2008-01-01 11:49 PM

Knowledge, Awareness, Behavior

I feel that this trio provides a foundational way of looking at real life learning. When we really learn something it isn’t in just one of these three areas. We don’t just know something, notice something, or do something. It is a combination of all three.

It may be that you start by noticing something, like birds outside your window. As you become more and more aware you may want to know more about the birds you see and you decide to look them up in a book. Unfortunately this is where many people stopped.

For the learning to become useful there must be some behavior associated with it. To start we have to actually pick up the book. Then we may begin to identify birds by their size and coloring, their song, or the way they fly. We may start putting out different feeds to attract certain birds. Whatever it is there will be some action associated with that new knowledge and awareness.

The really powerful stuff happens when you leverage all three of these and use them to reinforce each other — you create an upward spiral.

  • The more you notice the more you want to know.
  • The more you know the more new actions you perform.
  • The more you act the more you notice.

With every iteration your skill level increases and your learning becomes more real!

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to examine an area where you feel skilled and become aware of how these three have interplayed.

How do these names (knowledge, awareness, behavior) influence what you are aware of and what you do with your observations?

Posted by Wayne Buckhanan 1 Comment »

One Comment on “Knowledge, Awareness, Behavior”

  1. Life, Love, & Learning - Knowledge, Will, & Means Says:

    […] we cover here. Today’s topic is what MJ calls Knowledge, Will, & Means. This parallels my Knowledge, Awareness, and Behavior model and extends the ideas in a slightly different […]

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