When Nellie asked Charley, “Where do we go from here?” That question stumped him. He was delighted with the progress of his adult learners, but he felt that there had to be something more. He decided to meet with them one-on-one to get a sense of what’s next.
Those meetings gave Charley on expansive view of the impact of learning. He captured some quotes to stimulate his thinking of what’s next.
- “It’s so nice to be able to sit and read with my children. We have a reading hour every night before bedtime.”
- “I want to get a job that is more than just being a house cleaner.”
- “This has opened my eyes to the world. I can now read about events going on around me rather than just listening to what others are telling me.”
- “I want to see if I can earn a GED.”
- “I always wanted to read the Bible for myself.”
Charley began to realize the full impact of what a learning community could become: healthy family development, human potential growth, social awareness, faithfulness, and an opening of possibilities. The more and more Charley thought of these expansive possibilities, the more overwhelmed he became. While he was energized by those who he helped, he was intimidated by what he had started and what it would take to achieve the full potential of what had begun.
Charley knew what his strengths were. He was the creator, the one who could envision new initiatives, develop them, and be the hands-on implementer. What he wasn’t good at was the long-term administrator. He needed someone who could be the administrator, but he also realized that the person must also have a real appreciation for what Charley envisioned for the learning community.
As he was thinking about what’s next, Nellie came to him with an idea. As she described her idea, Charley was distracted by what’s next. Then it came to him: “What’s next is sitting here in front of me.”
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“As entrepreneurs, we must continue to ask ourselves ‘What’s next?’ It takes humility to realize that we don’t know everything, not to rest on our laurels and know that we must keep learning and observing.” – Cher Wang (HTC Corp. co-founder and Chairman)