Quotes

Questions

You will only find answers to the question being asked. — John W Lewis
Knowledge is no longer the ultimate power – questioning is power. — John W Lewis
You can lead a horse to knowledge but you cannot make it thirst. — John W Lewis
All knowledge is just an answer to a question. We should teach questioning skills before knowledge. — John W Lewis
You are what you ask. — John W Lewis
One man’s HOW is another man’s WHY. — John W Lewis
Are rhetorical questions really rhetorical? — John W Lewis
Are you asking me a question from curiosity or from conviction? — John W Lewis
We control our destiny from the balance of curiosity (?) and conviction (!). — John W Lewis
Curiosity killed the cat, and conviction killed the rat. — John W Lewis
Three strikes and you’re out because three curiosities brings conviction. — John W Lewis
Without curiosity, there would be no significant innovation, or significant foul-ups. — John W Lewis
A fact is just today’s conviction, which may or may not be true, today or tomorrow. — John W Lewis
Are you fact-finding or truth-seeking? — John W Lewis
There will always be those who give themselves the false sense of limited choices. — John W Lewis
Question everything, including the limitations of your perspective. — John W Lewis
You can keep people from questioning if you can convince them it’s still working. — John W Lewis
You will eventually lose if you refuse to muse. — John W Lewis
If a leader is not leading change, then what are they leading? — John W Lewis

Learning

We are born as Learners, not as Knowers. — John W Lewis
We learn by trying, not by doing. — John W Lewis
If learning is fun then learning about learning should be ecstatic. — John W Lewis
Starting with WHY is good (your motive). Starting with WHEREFORE is better (your story). — John W Lewis
Learning is the gaining of knowing, satisfied with some degree of reason. — John W Lewis
The fast learner can recite the answers, but the slow learner can solve the problems. — John W Lewis
You can teach wisdom to the ignorant but not to the arrogant. — John W Lewis
Most people are Knowers not Learners, because they know how to memorize (and defend) but not how to learn (and unlearn). — John W Lewis
The worst possible mental state of any organization is having a poor definition of learning. — John W Lewis
To become a Thought Leader there is a period of time that must be spent being a Pioneer. — John W Lewis
Thought Leaders understand that learning is more than just memorizing “what works.” They also know what to do when it “won't work” and what to do when it “could work.” — John W Lewis
Perspective drives perception. What you see is what you are positioned to see. — John W Lewis
Situational awareness requires an understanding of both the observed and the observer; both insight and perspective; both evidence and premise. — John W Lewis
Too often, we view innovation as an unpredictable event, which is set apart from us, as if there is no way to prepare for, initiate, and capture the process. — John W Lewis
Judgment helps us learn, but condemnation only serves our confirmation bias. — John W Lewis
Single loop learning is for productive goals; double loop learning is for inventive goals. — John W Lewis
Productive goals involve mistakes; inventive goals involve learnings. — John W Lewis
History repeats itself for one reason and one reason only: the generational loss of lessons through the erosion of appreciation within education. — John W Lewis
Appreciation is a required organizational learning objective, regardless whether Bloom can measure it in the classroom or not. — John W Lewis
All organizations are “learning” organizations – some with more learning disabilities than others. — John W Lewis
The only real sustainable solution is a real learning organization. — John W Lewis
Education is currently run from evaluation models, not learning models – and the base measurement is memorization skills, not questioning skills. This is why we are unprepared for the Fourth Industrial Revolution – we are promoting the wrong skills and the wrong people. — John W Lewis

Knowledge

My answer is not simplistic; it is elegant. — John W Lewis
There is no singular without a set. — John W Lewis
While dichotomies appear equal, IS has more power than NOT. — John W Lewis
The real problem with stupidity is that it doesn’t stop at the doorstep of self-assessment. — John W Lewis
Stop seeking concise knowledge and start seeking consequential knowledge. — John W Lewis
Science becomes an obstacle to progress when we forget that this shorthand term represents the scientific method of reasoning. — John W Lewis
We act on what we understand, and should expect poor results from poor understanding. — John W Lewis
The reasons for and behind everything we know come from an explanation. — John W Lewis
Sometimes we pretend we are listening to the voice of a viable alternative opinion, when in actuality we are just hearing a classroom interruption by an uninformed student. — John W Lewis
What gets measured gets done – but what gets modeled gets measured. — John W Lewis
Those who understand the least are the most confident. — John W Lewis
You’re either telling the whole story or usurping authority. — John W Lewis
A Change Agent is only as good as their model. — John W Lewis
OCR works because of the R. — John W Lewis
Expedience towards knowing can limit the questions towards understanding. — John W Lewis
After decades of developing knowledge workers, it’s time to start developing knowledge leaders. — John W Lewis
Understanding is the knowledge of the whole story from at least two perspectives. — John W Lewis
If you are just an Expert, your job is about to be outsourced or embedded in a microchip. — John W Lewis
Without a map we are lost, in geography and epistemology. — John W Lewis

Decisions

Policy-making is mandatory – politics is optional. — John W Lewis
It is better to decide based on error preference than on preference alone. — John W Lewis
Data without knowledge is useless. And knowledge without data is a useless education. — John W Lewis
For matters of the heart, I trust the musician over the scientist. — John W Lewis
Being reckless is not wreck-less. — John W Lewis
Life is not a linear equation. — John W Lewis
I can write, and I can edit, but I can’t edit what I write. — John W Lewis
If you want to go all out, you have to be all in. — John W Lewis
In an operating room, I prefer my doctor’s name be followed by M.D. rather than Ph.D. — John W Lewis
You will not reach your potential until you realize you have more than 5 senses. — John W Lewis
You can rely on your eyes as long as your goals are not over the horizon. — John W Lewis
When we don’t think from our sense of balance, we appear like children gathering fish on a pre-tsunami beach. — John W Lewis
When we don’t think from our sense of balance, we think with the minds of locust. — John W Lewis
These words are the primary enemy of innovation and sustainability: It works for me today. — John W Lewis
A lie of omission, ironically, is the biggest lie we can tell. — John W Lewis
Within dysfunction, authority is granted to those who are the most offended. — John W Lewis
The implication, not the evidence, is what stops many from accepting the truth. — John W Lewis
As now fights later, only maturity considers the now we will want later. — John W Lewis
Stop trying to build trust. Build transparency – the trust will follow. — John W Lewis

Life

It is easier to believe in something than to research it beforehand. — John W Lewis
If you want to understand the world, understand organizational learning disabilities. — John W Lewis
The meaning of life is to determine whether our life has meaning. — John W Lewis
I explain, therefore I am. — John W Lewis
Intention is a dimension. — John W Lewis
Hear at 528 Hz, because we are not just listeners of sound, we are resonators of soundwaves. — John W Lewis
Find a good addiction before a bad one finds you. — John W Lewis
Our institutions are unfortunately driven by the “tyranny of the tester.” — John W Lewis
It is impossible to deny yourself something and not gain something else. — John W Lewis
It is impossible to have disruption without both problem and opportunity. — John W Lewis
Some will sacrifice themselves to give to others; they are the stars. Some will sacrifice others to give to themselves; they are the black holes. — John W Lewis
Teaching/Parenting is a balance between looking out for, and giving in to, the Student/Child. — John W Lewis
Recognizing that we may want what does not work, that there is such a thing as insidious want, is what separates the adults from the children. — John W Lewis
The truly ingenious ideas can only come from the truly tortured mind. — John W Lewis
A horse that has been broken does not know it is broken – such is the nature of blindness – and total control. — John W Lewis
Though we may stand so close today, you and I travel through space and time on vastly separated planes, which merely intersect, here, and now. — John W Lewis
Society can be explained, knowing it is full of pampered children that have not yet learned consequence, and unloved children that are still acting out. — John W Lewis
Our life’s struggle is like an undercover cop, remembering the good of our purpose while surrounded by evil. — John W Lewis
Falling in love with this world would be like the caterpillar falling in love with the silky cocoon. — John W Lewis
First we say someone should do something; then a few say they will do it; then fewer still get it done. — John W Lewis
Many are Knowers; Some are Learners; Few are Truth Seekers. — John W Lewis
Flow is normal. Mindless routine is abnormal. — John W Lewis