Learn Always, Learn All Ways
The Benefits of Continually Learning

“The most fatal illusion is the settled point of view. Life is growth and motion; a fixed point kills anybody who has one.”
~ Brooks Atkinson, American Journalist

Today’s world changes in the blink of an eye, especially for anyone with a career in the high-tech space. The keys to success no longer lie exclusively in what you know, but more and more, success is measured by how fast you can learn!

Technology and organizations change more rapidly today than at any other point in history. The concept of continuous learning has become more important than ever, because it prioritizes the ability to notice, adapt and learn from change. The benefits of continuous learning go far beyond career aspirations however, ultimately affecting us from a total mind/body health perspective as well.

The concept of continuous learning is not about continually taking courses, but speaks to developing your skills of inquiry, reflection, flexibility and openness to fit the ever-shifting landscape of your life. By viewing our life (including our work) as a learning program we can expand our capacity for living and our abilities in our careers.

Lifelong learning requires an attitudinal shift. Peter Senge (noted systems theorist, American scientist and Director of the Center for Organizational Learning at the MIT Sloan School of Management) believes that continual learning and personal mastery are very similar. In continuous learning the learner:

1. Recognizes priorities or overall values about themselves and how they want to live and work -- they have a personal vision
2. Takes an active role in the world and at work
3. Continues to reflect on their experiences in the world and at work
4. Seeks ongoing feedback about the world (including work) and their activities in it (which is why working in teams, using 360-degree appraisals, etc., are so important in organizations)
5. Remains as open as possible to the feedback (which requires a fair degree of personal maturity)
6. Makes ongoing adjustments, based on ongoing feedback, to the way they live their lives and conduct their work; in order to more closely meet their priorities and values

To really benefit from this list, we need to have established our own basic values for life and our priorities for our work. We also need to carve out some time for personal reflection, to establish what we may learn from our failures as well as our successes. In fact, failures are one of the most important learning tools we have on the road to success. Accepting failure as an opportunity for growth, rather than being defeated by it, is one of the greatest gifts we can give ourselves.

When seeking feedback, approach honest people who have no bad intentions towards you and then be open to what is offered. Even if you don’t agree, realize that the feedback is a truthful point of view from another. It is true for them; so try to understand why they have perceived it as such and consider how you may tweak things in future, so that what you are offering is received as you have intended it to be. Perhaps there is nothing you would change, even in the face of negative feedback. Standing your ground or disagreeing with others is perfectly fine, just be certain that you aren’t stubbornly ignoring any “white elephants” in the room. If you do see yourself through another’s eyes and don’t like what is reflected there, have both the courage and the humility to accept, learn, and make a change for the better.

More and more organizations are promoting the concepts of lifelong learning to their employees in order to build a more dynamic employee base that adapts readily and with greater agility, to change. Even the best university education is generally not sufficient to support a professional career spanning three or four decades. The strength of any corporation lies in the talent contained within, so it’s a “no-brainer” strategy to invest in keeping your ranks interested, engaged and innovative, in order to maintain an edge over the competition.

Steve Jobs is undoubtedly one of the most successful entrepreneurs in history. He stresses learning as one of the keys to success in his “12 Rules of Success” saying: “There's always ‘one more thing’ to learn! Cross-pollinate ideas with others both within and outside your company. Learn from customers, competitors and partners.”

In addition to bringing you greater success, confidence and happiness in your day-to-day life, continually learning is fitness for your brain and will serve you well in a mind/body/health sense. Our cognitive abilities (attention, memory, visual/spatial processing, auditory ability, problem solving skills, language and motor coordination) slowly diminish throughout our lives unless they are practiced regularly. Just as our physical bodies require regular exercise to remain healthy, so too does our brain. In addition to good nutrition, proper sleep and stress management, our brain requires mental stimulation to stay healthy.

This can be accomplished through formal education, continuous curiosity in learning about the world, new ideas/topics of interest and also through cognitive skill building (puzzles, games).

The fitness of our brains can be physically measured at a cellular level by scientists observing neurogenesis – the creation of new neurons – and also by the functional connections between the neurons. By consistently challenging ourselves with new and different stimuli, we increase neuron production, enhance interconnectivity and prevent connection loss/cell death. That’s right, the joke about “killing a few brain cells on the weekend” has a basis in truth!

A study by Joe Verghese, M.D. found that people can reduce their risk of dementia by 7%, simply by adding one activity per week (such as doing a crossword puzzle or playing a board game) to their schedule. The same study showed that subjects who did crossword puzzles four days per week had a 47% lower risk of developing dementia than subjects who only did a crossword once per week, so there is an accumulative effect to the mental challenges.

To be effective, mental stimulation should provide: novelty, variety, challenge and practice.

Find new challenges that excite and interest you, become a student of life – of your life and the life around you. Everything is connected and just like the neurons of your brain, you want to fire up that connectivity in order to enjoy the full benefits of a happy, healthy life and an interesting and fulfilling career.

For the record... you can teach an old dog new tricks. Learn always, learn all ways.

Is there a subject that you think we should cover? We’d like to hear about it.
Please send your stories to: tmc@mbassett.com

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