If you have read anything I`ve written, you know I consider learning as the foundation upon which all improvement, development and growth is built.

Consider this - learning is required to change anything in any part of our lives! We have all been learners our whole lives, and yet as adults we often think about learning in a school context, and we "graduated" from that phase of our lives long ago. And yet, while we all do it naturally, we don't often enough do it intentionally and consciously.

To help make the concept of learning more real - both personally and at work - let me suggest five questions to you.

The Five Questions

What worked? Asking this question first allows you to look to the positive first. Many move to the second question first (you`ll see in a second). Train yourself to start here. It will help your confidence and remind you of what you want to keep doing right!

What could be improved? Often this is the only question ever asked, which offers a very unbalanced view of the problem and even the potential solutions. You need to think about what can be improved, of course, but it should be the second question you ask, not the first; and certainly not the only question you ask!

What was my role in the result? This question helps you think about the situation more personally and helps you begin to think about the actions you can take in the future. When asking this question in a group, ask it both as a group (i.e. What was the team`s role in the result?), and from each person`s perspective.

What can I do now? This is critical since it`s about taking action. Once you have asked the first three, based on what you learned, you are prepared to decide what you will keep doing and what you will change.

How can I use this lesson later? This question helps you apply any lessons from this current situation to others in your life. Perhaps something happens at work; since you`re consciously in a state of learning you realize you can use this experience in a relationship or communication situation at home (or vice versa). This question gives you great leverage to use your life and work experiences to improve other areas of your life every day!

Each of these questions is powerful and can be asked at any time. However, it`s when you ask all five, in the order you just read them, that you will receive the maximum benefit. They are listed in an order that promotes learning and action.

Additional Thoughts

Hopefully you see how these questions can apply to you. You can ask them at any time after any event or on the way home looking back on your entire day. You also can use them as a team or group to think about how things are going and how you can continually improve your work.

Asking these questions helps you become a more intentional learner. Rather than waiting for some insight to come to you, or learning only when a problem is very obvious, these questions set you up to learn every time you ask them. Since you create a learning opportunity every time you ask them, my suggestion is to ask these questions often - even daily.

Lastly, if you look closely at the questions you can see that they focus on what you can do. These are accountability questions that help you be and stay accountable for your actions, your results and your learning.

As you begin to ask these questions more consistently and openly, you will become more intentional, conscious learners - using everyday situations as the starting point. With this starting point your growth and success is assured.

Potential Pointer: To reach your potential you must become an intentional, continual learner. These five questions - asked in order - can help make that happen.

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