This post is second in a series of twelve as I read through the book Ben Franklin’s 12 Rules of Management. In these posts I will bring to you some of the points that I have found interesting or stimulating. I would recommend that you pick up a copy to extract maximum benefit. There is much more packed in the pages than the tidbits that I am extracting. Let’s get started.

Today I am going to be breaking down with the second chapter of the book, “A Simple Recipe for Lifelong Learning.” Benjamin Franklin once wrote that “All education is self-education.” He also believed that if you learned only from yourself, then you had a fool for a teacher. So exactly how can we balance out the two forces?
Ben Franklin advocated learning as much as possible. He recognized that you could only learn if you wanted to. His system was arranged in the following three parts: Reading, Meditation, and Discussion.

These three little steps aren’t that complicated when you think about them. Read something to collect the information. Analyze the information to turn it into knowledge, and finally discuss the information with others to strengthen your understanding.

Ben Franklin created a social network called Junto (pronounced JUNE-tow) for mutual improvement. The basic idea was to have a group that would be able to share thoughts and ideas expand their own mind.

This group met every Friday and had very strict guidelines. Each member had to write an essay every week on a pre-set topic. There were penalties for being late, absent, unprepared, too agreeable, or too disagreeable. All of these fees were taken out of the pocketbook.

“Ben Franklin’s 12 Rules of Management” contains a set of the commonly asked questions used to keep momentum in the meetings. These include news about failing and successful businesses, political actions that will affect businesses, businesses that the group should consider supporting and helping, and quite a few other driving queries.

The chapter encourages you to follow the three steps and gives you advice in creating your own discussion group for self improvement. The ideas are presented clearly and given in a way that promotes and supports this type of environment in your workplace.

In an effort to maintain the integrity of Blaine McCormick’s composition about one of our premier founding fathers, I don’t want to bring out all of the points and ideas contained within. A big section that I have passed over explains how to analyze board games in order focus the gathered knowledge into the business world. There are some pretty interesting ideas for the steps involved in playing these strategic games.

Be sure to read our first post “Great Managers Rarely Have Great Beginnings” and I’ll see you next Thursday for “How to Manage Others Effectively” when Ben Franklin will teach us how to manage ourselves before managing others.