U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Brennan Priest
Your upcoming year of Intermediate Developmental Education (IDE) is a year of learning. It’s also a year to recharge. From my perspective as an instructor at Air Command and Staff College, I want to share a few ideas to help you do both. These ideas promote active learning and white space, which refers to the time needed to process and ponder information, not just read the required material for the day. Both active learning and white space provide the necessary foundation for creative thought, which is the highest form of learning.
The good news is that starving artists sipping lattes in Parisian cafes do not have a monopoly on creativity. Creative people are disciplined and driven to master their fields,a quality often found in military professionals. One of the foremost scholars of creativity explains the creative process as follows: “One cannot be creative without learning what others know, but then one cannot be creative without becoming dissatisfied with that knowledge and rejecting it (or some of it) for a better way.” Thus, creativity is a three-step process mastering knowledge, challenging some form of accepted knowledge, and then combining portions of that knowledge with other fields to provide new insights. As Stephen Johnson explains, “The trick to having good ideas is not to sit around in glorious isolation and try to think big thoughts. The trick is to get more parts on the table.”
To best master knowledge and provide some space for you to stimulate creative thought, I suggest:
(1) Don’t take notes while reading…Wait, what? Yes, you read that correctly. Note-taking is a waste of time because it is difficult to distinguish between main points and background information until you are done reading. That means you will spend entirely too much time trying to write down or type information that you will later realize is not essential. Instead, highlight or underline key points or ideas that resonate with you.
Then spend the time you would have used taking notes to write at least 100 words upon completing the reading. What is the essence of what you just read and how much do you agree with it? Try to do this exercise without looking at the reading to see what thoughts emerge. If that doesn’t work, skim through your key highlights. You will find that much of what you highlighted is not essential to the essence and argument of what you just read. Rather, it just provides explanation and context.
This process should take you no more than about 15 minutes. Don’t agonize about what you are writing—just get something on paper. Writing a brief overview of what you read provides more active learning and will result in you being better prepared to contribute in class than simply taking notes (or, worse, dividing up note-taking among your classmates. Please, if you want to make America great again, don’t do this). As the well-known novelist Flannery O’Connor explained, “I write because I don’t know what I think until I read what I say.”
Bonus: You also might be able to use these overviews for written assignments, and you will become a better writer in the process.
(2) Learn more without reading an extra page. To develop ideas and to create is the highest form of learning, but it requires foundational learning in history and international studies. It also necessitates that you make connections between various ideas. Two easy ways to gain breadth and width in your learning is to make use of time you probably are not currently maximizing:
Kill two birds with one stone! Commit to listening to two podcasts a week while you are driving to school or working out. After listening to them, record three things that you recall using google voice or write them out. You can also incorporate these ideas, when relevant, into your assignments as long as your instructors are okay with using additional material. (If you are unfamiliar with podcasts, download an app like Stitcher, which allows you to load various podcasts into your phone).
A few great military and national security sites to get you started:
More broadly focused and thought-provoking podcasts that might take you out of your comfort zone:
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- TED Talks, especially WorkLife with Ted Grant
- Week-day podcasts from New York Times
- Tim Ferriss interviews a wide range of people to mine their best life practices
- Hi-Phi Nation brings philosophy to life
Get a twitter account! Follow a diverse group of national security professionals from a variety of domains andnations. Here is a baker’s dozen-ish to get you started: @ProfPaulPoast @warinthefuture @JJSchroden @hwingo @jsargentr @EmilyZFeng @AaronFriedberg @SamBendett @LawDavF @Halbrands @BA_Friedman @paul_scharre @thearmyleader @KaurinShanks @SpencerGuard @GroundCuriosity
(3) Consider using technology more mindfully in a year away from a formal office. I know, I know. I just told you to use technology. But that was in short bursts for a purpose.
Working professionals, myself included, are addicted to being busy, and it is not good for our long-term well-being and health. Enjoy not having to be wedded to your .mil email for a year. Also, try not to use technology in class. Handwritten notes, for example, promote deeper learning because they force you to be more selective in what you jot down, and computer screens are a serious distraction. Just sit back, listen, and participate, and avoid the temptation of multi-tasking. When you get home each day, put your phone somewhere you will not be tempted to use it and just enjoy recharging with your family.
(4) Seek out your instructors when you are confused, need help, or want to pursue an idea discussed in class. You are not bothering us! We have chosen to teach at PME rather than civilian schools for a reason—we want to spend time with military professionals and see you grow.
Do the assigned reading, incorporate these steps into your daily life, and then hit the golf course. After all, the best thinking occurs when one is not intending to think about a particular problem.
Heather Venable has been teaching online and in resident PME for more than seven years. She currently is an assistant professor of military and security studies at the U.S. Air Command and Staff College and teaches in the Department of Airpower. She has written a forthcoming book entitled How the Few Became the Proud: Crafting the Marine Corps Mystique, 1874-1918. You can follow her on twitter at @Heather_at_ACTS. Go here for a fuller discussion of white space and creativity in PME.
The views expressed are the author’s alone and do not represent the official position of the U.S. Air Force, the Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government.