My beautiful mother-in-law recently gave my daughter a copy of Charlotte’s Web, a book she read as a child herself, and then read to the hundreds of young school children who passed through her classrooms over the years.
Lovely and sentimental, right? But the real gold wasn’t the book, it was the handwritten card tucked inside.
A little context: my MIL was a primary school teacher in England for decades.
A job she adored, until England introduced a national curriculum that didn’t fit her teaching style.
Yes, she has streaks of an anarchist. That’s point one of why we love her.
On the card, she wrote how much she loved reading Charlotte’s Web to her students every year. After finishing the book, they’d create spider webs around the classroom and attach little notes inspired by Charlotte’s words.
Yep, she was the teacher every parent dreams of, the one who encourages kids to fall in love with language and literature. Point two of why we love her.
This wasn’t just a cute activity. It was a principle of nurturing deeper learning, by connecting ideas physically and emotionally so they stick. And it got me thinking: why don’t we do this with the knowledge we consume as adults?
I’m a business book junkie. I inhale books on leadership, creativity, and productivity. While I’m reading, I become obsessed: I quote passages, research case studies and highlight the book like a maniac. But once I hit the epilogue, I move on to the next shiny book cover.
After reading my MIL’s note, I decided: forget Marie Kondoing, this year, I’m going to “Charlotte Web” my learning. Every time I finish a book, I’ll pick three things to weave into my work and life.
Here’s proof I’m serious. I recently read Buy Back Your Time by Dan Martell (read it!) and I’m adopting three practices:
Include a “definition of done” in every brief, so everyone knows what success looks like. As he points out, what my definition of “done” is might not be someone else’s. He gives the example of a white board. He asked his EA to get a white board. The EA went out and bought one and put it on his desk. He was frustrated as for him that was a job half done. He wanted it bought, hung up and ready to use. But he realised that was on him, he didn’t provide a DOD for his EA when he briefed the job.
Ask for three solutions before fixing a problem — when a team member comes to me, I’ll say, “What three ideas do you think could solve this?” This fosters and encourages problem solving and empowers team members.
Research the concept of a “disruption strategist”. He talked extensively of how this was a strong and growing profession that will be leading organisations in the future, if not already. I’ve done this. DM me and I’ll share my Cliff Notes.
Include a “definition of done” in every brief, so everyone knows what success looks like. As he points out, what my definition of “done” is might not be someone else’s. He gives the example of a white board. He asked his EA to get a white board. The EA went out and bought one and put it on his desk. He was frustrated as for him that was a job half done. He wanted it bought, hung up and ready to use. But he realised that was on him, he didn’t provide a DOD for his EA when he briefed the job.
Ask for three solutions before fixing a problem — when a team member comes to me, I’ll say, “What three ideas do you think could solve this?” This fosters and encourages problem solving and empowers team members.
Research the concept of a “disruption strategist”. He talked extensively of how this was a strong and growing profession that will be leading organisations in the future, if not already. I’ve done this. DM me and I’ll share my Cliff Notes.
My MIL taught me something powerful: knowledge isn’t meant to sit on a shelf; it’s meant to be woven into our lives. So, let’s stop being fickle consumers of ideas and start spinning webs of action.
Because the best teachers, like my anarchist MIL, don’t just give us books. They give us threads to connect, create, and carry forward.
And honestly? That’s a web worth weaving.
