The Leader Learner Podcast

Is connection the content?

Theresa Destrebecq and Vincent Musolino Episode 69

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Overarching Question: Which is more important, content or connection? 

Big ideas:

  • Peter Block -- "Connection is the Content"
  • content and connection as an infinity loop
  • different types of connection -- to ideas, to others, and oneself
  • relationship and communication interact with another
  • trust cannot be built without connection
  • delivering content with trust doesn't lead to integration
  • we relate to content differently when there is time for connection
  • you can't just throw content at people and expect them to learn
  • it's hard to measure effectiveness in adult learning
  • video courses have low completion rates because they miss the social aspect
  • diverse groups provide perspective shifts that we can't get alone
  • content can come easily from AI these days
  • "Leave people changed, not just informed." -- Informed is the content piece, changed is the connection piece
  • Perspectival knowing -- creating knowing that shifts your perspective
  • knowledge needs context to be meaningful
  • reading has become the exception to doomscrolling
  • reading keeps people engaged in a topic over a long period of time
  • when you connect with the content you're more engaged and motivated
  • content in itself is useless without the connection piece
  • shelf development -- when the knowledge/change stays on the shelf
  • without trust you can't connect, without connection you can't trust - a feedback loop
  • If a leader embodies the "connection is the content" idea, what does that mean for them?
  • connection embedded into all the content
  • a process doesn't necessarily create the connection
  • breakout rooms are a structure that facilitate connection 
  • put people into breakout rooms as they arrive to simulate the slow entering into a live space
  • content without connection is information
  • content is embedded in the conversation -- people are a source of content too

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