I’m very fortunate to have had the opportunity to come to Harvard Business School and doubly fortunate to work for such a great company that sees the value in developing and educating their employees. Most of large, publicly traded, agencies don’t do this kind of thing for their employees. The cost eats into their short term revenues. I can guarantee that the value of the ideas brewing in my head are many, many multiples greater in value than the cost of sending me here. How do I know that? Because I have learned how to learn.
I’ts no secret that I was diagnosed with ADHD and several other “learning deficiencies” when I was younger. I was even told I wouldn’t graduate high school. What that really means is that I have a lot of energy, an overly active mind and I don’t learn the way most people do. It doesn’t mean I can’t learn, it just means I learn differently. The problem for most people is that they never learn how to learn.
- If they’re *normal* They coast through public school and college (or at least achieving passing grades without too much trouble) because the education system is set up to maximize information transfer for the majority. It is not set up to maximize knowledge creation.
- If they are more like me (a.k.a. not normal), they struggle to pass but not many learn how their brains work, they just know they don’t work like most people.
Among many things yesterday, John Kotter talked about some really great leaders and how these people were learning machines. They came from challenging backgrounds and they learned. In fact they’re still learning and growing. I’m talking about learning in the sense of knowledge creation, not just fact gathering. The kind of learning that leads to growing intellectually, emotionally, technically, spiritually and professionally.
- Most people stop learning in their 20′s and they stop growing. They graduate college and that’s it. This is true of far more people than will admit it. It’s true of the majority of people I see “working at jobs.”
- Successful people stop learning and growing in their 40′s. They learn and grow just enough to reach a certain level of success and then they stop.
- Great leaders, the truly great ones, never - NEVER - stop learning and growing. Ever.
Sure, you read a lot, you have broad cultural tastes but here’s some very simple questions to think about:
- Do you only read fiction? Do you only read non-fiction that’s directly related to your job? Do you read things you may not like or agree with?
- Do you regularly try new things. Things that are uncomfortable and hard and take time?
- Do you watch reality TV?
Okay that was a cheap shot. Yes, I know you need to unwind, blah, blah, blah. But seriously, do you know what you could be doing with that time? </soapbox>
No you don’t have to go to Harvard to gain knowledge and grow. I don’t even believe that you have to go to school. I have found for me, that once I learned how to learn that formal advanced education programs are a great way to supplement all the learning I do on my own. But everyone’s different.
With a humble heart and open mind you can learn from anyone, anywhere at any time.
It drives me crazy when I go to a conference or a seminar or a class or read a book and I hear people complaining that they didn’t learn anything. Then you weren’t listening. You can always learn something, even if it’s not what the person intended you to learn. Okay fine - yes, you can probably even learn something from reality TV.
The Final Missing Ingredient
But it takes application. I firmly believe that reading all the books in the World and getting multiple PhD’s won’t do you any good unless you do something with it. You have to apply it to some venture or teach it to someone else or even just share it in a blog. Learning is process and it doesn’t really happen until you complete the cycle and apply it and in that process of seeing what happens with the information, that’s where learning happens.
If you’re reading this, you’re gaining information, you probably gain information all day long from Twitter and email and a million other interaction. But what are you doing to turn that information into knowledge?
No seriously, what are you doing? Please leave me a comment and let me know. If nothing else consider it a small next step in your knowledge creation.
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