Big data can mean a big headache. It is wonderful what we can do with data in an instant, but how much of all this stuff do we need to keep in our heads?
To learn something ‘off by heart’ means to know something so well you don’t need to refer to a text, notes or any other prompt.
But why do we use the word ‘heart’?
Researchers on Yahoo Answers suggest that:
The expressions “know by heart” or “learn by heart” stem from the ancient Greek belief that the heart was the seat of intelligence and memory, as well as emotion…and that the expression “learn by heart” was first recorded in 1374 by Chaucer.’
They also suggest that: The heart beats within a person without the person having to think about it. It’s a completely natural occurrence. So to learn something that good is be as fluent as a natural ability.
I believe knowing something ‘by heart’ refers to the fact we have engaged our limbic brain to learn something, and our knowledge of it becomes something natural.
We have learnt something from a place where heart and mind connects.
We have learnt something in this way permanently.
To embed a vision, a strategy or a goal is to learn it by heart.
We can use metaphor and story, or mnemonics.
But we have learnt it because our heart, our limbic brain is engaged.
It is critical for us to be clear about vision, purpose and associated strategies and goals in order to embed them, so they can be executed by heart.
There are four keys to achieve this:
· The vision must inherently be about people and the difference we will make for them.
· The vision must have verbs; people doing things, enacting, enabling, and embedding.
· The vision must work as a metaphor for all to tell stories about it.
· Falling in love with repetition. Rather than reinvent, and change, deepen and find meaning and layers in a vision and its application.
To be productive and engaged, people must know by heart the vision of an organisation, so it is lived. As for the detail and data, just Google It !