Have You Been De-geniused?

Minnetonka Living Magazine
September 2007

Have You Been De-geniused?
By Suzanne P. Campbell

Paul Scheele believes I have a genius mind, ready to be awakened. He believes you do too. Scheele is founder of Learning Strategies Corporation, a Minnetonka firm specializing in products that enhance human development. His books, CDs, DVDs and learning guides have been translated into fifteen languages and purchased by clients in 155 countries.

When he walks onstage in a suit and tie at one seminar for educators, he looks more like a mild-mannered Lutheran pastor than a professional motivator. His manner is calm, restful. His voice bears a strong resemblance to another trusted educator, Mr. Rogers. But it isn’t long before the listeners begin to show fascination with his techniques. They include humor, scientific reasoning, audience participation and lots of visual aids - many of them seminar participants in goofy hats.

One of his products,The Photo Reading Whole Mind System, is targeted to improve speed, comprehension and enjoyment of the written word. Featured in a July article in Twin Cities Business, it has also been endorsed by individuals who use the methods. "Leaders today grasp new ideas quickly, read voraciously across many important topics, and need to stay current with the latest advances in their fields,“ says Ken Blanchard, co-author of the eight-million selling One Minute Manager. “The PhotoReading Whole Mind System shows me how to do it all."

Scheele, 52, and a graduate of Minnetonka High School, conceptualized Learning Strategies Corporation while studying for his biology degree at the University of Minne-sota. “At that time I became passionate about the state of the environment and its survival,” he remembers. “I decided that I needed to focus on improving the quality of people’s lives and this then would reflect in a higher quality environment. That’s when I realized I that I wanted to be in the consciousness raising business.”

Scheele’s passion, to teach others how to learn, lead him to obtain a master’s degree in Education at St. Thomas University. “My special concentration was in learning and human development technology,” he says.

He found that we learn more effectively when we are in a what he calls a state of relaxed alertness; our bodies relaxed and our minds alert. “When a human being is under stress there are problems in attention, perception, memory, thinking and decision making,” says Scheele. His techniques teach people how to get more access to their brains by driving stress out and increasing their level of resourcefulness.

“(Visionary architect and inventor) Buckminster Fuller said that, out of 10,000 children born in the world, 9,999 will be systematically de-geniused by 5th grade,” says Scheele. “The reason is that they are prevented from exploring their world first hand. In school kids receive instruction, which is a secondhand experience.”

Scheele and his wife of thirty years raised three sons, all Minnetonka High School graduates,with this concept in mind. “We believed that our children were geniuses and our job as parents was to keep them from being de-geniused. That means providing rich experiences and watching, to run interference, if someone starts to shut them down.” He noted that Minnetonka offered them many programs to enhance learning,such as, post-secondary education, accelerated classes, mentoring and advanced placement.

“We are all wounded learners in some area of our lives, such as relationships, work or school,” says Scheele. “We are literally switched off because we have had bad experi-ences that made us feel like failures. It seems too dangerous or painful to try again.” He characterizes these as our Stuck Places. “Our job is to awaken people from their self-defeating premises with programs which allow them to go beyond what the logical mind believes possible and break through stuck states.”

Neurologists tell us that the human brain is more powerful than the most powerful computer on earth. Scheele believes that his company’s programs can help learners experience that power, their innate genius, and use it to make a difference in their lives. This is true whether they want better grades, new skills, wealth, wellness, or something else.

The ideal learning environment, according to Scheele, is one in which the whole brain is involved. It has ready access to rich models, resources. collaboration, dialogue and pe-ripheral stimulation. It encourages self-responsibility, outcome orientation and offers learning-to-learn skills. He wants to help people to become generative learners by teaching them strategies which they can use in all future learning.

“I’m a passionate learner,” says Scheele,” He is currently enrolled in Antioch University’s doctoral program in Leadership and Change. The program offers many creative learning opportunities where knowledge acquired can be applied.“ I’m always on the lookout for experiences where all learning is fun and all fun is learning,” he says.

For further information log on to www.LearningStrategies.com where you can also download a free copy of Scheele’s article on how to double your reading speed.