Writing & Wisdom

“Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?” - TS Eliot

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” - George Santayana 

We have all done it: made the same mistake again and again, thinking this time, it will be different. Maybe you over-indulge every holiday season and end up feeling poorly come January. Maybe you have had the same argument with your sister for the past 30 years. Maybe you keep forgetting to change your oil. It can be a minor nuisance or a lifelong burden, but the pain of a repeated life lesson is one that we all know. 

In ways large and small, we fail to learn from experience, until one day, we learn the lessons life is teaching us and grow. But wouldn’t it be great if we could accelerate that learning? Wouldn’t it be better if we could know that we can do something easy to learn from an experience? Thankfully, there is a reason we don’t learn from experience as often as we want, and a way to mindfully learn the next time we have a life lesson that we don’t care to repeat. 

We just have to write about it. But not any kind of writing. There is a system of writing that will allow us to learn from our mistakes and experiences. We can transform them into new mindsets, skillsets, and approaches that free us from cycles that otherwise seem unbreakable. Whether it’s absent-mindedness, self-neglect, conflict, or some other challenge, we can turn to learning science to finally be able to transform experiences into wisdom. 

Here’s how.

One of 20th and 21st century’s leading educational theorists, David Kolb, tells us that we need to go through several steps to turn experience into knowledge, and then into the wisdom that will guide us to make smarter decisions in the future. He calls this the Experiential Learning Cycle (ELC). Based on years of research into neuroscience, education, and psychology, the ELC shows us the steps people take to transform their experiences into a true understanding of their lives and the world around them. 

The cycle starts with the experience itself. Whether positive or negative, something happens that can should learn from. We end up with a car repair bill because we didn’t change our oil. Or regret, headache and heartache after an argument with a loved one. Or we work out early in the morning and feel energized all day. The experience happens. We get on with our day. And repeat our habits, good and bad.

Or, we go to the next stage of the Experiential Learning Cycle. When this happens, we first engage in Step 2, Reflective Observation. This is when we reflect on what just happened, noting our observations. What did we do? What were the outcomes of our actions? What happened externally? How did our responses make things happen? We don’t judge, we don’t jump to conclusions - we start to piece together the narrative of our experiences, reflecting on meaning.

Next, if we are ready to learn, we move to Step 3, Abstract Conceptualization. This is when we start to identify the core principles behind our experiences. For example, we go from noting “I felt great when I went running” to “exercise improves my energy levels.” We have to be careful here not to over-generalize. That can lead us down the wrong path. Instead, we look at our reflective observations over time and see if there are critical patterns that show us real information. That is why consistent journaling or memory-writing is so important. It allows us to see reality, and avoid jumping to conclusions by generalizing from one or two incidents. It gives us patterns. 

Armed with our concepts, we can test them out in our lives. Maybe we go running even when we don’t feel like it, to see if it elevates our energy. Maybe we try to be more understanding with our sister. We have a concept now of how our world works, and what we can do to live our lives better. So we try it out. Research, therapy, reading, talking to others - these can help refine our ideas. But just as we had to have those first experiences ourselves to start learning, so, too, do we need to go out and experience our new ways of doing things to make sure they work for us. If they do, great, and if they don’t, we can try again with another approach. We return to more experiencing, reflecting, forming connections, and testing out new ways of approaching our challenges.

The Experiential Learning Cycle continues. To keep it flowing, the key is that vital second step - when we move from simply experiencing to learning. Reflective observation is the step that puts us on the learning cycle, away from the cycles of repeating our old patterns. Without reflective observation, we don’t form new ideas, so we can’t grow and change. With reflective observation, we can turn any experience into meaningful growth. 

Christina J. Inge is the co-founder of MindStory and the founder of Thoughtlight, a Boston digital media company. She also teaches digital media and marketing at Harvard University and Northeastern University, where she is conducting research on the role of journaling and reflective writing on the development of leadership skills among aspiring entrepreneurs.