
Newton was a student at Cambridge University in 1665 when students were sent home in fear of bubonic plague. Studying privately, Newton developed the basic ideas of calculus…as well as gravitational theory and optics.
Most of us are not Isaac Newton.
Perhaps the most powerful lesson I learned in the last few years of my teaching career was that people learn best in community.
This creates a problem. If you take it seriously, it turns inside-out and upside-down most of the assumptions we make about school.
Homework. Desks arranged neatly in rows. Teachers talking, students listening quietly. (In fact, one of my colleagues developed a mantra: talking isn’t teaching, and listening isn’t learning.)
You might be reading this and wondering “What in the world happens in a classroom without those things?”
And the answer is: Something like controlled chaos. Because learning – real learning, the kind of learning that leads to undertanding and makes a difference in kids’ lives, mostly doesn’t happen quietly in straight lines.
Businesses are learning the same lesson. People work and create best in teams, and teams are often noisy and chaotic. The best leaders, just like the best teachers, figure out how to make the chaos work.
Because in this interconnected world, something is very clear: Knowing isn’t enough. Communicating, interacting with other people and with systems, is what’s required.
Until we do that, we don’t really understand. And we won’t have much impact.