13 Things I Learnt at #ATD2018

Overwhelming. Inspiring. Invigorating.

I found myself repeatedly using these words to describe my experience at #ATD2018; and it was! In my attempt to recap some of the bits of learning that struck me over 4 days (15 Sessions. 3 keynotes. Countless inspiring people), I came up with these 13 points and thought I'd post them here to share, and to remember! (Note: I tried to fit it to 10 but it was not possible)

1.    The ultimate goal of training is behaviour change, not knowledge transfer.

2.    People are not wired to resist change – they are averse to the possibility of loss. Work towards influencing the moment people decide if the change is good or bad.

3.    Teach people how to teach others; teach them to believe in themselves - not just to do things.

4.    No individual can figure everything out – that’s why we need teams!

5.    Values reflect how you interact with people on a day-to-day basis; and values are what gets you through the tough times.

6.    Take the long view of things – don’t get too high when things are good and don’t get too low when things are bad. Sustain your soul.

7.    Be curious - this reduces our natural bias about how we see people and things.

8.    If you study what’s bad and try to reverse it, you’ll get “not bad”. If you want to become good, you’ll have to study what’s good.

9.    Reinforce the good you see in people.

10. Others can comment on your performance but only you will know what your real strengths are.

11. Keys to good leadership – getting things done, creating safety, building connections, unplugging to energise, help others be awesome.

12. Happy brains outperform negative and neutral brains. Happiness is a choice; and can be trained and transferred.

13. If we’re kind and useful, we’ll be ok!