Lifelong learning

Lifelong learning

The only way to keep up with today’s fast-paced environment is to keep learning, be open and adapt to change. In Never Stop Learning, Bradley R. Staats discusses his research on how to become a dynamic learner, peppered with case studies, stories and anecdotes to bring it to life.

What’s the problem?

We’re not always great at learning. Sometimes that’s because our own ego gets in the way, and often it’s because learning involves patience, bravery and change: the patience to focus on the journey, the bravery to take risks and embrace failure, and the willingness to change and overcome challenges.

How do we fix it?

Staats identifies several key elements to becoming a dynamic learner, and the first of these is one that most of us shy away from: failure. It’s understandable. Right from when we start school, we’re taught to fear failure, not embrace it. But ‘learning involves trying new things, and sometimes new things don’t work as expected’.

Working to shift your mindset will help. Staats encourages us to think about developing a growth mindset: ‘process-focused learners recognize that they aren’t fixed in their ability to learn’. It’s flipping a cognitive switch from thinking “Proving myself is important and I have to look smart, so failure is impossible” to “It’s okay if I don’t get it right the first time. I can learn from that and move forward with more knowledge than before”.

And of course, learning means asking questions. One study found that 70% – 80% of children’s dialogue consists of questions. But for adults it’s only around 15% – 25%. So, embrace your inner toddler (ideally the one who’s full of curiosity, asks ‘why?’ and wants to learn about the world).

But it’s difficult to be curious about everything. Playing to your strengths is likely to increase your engagement at work. Equally important is working out what complements your existing knowledge to build a portfolio of strengths, allowing you to cross over knowledge into different areas and make connections between them. Coaching and mentoring can help with this, as can reflection and recharging. The brain needs to rest to learn. Encourage your team to block out ‘thinking time’ – uninterrupted time to learn, focus and contemplate.

If we fail to learn, we risk becoming irrelevant. We end up solving yesterday’s problems too late instead of tackling tomorrow’s problems before someone else does.”

Finally, learning doesn’t happen in a vacuum. ‘The people with whom we interact are integral to our eventual success or failure’ – nowhere is this more evident than in a team environment. Google’s Project Aristotle (a tribute to Aristotle’s quote ‘The whole is greater than the sum of its parts’) studied the characteristics of high-performing teams. Surprisingly, ‘what really mattered was less about who is on the team, and more about how the team worked together’*.

The conclusion

‘Learning is a never-ending process’ and focusing on the principles of dynamic learning will help all of us to move forward and stay curious in a world where our ability to learn defines whether we can set ourselves apart from the competition.

Ten-second summary

Dynamic learning – the ability to keep learning, stay curious, develop new skills and adapt – is what will set people apart in today’s fast-changing world.