A little over twenty years ago, I attended a dinner and networking event at the London Aquarium. The speaker was Kjell Nordstrom whose book, “Funky Business - Talent Makes Capital Dance” had recently been published.
There were close to 300 people in the room, sitting at round tables of eight. After exchanging names, the person to my right rather than asking ‘What do you do?’ or ‘Where do you work?’ said to me, ‘What are you passionate about?’
I was a bit startled and had to take a moment to consider my reply. I said, “I am passionate about achieving that moment, while speaking or teaching, when I can see someone in the audience or classroom having an ‘aha’ moment. Something I said gave them an instance of clarity, or created a link they were missing, or gave them an insight for a possible solution to a dilemma.
Standing in front, surveying the audience, you can see that moment in their eyes or the shift in their body language. In a cartoon the proverbial bulb would light up above their heads.
Sometimes participants will share their insight during the session, sometimes they do so privately afterward, and sometimes I never learn what that realization meant for them. In any case, during my engagements, I am still passionate about achieving those moments.
In recent years, as a grandfather to four little ones, I have relived the experience watching our two children experiencing their ‘aha’ moments as they developed. The look in a child’s face when making new connections about the world around them never fails to bring a smile to my face and joy in my heart.
There is no minimum age nor any age limit for learning and arriving at an ‘aha’ moment.