We're counting down to the next retreat by reviewing our time together in Texas. Remember the blue, blue skies and the warm sunshine? We also want to remember together some of the concepts we learned--just to keep us on track and help us take our next steps toward real change.

We started by examining what it really means to learn. Learning is a more complex process than gathering information or absorbing more facts into our already-crowded brains. Too often, we have attended conferences or taken classes and gained information but we've seen no transformation or even real change in our lives.

The model of learning we advanced had three key components:

Information: These are the facts we need to know and skills we need to acquire.

Practice: This underscores the importance of humility--we become willing to be terrible at something as we learn by doing.

Reflect: We look back on our practice and ask, "How did I do? How can I do better?" We listen to the guidance of the Holy Spirit and ask for feedback from others.

Why does this matter? Partly because we want to see genuine learning in ourselves but also because we want to see transformational learning in our leadership teams. We don't want to just know new facts--we want to be able to do new things. If your strategy doesn't intentionally create opportunities for all three parts of the process to do their work, the learning will be incomplete. Does yours?