"How many times do I have to tell you?"
I think this question is embedded somewhere in our genetic code. There are many derivatives of the question, but the essence of it has been a basic staple of parental inquiries.
Parents don't understand the need for frequency. Parents may feel, since they have decreed a thing once or twice, it should be enough said for behavior modification.
Leaders frequently suffer from a similar delusion. It's almost vanity to believe that a directive, teaching or even praise, is spoken once and remembered forever.
Frequency is the best teacher. Even a poor communicator becomes effective with frequency. Learning increases as frequency increases. Of course, learning tends to follow an "S-curve" effect. At the bottom of the "S," little learning occurs (noise, clutter, poor encoding.) Learning accelerates rapidly after a baseline is achieved. Then, at the top of the "S," learning flat-lines again when learning nears completeness on a topic.
The issue for leaders is to keep the learning curve from flat-lining. The problem is many young adults are satisfied with hearing a frequency of one. Many learners are quite satisfied with a frequency of one. Google it and be done. Young learners can be satisfied with shallow knowledge or simply knowing "about a thing."
The burden remains with teachers and leaders to create an engaging environment for continuous learning. We must stimulate the need to know. We must make inquiry a job description.
Has there ever been a time when the need to know has been greater?
Tell them again.
"For though by now you should be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God and have come to need milk rather than solid food" (Heb. 5:12).
Dr. Steve Greene is the publisher and executive vice president of the media group at Charisma Media and executive producer of the Charisma Podcast Network. His book, Love Leads: The Spiritual Connection Between Your Relationships and Productivity, is now available.
Leaders, Dr. Greene wants to help you understand the spiritual connection between relationships and productivity. Read his new blog, here.
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