PEER LEARNING EMANCIPATION| SPREAD YOUR WINGS|

Sometimes, when I rewind my life on the time machine, life’s exciting moments and learnings seem to flash in. Still remember the juggling of sports and study responsibilities in school, when my friends used to be my biggest saviors. Getting up on stage and sharing my laurels and trophies from my sports career as a child had a huge advantage, some of the most meritorious were always there for me. The self-esteem-confidence and feeling good about life was all to do with sports, from where I got my best lessons of learning from peers, being agile, falling to rise, enjoying one game at a time, leveraging on the best of self and others. As a state player while I aspired to play for the country, residing in my dreams learning one stroke at a time seemed like the best joy ever. My school friends were my best teachers, discussing lessons explaining my perspectives gave me a huge high, as I had to skip classes to make it to my tournaments. A greater sense of mastery was nurtured while fearlessly explaining my version of understanding to my friends. A fan club of admiration for each other’s talents was devoid of the teacher’s judgment of scores, intelligence, or aptitude.

Between school and college I got married, (inspired by my sisters who were a decade ahead of me in age, yet their familial independence and decision making -joys of having a dedicated partner nudged me to take the plunge) and I continued an estranged journey of learning!! However soon I got my motivation back with my peers who rescued me from losing my desire of making learning a fun journey and investing myself into a lifelong engagement rather than moving away from it. Discussing Shakespeare, DH Lawrence, Elliot with versatile minds and soaking our minds into characters that came to life and taught us about life, genres, seductions of victories, the lure of ambitions, ambiguity in failures. Networking with seniors -juniors, juggling married life, college team sports, peer learning, and internship in my friend’s NIIT franchise was a combination of life lessons and real-world aura that brought in a rainbow flavor to my entire experience. This time my college mates were my best professors. More than grades what excited me was long hours of discussions, debates, and growing together.

This function of peer-to-peer learning got best accentuated in my work-life. Whether it’s teaching-mentoring -coaching -leadership -consulting or management peer to peer learning is the foundation of excellence. Exchanging notes with peers, sharing your POVs without judgemental biases, and emulating the best practices are the ways to collaborative excellence. Sure our dashboards were a point of competition sometimes(same score syndrome introduced in our childhood) however soon you realize no glory matches when it comes to Peer support and collaboration. In fact, competing for the same result( of getting the same position or appraisal rating) is soon redundant as one needs to rise above the competition to master the art of teamwork, knowledge management, and collaborative camaraderie. As its not your supervisor’s assessment or appraisal that will shine you in times to come but how you look and assess yourself every day, in terms of your handling every relationship -result or reward. Being a good Samaritan has no rewards from your immediate environment, yet it’s your final self-appraisal report that gives you a high in life. Doing things for favors -returns -rewards are business transactions, however, peer-to-peer learning -inspiration and motivation -support is something that outlives performance.

I am sure we all have a greater sense of mastery over a certain skill after explaining our thinking behind it to a peer. We learn a great deal by explaining our ideas, experiences, and thought processes to others. As a leader, learning from other leaders provides an invaluable path to growth. When I look back at my learning journey, I feel I learned best from my peers whether in school -college or running a family, and of course at work. Every tacit know-how can only be cracked through peer exchange. One of the best schools I have ever been to, which strongly promoted this was I-COACH Academy Australia. Coaching skill mastery is possible only when you practice -analyze and hone every day with your fellow peers. The same is true for any profession.

Especially during this virtual world operation, peer-to-peer learning is an indispensable pillar that can support you to manage teams, stakeholders or even navigate tough emotions at work. It not only facilitates learning but provides a much needed community. 

Today Peer to peer learning method is backed by researches from NTL (National Training Laboratories Institute for Applied Behavioral Science) and is popularized by the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University. This is also called a ‘T’ Group. In a T-Group, a small group of people who do not know each other and are unlikely to work together in the future, but who are in a similar situation to each other meet with two experienced facilitators to learn from their interactions with one another. I believe most group workshops -training -teaching can emulate similar tools for great results in learning and knowledge transfer.

While there is value to be found in all types of learning, the particular value of peer-to-peer learning is building relationships and community. The new normal environment is novel, and will teach all of us different lessons about what it means to lead-coach-manage outcomes. By sharing those lessons with peers we know that we are not alone. In peer-to-peer learning, your peers become your sounding board, your confidants, and your teachers. In return, creating a mutual growth promise.

Do you think you are still learning? What are your best methods of mastering your craft? How do you want to keep yourself relevant in this dynamic world? Who is your board of advisors in life and career? Are you sharing notes with your peers? We would love to hear more from you and the challenges you would like us to address. Cheers!