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The eLearn Podcast
Positive Psychology And How It Affects Classroom Performance And Engagement With David C. Hughes
Hello everyone! My name is Ladek and my guest for today is Devin Hughes. Devin founded a boutique training and development firm to help established and emerging leaders grow to reach their potential and their teams’.
Devin is a speaker, author, and culture expert. He is the author of 21 books and has spoken in over 15 countries.
His approach draws from the science of positive psychology, positive organizational research, appreciative inquiry, neuroscience, mindset, and mindfulness.
In this ‘very positive’ conversation we talk about
00:00 › Start
00:32 › Gratitude—Devin starts us off by sparking an insightful conversation about the power of dedicating time to reflection and thankfulness and the broader implications of using positive psychology in our lives
02:14 › Optimistic—Devin then shares his background, work, and the impact of positive psychology on organizational culture and personal well-being, offering listeners a deep dive into the principles that drive positive change
04:41 › Constructive—Devin then offers practical applications of positive psychology in educational settings, discussing strategies for educators and learners alike to foster environments that promote well-being and engagement, including how to start and end classes or lectures on a positive note
10:22 › Impact—Devin then discusses the lasting effects of positive psychology interventions, revealing how these moments of "fantasticness" can extend beyond the classroom and into the broader aspects of a learner's life
15:08 › Growth—We turn our attention towards the significance of human connection and the design of public spaces that encourage interaction, reflecting on how societal design impacts our ability to connect with one another
20:50 › Thrive—We wrap up our conversation with practical tips for educators on creating experiences that not only educate but also connect and enrich the lives of learners, emphasizing the role of educators in fostering environments of growth and belonging.
Subscribe for the latest news, practice and thought leadership at eLearnMagazine.com
This is the eLearn podcast. If you're passionate about the future of learning, you're in the right place. The expert guests on this show provide insights into the latest strategies, practices,
and technologies for creating killer online learning outcomes. My name's Ladek, and I'm your host from Open LMS. The eLearn Podcast is sponsored by eLearn Magazine,
your go -to resource for all things online learning. Click -by -click how -to articles, the latest in edtech, spotlight on successful outcomes and trends in the marketplace. Subscribe today and never miss a post at elearnmagazine .com and Open LMS,
a company leveraging open -source software to deliver effective, customized and engaging learning experiences for schools, universities, companies and government. governments around the world since 2005.
Learn more at Open LMS .net. Hi there, my name's Ladek, and my guest for today is Devin Hughes. Devin founded a boutique training and development firm to help established and emerging leaders grow to reach their ideal potential as well as their teams.
Devin is a speaker, author, and culture expert. He's the author of 21 books and has spoken in over 50 years. countries. His approach draws from the science of positive psychology, positive organizational research,
appreciative inquiry, neuroscience, mindset, and mindfulness. In this very positive conversation, Devin starts us off by sparking an insightful conversation about the power of dedicating time to reflection and thankfulness,
and the broader implication of using positive psychology in our lives. Devin then shares his background, work, and the impact of positive psychology on organizational culture and personal well -being,
offering all of you a deep dive into the principles that drive positive change. Devin then offers practical applications of positive psychology in educational settings.
He discusses strategies for educators and learners alike to foster environments that promote well -being and engagement, including how to start and end classes or lectures on a positive note. note. Devin then discusses the lasting effects of positive psychology interventions,
revealing how these moments of fantasticness can extend beyond the classroom and into the broader aspects of a learner's life. We then turn our attention towards the significance of human connection and the design of public spaces that encourage interaction,
and we reflect on how societal design impacts our ability to connect with one another. And then finally, we wrap up our conversation with practical tips for educators on creating experiences that not only educate,
but also connect and enrich the lives of learners. And we emphasize the role of educators in fostering environments of growth and belonging. And remember, we record this podcast live so that we can interact with you,
our listeners, in real time. So, don't be surprised when you hear Devin and I answer questions and react to comments. as they come in. If you'd like to join the fun every week on LinkedIn, on Facebook,
on YouTube, on X, or on Instagram, just come over to elearnmagazine .com and subscribe. Now I give you Devin Hughes. Hello,
everyone. Welcome to the Elearn podcast. My name's Ladak as you just heard, but as I like to remind everyone, this show is not about me. I just get the happenstance,
the lucky chance to have wonderful guests like Devon Hughes on the show with me. Hello, Devon, how are you today? - Hey, I'm fantastic, super excited to be here. And today's a big day,
today is thankful Thursday. - I had no idea. How did I, how did I miss that one? Wasn't in the United States, which I'm assuming that's where you're sitting right now.
I thought-- Like I thought Thanksgiving was thankful Thursday, isn't that? - Yeah, it is. But for me, I tend to, we'll talk a little bit about it, but I tend to memorialize each day. And on Thursdays every week,
I take a little bit of time to reset. Instead of talking about all of my problems, talk about my blessings. - You know what, that is one of the coolest ways I've ever started off conversation.
I love that. I absolutely love that. - Fantastic. And is every Thursday thankful Thursday? So you've got like seven days of the week? - It is, like tomorrow's feel good Friday.
- Okay. - All right. - Self care Saturday and you know, soulful Sunday and I go on and on and I'm just very intentional about creating space in my days for the things that matter.
- Yeah. - And I give them a theme and then I operationalize those which we can talk about. about via some activities and some behaviors to be the best version of me I'm ready for this conversation.
This is fantastic. I'm yeah, I'm like a Like I'm I'm raptured in it right now, but first Where are you? We're actually are you in the physical world right now?
I'm in San Diego County actually in San Diego. Okay, nice. All right, excellent. I hope that it's it's not too wintry there yet Or if it ever gets wintry,
but anyway, it does not but for us when it gets to the south of 60 people start bundling up and wearing I feel that I mean,
I'm south of you I'm in Mexico City So, you know, it's we just had a little cold snap and yeah, you know, it's it's in the it's actually in the 50s because we're at altitude And so it's really here. It's getting kind kind of chilly.
But it's fantastic. So you've now teed us up that you're a person that focuses on crafting a positive experience,
especially a positive mental health experience. Give us the 30, 60, 90 seconds on who you are, where you come from, what you do. Yeah, so I speak,
write, research. research, consult, 99 % of my professional career is in the organizational development culture space with organizations, school districts,
nonprofit, profit, government, et cetera. Part of that is how do you operationalize an organizational culture where people can be the best version of themselves to try outcomes that you care about.
And to do that, I leverage the tenets of positive psychology. to drive engagement, belonging, connection, et cetera. I'll even step back a little farther.
I was born in Washington, DC to a father who dropped out of high school in the ninth grade, and a mother who barely finished high school.
And so I say that because too often people look at me and they make all kinds of presumptions about how I got here. written a few books, been all over the world, not realizing that I could barely read 'Tousand to Fifth Grade.
I'm neurodiverse as they say, I'm dyslexic. - Okay, okay. To start off, remind everyone,
because we've had other people talk about positive psychology before, but remind everybody what the tenets of positive psychology are. - Yeah, so I-- based it based on the work of Martin Seligman out of the University of Pennsylvania,
who some call the father of positive psychology, and came up with a model. It's called PERMA, and it's a theory of well -being. PERMA stands for positive emotions,
engagement, positive relationships, meaning, and accomplishment. And in that, that, again, in those different spears or domains,
we get what we call flourishing. Some people call it the science of happiness. You can word smith it as you may. But those tenants in that science,
I look to operationalize that within that spear, whatever organization or teams I'm working with. But how does how does one start to bring this into?
into a learning setting, both as, and let's start from the, the educator or the designer of education side. If I'm thinking about,
you know, creating a course or I'm thinking about delivering a course or, you know, it's the start of a semester in my college or university right now. Like what, what are the places where, you know, where do I start with this? Yeah,
so let's just hypothetically say that, you know, I'm an instructor. designer or I'm facilitating a course or whatever it may be, right? Clearly I would think about if I start with the end in mind,
right? I want the the folks in the class to walk out not only to get it intellectually, I would imagine right to understand the learning points But more so again,
this is where I have a strong bias to operationalize it to do something with it Right, so I want to activate it. I don't want to just I mean talking about it's fantastic There's a lot of things we know to be true,
but we don't do but my I I clearly find in my work that information is rarely Transformation right just like you just like you know this we should eat right and exercise Yep Mm -hmm and and and have to country I mean after what doesn't do it so clearly it's not about the information.
We've got more information than we've ever had in history of the planet. Hi there. I'm sorry to break into the show right now, but if you're enjoying this show, if you are challenged, if you're inspired, if you're learning something, if you think that you're going to be able to get something out of this to put into your practice,
do me a quick favorite. Pause right now and just hit subscribe on your podcast player right now. It doesn't matter which one, just hit subscribe because that way it'll make sure that you never miss an episode in the future. Thanks.
Thanks. Now, back to the show. I want to just put a flag in the ground there to say that this is a, you know,
I'm definitely not trying to steal your thunder here at all, but this is something that I've kind of chuckled at for such a long time where, you know, there's a lot of stuff.
We've had a lot of science for a lot of years around, you know, for a lot of things. And yet, yeah. just like you said, you know, eating, you know, eating right, exercising every day, that's, that's, that is a very good strategy to having a long,
healthy life, right? And yet it's so difficult to get people to do that. And the one of the ones that I always chuckle at is all of the accoutrements that people put around them that,
especially our reminders of either positivity or family or productivity or these kinds of things. And yet those are the things that they don't do. I'm like, well, there's probably truth in those things. You should probably actually do what those little things say,
right? So anyway, just affirming your point. No, I agree. And so, and I'll talk anecdotally, and I'll also bounce back and forth between my experience and the research. So in terms of your question,
though, so why does it matter if I'm facilitating, you know, as a designer, anyway, I'm trying to drive course content to some learning? Because ideally, I want people to walk out of the room to get it, be excited about it.
That usually helps to put it in context, right? And then be able to do something about it, to be able to activate it. Well, in order to do that, we need to tap into hearts and minds, right? I need to get them engaged,
right? So I know that. So clearly, and I think anyone would agree with this, that human beings are better when they feel better. Mm -hmm.
Outcomes and progress. And I think most people would agree with that, right? The best version of you and I and others and we're in a better headspace emotionally. So if we know that, then how do we create an experience in a classroom,
whether it be virtual or in a classroom where people are like, "Wow, that feels different." You see, because we've been taught that we're thinking machines that feel that's incorrect. We're feeling machines that think.
We feel everything and so in order so knowing that I would create an experience to tap into that so how you start a lecture and how you in the lecture is almost as important as what happens during the lecture.
So yeah so can you give me a tangible example of maybe you know. what would be two or three different ways that you'd start or end a lecture or start or end a class?
And I just, I'm kind of stunned here 'cause it really resonates me that we're feeling creatures that think, right? And that's a really different way to think about the human experience though.
But over to you. - Yeah, so in terms of starting a class, right? Too often we, you know, we get up and we, we want to lecture and run a pontificate and talk about ourself in the third person and use a bunch of jargon Then do we just go ad nauseam?
I come up? I would suggest you come up fast and furious and get him engaged Right away. And so one way to do that is somewhat analogous to what we did today. I Started and said it's thankful Thursday.
So why don't we start to set the context for today? So I might say folks before we could start it here. Let's memorialize today thankful Thursday. I'm gonna give you three prompts. I want you to go where the energy goes,
'cause the best version of you is when you're in a better place. So here's the first prompt. What's one thing you're excited about the holiday season today? What's one person you're most thankful for,
but maybe you don't tell them enough? And what's one thing you're excited about 2024? And I'm gonna give you 90 seconds. I want you to process it individually. Okay, let's go and boom. they're off And they're running and they're already engaged in the conversation It is again Yes And then I do my idea may do think pair share do it individually.
I want you to turn to your left to turn to your right I want you to share with another person And again, it's just engagement tools They're not new but the quicker that you can get people engaged in that you'll build a coalition of the willing quicker You'll get people feeling you get neurons firing and engagement will go up and learning goes up.
No brainer. I love it. So where and where do you take engagement from there? Do you reintroduce that,
you know, in, you know, periodically, periodically throughout a lecture or throughout a class? And do you use that again as a closing to say, you know, let's reflect on what we learned or let's, do you break it out?
And so you create that moment of cognitive dissonance or a pattern interrupt so that they step out of it and then they come back to the class.
- All of the above. And so one thing I might do is I go, all right. And so think about the person you're most thankful for, but maybe you don't tell them enough. I want everybody to grab your device. I want you to send that person back to me. right now a text or email, let them know that you're grateful,
you love them, you appreciate them, you're thinking about them right now. We're not gonna be anti -technology, we're gonna use it as a tool. So I have them literally in right there, do it. And what happens when they do that is literally as we go throughout the training,
they're getting texts back. They're getting emails back so they're already seeing themselves in a new state that they can absolutely change. And so, and then to close it up.
out, we do a little bit of reflection, certainly. How many got a text back? What are you most thankful for? So what we're gonna do is we're gonna give you an action plan. So for the next 21 days, today was day one, I want you to commit to think of 20 other people that you're thankful for that are maybe blessings.
And again, I could go on and on, but that's just one example of many. So I'll pull the thread all the way through. For example, I did a lecture the other day on gratitude. How do we operationalize gratitude in a...
an ecosystem? Well, the best way to do it is not to talk about is to do it. And anything that I do or lecture, we're going to get absolutely right into it. We're going to throw them right into learning.
See, I find that there's a message in the mess. And so we're going to get messy quickly. So, you know, yeah,
so I love that you operationalize the technology or, you know, we don't avoid it. We use it. What happens when, you know, a learner or an individual either comes out of a session with you or,
um, what's the word I'm going for? You know, basically, you know, they had this moment of, of fantasticness does how long does that last? That bleed into their, you know, other courses. Does that bleed into other parts of their work that or how do you ask them to carry that?
into other parts of their work or learning experience? Yeah, so I'll give you an example. So I'm not tone deaf to what's going on right now. There's a certain heaviness in the world. See,
I had no coursework graduate or undergraduate on how to facilitate learning, post -pandemic, uber inflation, wars going on all over the globe, political polarization.
I'm very clear. and in a lot of cases, I'll put that context in there. I'll weave it right into the narrative. I want people to know where we are right now. I want to build some urgency and capacity,
and I think having frank conversations were appropriate. So in this particular case around gratitude, I think everyone can collectively agree that's a heaviness. So not only to discount or sensationalize where we are,
what are we gonna do? So part of that is, and for that example, in terms of reaching out and texting or email, and what I often do is have people partner up. So since we've all agreed that we need to operationalize gratitude,
right, we're gonna change the planet. Well, in order to change the planet, we need to change our mindsets and our behavior. What we're gonna do, I want you to find a partner in the room for the next 21 days.
This is gonna be your accountability partner. This is gonna be your Batman and Robin. the Starsky and hutch your Thelma and Louise Your abiding Custello what you go sit next to that human being right now? And I'm going to hand you an action plan and then you can do use a paper and pencil You can do a digitally that's up to you But I want you to figure out over the next 21 days how you're going to support each
other and How you're going to you're going to be the best version of himself So that's how I build capacity and that's also how we build relationships that extend outside the cloud because literally they're checking in each day,
your sole mission is to check in on your partner and say, Hey, check it in. How's it going? We'll be able to do it. How many where you at? What do you need? And facilitate conversations. I'll give you an example.
I'm going a little bit of a tangent here, but we've lost the art of connection. We lost the art of conversation. I was in the UK not too recently and I noticed it popping up everywhere are called chat benches.
Yeah, they're also in Canada. Now, for those of you don't know what they are, they're literally benches in parks with signs encouraging human beings to sit down and talk to each other.
So that's where we are. Can I, can I, can I rip off that for a second? Yeah, it's, it's an and not a but. And it's, I. was having this conversation last night at a dinner with a woman who is a designer,
right? But she kind of has a cross cutting perspective and company that works on architecture and urban design and landscape design, these kinds of things. And it's her sole passion to create public spaces that encourage interactions.
She says, we've lost it. You know, we're just we're, you know, the public spaces, you come, where we are here in Mexico, public spaces are just, they're, they are used and they are, you know, they are incredibly engaging places,
especially, you know, after work hours and on weekends, right? They're just, they're filled with people. And then she said, "Then, you know, then I'll fly to LA." And she's like, "It's exactly the opposite." She's like, "All these public spaces are totally empty.
They're not, you know, there's no one there." And so designing those spaces to encourage interaction is, is incredible. We've we've also been talking a lot about it here not on the podcast, but in our in our AI summit about It's just getting it's just easier and easier and easier to just not actually interact with other humans It's not funny,
but it is funny. Well, no, I mean we're laughing at the problem, you know, near the Yeah, that's really at it, but it's where there's there's you know, there's I don't have any studies to put on the table here,
but, you know, it's more likely that, you know, my kids, you know, people who are my kids, age 15, you know, teenagers, et cetera, Gen Z, they're more likely to text one another in the same room than they are to actually just talk with one another.
It's kind of crazy. - No, agreed, agreed. So, I mean, again, and put, let's even put it in broader context. We've got five generations in the workforce. - Mm. - So you got folks like me and older people.
that when we were an undergrad, we had something called a typewriter. And it was this archaic device that the company had white out, you know, and it was really ultra hot. And then you've got other others who came out of the womb and labor and delivery and mom or dad handed them an iPhone,
you know. And so there's a judgment in that other than we've got got all of the above in the workforce with very different experiences, trying to coalesce and the way we engage information,
the way we learn and all of that. And so in terms of learning and driving interaction and engagement, a lot of the things that I took, you know, maybe we're so intuitive that some of us aren't intuitive to everybody else.
But what is the common denominator that I find across across the five generations is we all want to belong. We all want to connect. We all want to feel like we can make an impact.
We want tools to do that, you know, in order to be the best version of ourselves and to make it easier for me to do it. How does that, how do,
do those play out differently for the different generations? Or I would get, I would assume every individual would choose different things. I find it it, for instance, fascinating how many people still write in handwritten journals.
There's other people who would never ever pick up a pencil and paper, but then there's, so those are two very different choices about how to take notes in a meeting. And so does it matter what our choices are?
Or is it more important that we actually just, I guess you say action, these particular... pieces? No, I don't have a bias one way or the other. I mean, I do, there is some research showing actually,
and I can't recall the specific author of the study that kids in college who took notes via handwritten note versus taking notes on a device,
retention went up. I have been the dexterity of, you know, with a pen and writing it down versus. versus typing into a keyboard. Again, I'd have to look more into that research, but it is interesting.
But regardless, I'm not really that concerned of how they engage as long as they engage and find opportunities to engage. I think it's a more important piece. But regardless,
I think in terms of where we are right now, in terms of learning, again, in just organizations in general, I mean, it's really challenging. right? You've got some people calling everybody back,
some are hybrid, some are remote. Is it two days? Is it three days? Some people got hired during the, I mean, it's a mix, right? I mean, again, this is all stuff that we're really building the case study as we go through it.
And so, again, I touch on, you know, where we are right now as a species. For example, I saw, not too long ago, ago, you know, I look at the loneliness data because I'm really really just amazed at that That is connected as we are where it's disconnected as we are and it help There's just so many folks right now that don't feel like they matter But I was noticed in the New York Post that and I'm sure it's in
other major cities that they have cuddling services That you can hire folks to come to your Hotel residence residence, wherever and cuddle you.
And at first I thought, is this a meme? Is this a joke? - I'm sure. Is this sex work, you know, in another name? - Yes, and I'm sure it goes off the rails, but when I dug into it,
it was real. That literally people needed people to come and just cuddle them. And I said, wow, is that who we are right now? I need random anecdotal strangers to walk in.
in and just hold me. We're starting for connection is the point. As much as we don't want, as much as we say we don't want to be around people, we do. We need it. We know we're social animals.
So give us some tips, you know, as a, you know, for educators, again, creating, you know, creating experiences for learners that are part of these experiences.
You know, what are your, what are your go -to pieces of advice for overcoming awkwardness, for overcoming, you know, shyness, for being able to, you know,
approach connecting with a new person? All, you know, those types of pieces. Yeah. So a couple of different things and some of them necessary. I'll give you an example. One that I, that I, that I use and it,
I mean, it's contextual, right? So one of the things that. I use is,
um, do we all have a story, right? We all have a story, but we tend not to tell the story because we just some shame or we don't feel like people would care or whatever it is,
but stories are really powerful. We know generationally stories matter. And so I'll start with myself and so I'll give you an example, we'll just play this out. Can I just play this out with you a little bit?
So people, people, people look at me and they make all kinds of presumptions, right? Yeah. But they don't really know my background or my story. I'll give you an example. So, I was born in 1969,
I told you a little bit to an African -American father and a Caucasian mother who met in the segregated South. My mother had me when she was 19, barely graduated high school.
My father, my grandfather was a part of this loosely affiliated group but they liked the way I looked at her. bedsheets on their head and burn crosses on the front yard. That would be the Ku Klux Klan. So as you can imagine, he wasn't too excited about that unholy union.
Now see, I grew up in a space looking at me, looking at, you know, my skin color and how I show up in space is people didn't know who I am or my ethnicity or my backgrounds. They'd make all kinds of pejorative comments about me.
And I tell you this story because what you see is not always what you get. And, you know, such as one nuance So then I will flip the script and I'll say, you know what? So we're gonna we're gonna channel a little bit of vulnerability today because we're gonna be working together And it's really important.
We all know that we should develop really tight cohesive relationships So I'm gonna ask you to unpack your story. So I'm gonna give you three prompts today. So here's the first My name is and I am from One thing you cannot tell just by looking at me is,
this is important for me to tell you because. And then I give people two, three minutes to process that,
and then turn to your left or one, they share, we all share. share and I did this in Vegas in October.
I was doing a keynote at ATD Okay, or debt at org dev, you know and I Heard more crying. Oh, I had a walk Right.
Oh, I'm already thinking my answers and I'm I'm like I'm getting emotional. So yeah, I'd love to hear answers by the way But uh, and I had someone out Declan again,
this is unscripted. I've got a couple hundred people in the room. I have no idea. I might know one or two. I had a woman grab the mic and say, got really emotional and said,
I've been married 17 years and I just learned something about my husband that I didn't even know during this activity. And I don't know what to say about that,
but I feel unbelievably that much closer to my husband than it is to my husband. I already thought we were this close. And it was just really just, just changed the whole energy in the room that we could normalize being human and we could talk.
And again, anecdotal, yes, but again, that's just, you know, it's one of many activities to kind of humanize learning to get people to lean in to this vulnerability. - And what would you say?
say? I'm just thinking of the total, for me, it speaks to me to be the catharsis of activities like this. The question I want to ask is how do we invite people in who are truly resistant to this kind of activity?
Or How do we invite them in a way that allows them to have those same kind of aha moments? Because there's plenty of people who are predispositioned or plenty of people who are just kind of dying for those kinds of moments,
then they don't know how to ask for them. So when they're presented to them, it's almost like a giant sigh of relief. But I can see that 25 % of the people in that room at ATD or whatever it was kind of going like,
oh crap, you know, it's like, yeah, you don't really..." I came here to learn something. I don't really want it, you know. Like, talk to me about that. Yeah, those same 20 to 25 % of people,
I think are probably in every program. And so I'll just speak in specifically to that. I mean, I set the context up front. But I said,
"This is going to feel a bit different today, folks." Folks, uh, we're going to put you in some spaces today, um, we're going to be a little uncomfortable and I want to own that in the room right now.
And I tell you that I put you in these situations, not to scare you or to embarrass you or to shame you, but to help you to grow because we know with the research,
the only time that we grow as humans and we're a tad bit uncomfortable now, I'm not going to be overly overly prescriptive and tell you what they are. I just want you to lean into humanity and you get an opportunity to unpack your backpack today.
Unpack and repack and that's going to be the goal. So the situation feels a little bit uncomfortable today. You're promptly bumping into your comfort zone. Now you go where the energy goes,
but this is a safe place. And so again, enough context, I start with my usually, before we go there to set the space that I will lean into that.
And then, again, you're right, certain people do or do not. And part of it, I will say this, is we have a whole series of norms, especially at work in organizations in classroom.
And I'm acutely aware of that. And I'm really good, or I try to be really good at some of those norms serve us and some of them don't. And we're one of the norms we have is a really good about sharing our highlight reel.
Well, that's, and I don't know, I've made it a practice here on the podcast to always try to note that or sort of try to flip the script on that, right? Because I'm going to ask you this right now.
It's so often people come on the pie. And what they're saying is a no -brainer. It sounds like so obvious. Getting people to connect, be more human, dive a little deeper, get uncomfortable. It seems like a no -brainer that tell me what the challenges are.
Tell me what goes wrong. Tell me how do I overcome those difficulties like the person who overshares or TMI or, you know,
or... or maybe, you know, has, you know, discovered something that, you know, really needs some professional help or something like that. Like talk to me about those challenges. Yeah. And I'm acutely aware of them.
And again, I didn't, uh, it's not like I had this Eureka moment where I was like, Oh, you know, and now I've, you know, I've got it all figured out. Uh,
I mean, part of my backstory is for most of my life, I did feel like I belong. Like I couldn't be the true version of myself. So when I speak to this stuff,
the heaviness that comes when you show up and you can't be authentically you, I get it. We all have it and live it. I just don't wanna live,
I just, again, it's contextual, but in terms of where I am at, if I'm gonna facilitate, I don't wanna create a learning environment. where people can't show up and be the best version of themselves, right? So have I felt that I do not belong for most of my,
yes, most of I have. I'll give you an example. And again, this is a little bit off. But I mean, I grew up in a predominantly African American neighborhood. Right.
But I mean, but I don't look African American. That's true. I do not. And so most of my life. people would look at me and just give me the look.
Or I remember when I was in kindergarten, and like it was yesterday, and I was, my mother was working, and I was going to kindergarten with my father, who's got,
you know, this is early 70s. He's holding my hand. He's pulling me in. I'm a little nervous about going to kindergarten like anybody would. The kindergarten teacher's sitting down at the desk, and we walked.
up to, you know, say hello or introduce ourselves or, you know, whatever you do the first day of kindergarten. And she says that she looks up at my father and then looks down at me and says,
who's this and where's your mom? Yeah. Yeah. Five years old. I had already tasted what judgment tastes like.
Yeah. So I would have said, yeah. felt like it didn't belong so the point of that story is most of my life I felt like that and so is it easy necessarily to create a space where you can be your authentic self? No, because most of our lives were told to color in the lines Hmm right to show up don't be an outlier So in a lot of the work that I do in terms I look for positive outliers I look for the that they
call the people who show up differently think differently talk differently roll differently When I look anecdotally across the spear, most of the people that we marvel at are positive outliers.
Was it easy? No. It's a lot more exciting. Yes. Now, how do you stay a positive outlier? Are they born with extra genes?
They have extra neurons? No, but they are committed to the cause and typically typically, typically they have a social support system.
They have a couple people around them that continue to push them ahead even though when there's headwinds saying, "Get back in the booth, get back in your lane." So that's how I stay that.
Now, in terms of how do I, you talked about the 25 % in the room, I get it, there's gonna be certain people that again, this is new. I mean, they're not used to this level of vulnerability. Now, I don't tell people what to share and not to share.
I just create the space for you to share. Now, whether you share or not or overshare, that's okay. Again, I'm not at the table, that may be you, but there's no doubt with your inner room, you will see the energy change,
and you'll see humanity show up, and you cannot help but be connected like a wifi signal when you see people diving in, leaning in. in. See, there's no agenda in the conversation than those three prompts.
You don't know where they're going to go. The only thing that you're giving people is your attention. You're being present. And it's just magical when it happens. So that.
-Devin, I'm always amazed at how quickly a half hour goes on these conversations. I love that we've talked about inclusivity. inclusivity from a perspective of showing up and being human and being vulnerable.
That's a, it's a rare treat to be able to, you know, just be able to talk about that on a Thursday. So I'm very thankful for that. Thank you so much. Leave us with, you know, leave us with a thought about,
you know, if I am a trainer, a professor, a teacher, what's your... you've alluded to it a couple of times in our conversation,
but let's round it out here and tie it in a bow. What's one way that I can bring this positivity, this sort of action into my classroom tomorrow and start taking those steps?
- So I will. So I think wellbeing should not be hopeful happenstance. It should be part of the curriculum. curriculum. I think you need to weave well -being into everything. Now,
just like we started with "Thinkful Thursday," I think, again, in terms of engagement, but again, the learners in the room, you need to weave well -being, again, how you start and how you finish your big deals, whether it's gratitude or whatever.
Again, there's a lot of opportunities here to weave well -being into it. Now, I would also say this is from a facilitator standpoint. You cannot give what you do not have. You cannot pour.
pour from an empty cup. So if we're going to weave well -being into the classroom, you need to start with yourself. What are you doing every single day to be a better version of yourself?
And again, I would suggest that you start being really prescriptive about doing some things that fill you up. Are you moving your body every day? What are you doing mentally? Are you reading? Are you writing?
Are you creating? Are you learning? What are you doing spiritually? Are you meditating? Are you praying? Are you praying? Are you studying? Are you growing? These are things that I'm very prescriptive about doing every single day. And I would say this,
that pressure is a privilege. If pressure's not involved, it doesn't matter. I look to put myself in situations every single day where I'm a little bit uncomfortable, and I would,
and because that's where the growth is. I want you to lean into it. Some of the most provocative people that I've found on the planet are comfortable being being uncomfortable So I didn't I mean I've written 21 bucks a kid who couldn't write or read it to is 11 Think about that.
I couldn't read to live 21 books. How does that happen again? I'm not magical. I'm not Edgar Allen Poe Because I'm in spaces where I'm wildly uncomfortable with wildly crazy people who think that anything's possible and in those spaces That's how magic happens.
I would argue the same thing can happen with a lot of folks like you and I and others. On that note, for people who want to experience this magic, how do they get ahold of you? Certainly all over social media.
My website is Devon with an I -D -E -V -I -N -C -H -U -G -H -E -S .com /DevanC -Hughes .com, social media, LinkedIn, etc.
I'll be the best way to get in touch with you. - Devin, thank you so much for taking time out of your day to speak with us about this. - Thank you for having me. It's been fantastic. - Thank you again for listening to the eLearn podcast here from Open LMS.
I just wanted to ask one more time. If you enjoyed this show, if you learned something, if you were inspired, if you were challenged, if you feel like, you know, this is something you can take into your practice, please do me a favor.
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Thanks.
