Teachable Moments- From Nigeria
My last blog post was the email I sent to a Nigerian newspaper called the Business Day. Little did I know this would become the focus of the next article that journalist Abiola Adepoju would write and entitle ‘Teachable Moments." With her permission I have posted this article in its entirety below:
Teachable Moments
It was a rough night fraught with nightmares, and I got very little sleep. 1 don’t know if this happens only to me but it appears that whenever I eat ‘garri’ in any form before bed – which doesn’t happen often, I sleep very badly and have nightmares. Seriously. Last night was no exception.
I woke up really grumpy, but my sour disposition didn’t last for long. Unknown to me, there was an email from an interesting reader waiting on my blackberry that would have me laughing tears for an hour – almost non stop.
Here is the email in its entirety:
Abiola,
I always enjoy reading your articles in the Business Day (Nigeria). You hit a sensitive cord in your article entitled, "The Trusted Advisor" on April 20.
As I read your description of the "trust exercise" you brought back memories of the last time I had this experience. l was at a team building exercise with the leadership of our church. I was chosen as the "faller" and our senior pastor was picked at the "catcher." I had nothing but respect and trust for our senior pastor and barely hesitated to fall back into his caring arms. Unfortunately his arms weren’t ready for me. Either he was distracted or our timing was just completely off, but I landed straight on my behind and back with a loud thud. We were all shocked, especially me. Man did that hurt. To which our senior pastor replied, "It is better to trust in the Lord than put confidence in man.”
I am all for the applications of the "trust exercise." That being said, you might want to make sure that you have a backup plan incase what you hoped for doesn’t come about. From now on I would prefer taking the "fall" outside on the grass rather than a hard wood church floor. Love your articles. Keep up the great work!
Respectfully submitted, Scotty
There is only so much one can discuss in a 800 word article (that’s about my weekly average) and I must admit my focus was on communicating a point. Scotty’s story is essentially the balance to my message which is that, as life happens, not everything goes according to plan. It is prudent to have a back-up plan. A plan B if you will. But that is not the only thing I like about Scotty’s email. One of the phrases I picked up at a Learning conference in January is ‘teachable moment’. By definition, a teachable moment is an unplanned opportunity that arises in the [classroom] where a teacher has an ideal chance to offer insight to his or her students.
A teachable moment is not something that you can plan for; rather, it is a fleeting opportunity that must be sensed and seized by the teacher. Often it will require a brief digression that temporarily sidetracks the original lesson plan so that the teacher can explain a concept that has inadvertently captured the students’ collective interest.
Taking this tangent is worthwhile because it is organically timed to maximize impact on the students. Ultimately, the teachable moment could evolve into a full-blown lesson plan or unit of instruction. Scotty’s senior pastor recognized this opportunity for a teachable moment that was both a great comeback, and a powerful communication of a fundamental Christian truth. I don’t think anyone at that meeting who saw and heard the impact of Scotty’s fall would ever forget that lesson!
Another lesson I would like to tease out from the email is based on the comment, "From now on I would prefer taking the “fall" outside on the grass rather than a hard wood church floor." Sometimes, things don’t go according to plan and we lose something – a business opportunity, money, self-respect, a few teeth – whatever. There is something I believe is more powerful than resignation. It is the ability to say to oneself," okay, that didn’t work, and this was why. Next time…"It’s the mindset that sees life experiences as a series of lessons and gets better with each iteration.
It is the mindset that does not keep doing the same things and expecting different results. I think someone said that is the definition of insanity. Speaking of which, now that I have clearly identified the nightmare-inducing food in my diet, I should completely eliminate ‘garri’ from my dinner menu shouldn’t I?
A final word to the skeptics out them who think this story is too perfect, I didn’t make Scotty up! He is the Founder/CEO of Amor Ministries in San Diego, California, doing great work budding homes for the needy in Mexico (for 30 years) and South Africa (for 2 years) through volunteers giving their time. You can check them out at www.amor org and www.simplyscott.org.
