it was late night in Auckland, i was walking alone along the empty wharfs of the Viaduct harbor. the gloomy musts like me were yearning for some wind with its promise of action, anchored in their hankering for past glory of the America’s Cup. well, why pine for glory of days past? i pondered in my brooding mood, instead make it better now in your brilliant solitude. easier said than done. i walked my talk like a beaten dog. the restaurants on the other side of the docks were mostly empty and none were inviting, a rowdy bar was brimmed but that country music and beer drinking crowed were not the kind of action i was after, not tonight. behind a thick plastic shield waiters were folding their restaurant away, over one table though i noticed three figures that seemed leaning over a secret or was it a chocolate desert. i looked again; god, it was Chris Alcock and with him no others then Peter and Chris Chenoweth, what a great surprise, the night turned all right.

we were all part of the summit of  corenet global, an association for corporate real-estate. i had the privilege of being the opening keynote for the event, after being the closing keynote to their previous summit in melbourne the year before and in both places i met Chris Al-cock who works for DEGW a consulting firm integrating research, strategy and design. many things impressed me in Peter’s address on workplace and the generations; i never new the current generation following the baby-boomers, X, Y and N generations is named neo-millenials or digital natives. another thing i learned from Chris is the effectiveness of passive learning and active learning in terms of retention level. here are the findings he demonstrated:

Reading                                           - less then 7% retention.
Hearing                                           - between 7-20% retention.
Combining two or more media           - 20-30% retention.
Demonstration                                 - 30% retention.
Demonstration and discussion           - 50% retention.
Practice by doing                             - 65-80% retention.
Teaching others                               - 85% retention.

this i learned before many times; our real power is revealed when we give it to others; we are here to serve.

don’t procrastinate ---- cross-pollinate