Learning is a series of iterations.
The Game Has Changed – Cornelius Minor | CTRH! 2023 – YouTube
Learning is not linear, we know this. Rather, learning is iterative.
The Game Has Changed – Cornelius Minor | CTRH! 2023 – YouTube
We can create space for iteration. We can create space for failure and revision.
Keynote: The Game Has Changed – Cornelius Minor | CTRH! 2023 – YouTube
Innovation means that we learn through iteration.
Conference to Restore Humanity! 2023: Cornelius Minor Q&A – YouTube
[When we reward first attempts], “we are not honoring a kid’s proficiency, rather we are honoring their privilege”.
Keynote: The Game Has Changed – Cornelius Minor | CTRH! 2023 – YouTube
I love the focus on iteration in Cornelius Minor’s keynote for the Conference to Restore Humanity. It speaks to my tech worker, open sourcer, hacker, project manager heart. Our community iterates in the open on our website at stimpunks.org. We have almost 1,400 pages on our website. They are all living documents in various stages of development. They are iterated continuously in a “default to open”, “blameless postmortem” culture.
We encourage iteration. The mercy built into iterative cultures is vital to learner safety.
The moral imperative to grant learner safety is to act first by encouraging the learner to learn.
The 4 Stages of Psychological Safety (p. 45)
Mercy is necessary to learner safety.
“Retesting clearly works, so I give endless chances. If you’re willing to work, there’s always mercy. You can try again.”
Craig B. Smith
Iteration is messy.
If you want this beautiful spring day where kids are speaking and contributing and collaborating and being thoughtful, we’ve got to walk through some really messy stuff.
You don’t get vintage wine without the aging process, but one of the things that people want to do in schools is they want to skip the aging process.
The way forward is really, really messy, and I think I’m okay with that.
Conference to Restore Humanity! 2023: Cornelius Minor Q&A – YouTube
The creative process really comes down to getting good at sharing work in progress many, many, many times along the journey, both your own work, but also being able to look at unfinished work of others and give substantive feedback. And that’s really it, and that applies to every domain.
Brit Cruise, From Pixar to the Classroom: Teaching Storytelling w/ Story Xperiential | Human Restoration Project | Podcast
Upload your work at multiple steps, and engage with the community of creators around you to give and receive feedback on your work, and end with an industry recognizable prototype.
Brit Cruise, From Pixar to the Classroom: Teaching Storytelling w/ Story Xperiential | Human Restoration Project | Podcast
Our spiky profiles are messy.
One of the primary things I wish people knew about autism is that autistic people tend to have ‘spiky skills profiles:’ we are good at some things, bad at other things, and the difference between the two tends to be much greater than it is for most other people.
Autistic Skill Sets: A Spiky Profile of Peaks and Troughs » NeuroClastic
Which is why we like to reframe “messy” as “embracing multiplicities”.
Multiplicities are an intention: We build the best collaboration, the deepest learning, when we expand the opportunities for complex vision.
Timeless Learning: How Imagination, Observation, and Zero-Based Thinking Change Schools | Wiley
Design is tested at the edges. Let’s iterate from the edges in.
Progress Principle
The Progress Principle is the idea that making small, meaningful progress in work is the single most powerful driver of motivation and satisfaction.
Contrary to common belief, motivation does not primarily come from rewards, pressure, or even passion. It comes from forward motion. When people feel they are making progress—however incremental—they become more engaged, resilient, and creative. Conversely, when progress is blocked or erased, morale collapses quickly.
Progress Principle — Joey Cofone
Employees became more engaged because they could see their impact daily. Problems were solved where they occurred, rather than buried by management. Morale improved because progress was visible and shared.
By the 1970s, Toyota’s cars were not just cheaper—they were more reliable. By the 1980s, American manufacturers were scrambling to understand how Toyota achieved such quality with fewer resources. Study after study reached the same conclusion: Toyota didn’t motivate workers with pressure or grand visions. It motivated them with daily progress.
Progress Principle — Joey Cofone
“Little by little, one travels far.”
Spanish proverb
