This is how Professor Bradley States sees the situation. And he has a couple more interesting conclusions.
This post is a translation of the transcript of the Knowledge @ Wharton radio show with Bradley States, professor at the Kenan-Flagler School of Business at the University of North Carolina, and author of Never Stop Learning: Stay Relevant, Reinvent Yourself, and Thrive. trend, reinvent yourself and thrive ”). The book explains the benefits and philosophy of dynamic (lifelong) learning, describes methods to improve its effectiveness throughout life. This conversation took place around her. The study of the Leader-ID analytical data sample prompted us to translate it. We have noticed a sharp surge in activities related to education in the past year. Their number has almost tripled.
The graph shows the sum of lectures, seminars, courses and conferences held in the categories "Education", "Professional education", "Additional education" and several others. The forced general transition to online has slowed down this trend so far, we are waiting for what the statistics will show when all the venues where the events are held will open again.
So let's get back to Stats.
When everything changes
Knowledge@Wharton: , , , — . , — . , . , .
, ?
: I think you explained perfectly why we need to learn. If we fail, we risk becoming unnecessary. We are belatedly solving yesterday's problems instead of tomorrow's. However, the main problem is how it turned out that we are simply not good at school. Very bad. In fact, we are often our own worst enemies. Instead of doing things that will help us learn, we do the opposite. My research, my work with companies, and this book are all aimed at trying to explain this. What do we need to do? Why does our behavior often lead us in the wrong direction? And most importantly, how can we influence this?
Knowledge @ Wharton: Why are we “ really bad at learning ” ?
Stats: The problem often boils down to the fact that we are focused on solving short-term problems, and what we are doing at the moment does not help us learn in the long term. Let's take failure as an example. Of course, we want to avoid failure. We don't like it when things go wrong. This is not very convenient. But we also acknowledge that if we are going to innovate and reach new heights, the first time will hardly work. But because of the fear of failure that many of us have and which our organizations often impose on people, we never try new things, never move in a direction that would allow us to create something extraordinary.
Knowledge @ Wharton: How can we accept failure and realize its value?
Stats : It's worth realizing that failure is a means to an end, and the end is learning.In the book, I talk about why we don't want to try something new. This is the fear of failure. We often exaggerate the negative effects of the emotions of anxiety and shame we experience. We think so much about what might go wrong that we don't spend enough time thinking about what might go right. Sometimes we don't even notice what is happening around us. We rethink our environment to make ourselves think everything is ok when everything is going wrong.
Appreciating failure means being open to the environment in which we find ourselves. Pixar co-founder Ed Catmull once said, “Mistakes are not a necessary evil. They are not evil at all. They are an inevitable consequence of the fact that we are doing something new. " I think this quote helps us understand the value of failure. It's not about deliberately looking for how to do something wrong. The concepts of "quick failure" and "shoot first, then aim" are the recognition that we must be ready to get out of the current situation, try new, then watch what happens, gain new experience and adapt to change.
Knowledge @ Wharton: You say that in order to stay on trend, we must constantly learn. What is dynamic learning?
Stats : Dynamic Learning has four steps, which I'll call the four F.The first is the focus (FOCUS), or the choice of topics that we are going to study. What do we say "no" to eventually say "yes" to something else? Where are we going to get deeper knowledge? Where are we going to make an impact? This means choosing an area and moving in that direction.
The second F is speed (FAST), because the pace matters. Once we have chosen what we are running for, we should be able to move in that direction and quickly pick up speed. It's not “great, I'll be back to you in three years with my approach,” but rather, it's about days, weeks, months.
The third F is FREQUENT in our teaching.
Opportunities come at unexpected times or in unexpected places, so we need to constantly look at how we can improve what we do, how we can recognize the need to change direction. We choose the area in which we will work right now, but this does not mean that we will do it right every time. In fact, people who never stop learning understand that they are often wrong. Therefore, as soon as they speed up, they are ready to slow down, change direction, and move on to the next opportunity. This is the fourth F - flexibility (FLEXIBILITY).
If you can keep focus, move fast, take time to learn regularly, and be flexible, assume that you already have the tools you need for dynamic learning.
Dynamic learning elements
Knowledge @ Wharton: What is the process of becoming a learner?
States : In the book, I explore the various steps we need to take to become one. I have identified eight elements that make up dynamic learning, so I’ll talk about them first and then answer your question.
First , this is the idea of failure that I talked about - the willingness to try something that might not work, but which will give you experience and with which to move on.
The second is understanding that the process really matters.... During training, we too often focus only on the result and not on the process. Yes, sometimes you can do everything wrong, but get a good result. You're just lucky. And sometimes you do everything right, but nothing works. Therefore, if we don't focus on the process, we will never get to the right place.
The third is the ability to ask questions . We tend to rush to answer. We tend to think that we need to go, go, go, but we have to stop and ask questions.
The fourth , related to this, is the time we need for reflection and reflection . One of my mentors advised me not to get bogged down in business to the detriment of reflection.
. , . .What really energizes you and allows you to use all your best qualities? We often think about learning this way: how can I fix what is wrong with me now? Instead, you should ask yourself: what am I doing well? This is the sixth element . What makes me different from others? These are your personal competitive advantages. How will you work to develop them?
The seventh element concerns the range and depth of knowledge. I believe we should strive to be T-shaped in learning. That is, we must have deep knowledge in certain areas, but we must also value the breadth of knowledge.
— , . . , .When we implement these eight elements, we have a chance to achieve the goal of dynamic learning.
Knowledge @ Wharton: Let's take a closer look. The ability to ask questions doesn't seem difficult, doesn't it?
Stats : It's often the other way around. When I work with companies, I'm curious to find out: why don't people speak? Research shows there are several different reasons for this. The first is our constant employment: a lot of things are happening in our life. When we look at something that is not quite right, alarms sound in our head, but there is the next thing on the to-do list, or the next notification of an upcoming meeting, or a phone call. So we keep on running.
It's always worth taking a step back and looking at your calendar. Is it important or urgent?
, , — . , , . ?First, we think wrongly about how people will judge us for asking questions. If I say I don’t know it, it’s like going back to elementary school, where the kids will laugh. But what's interesting (and research is pretty compelling) is that when we ask questions, people love us more. They see curiosity and involvement in us, if this is, of course, a question in the subject.
There is tremendous value in overcoming the fear of asking questions. Some of my favorite studies on this topic have been about quick dating. He showed that people who asked more questions were more likely to get dating approval. Therefore, the ability to ask questions helps not only at work.
Another element of self-censorship is that sometimes we are not aware that we need to ask a question. We lack an accurate picture of what surrounds us. This is a kind of test for selectivity of attention. We tend to only identify certain things and don't understand what we are missing. We are so focused on the individual pieces of wood that we cannot see the forest.
Knowledge @ Wharton: What role do rest and relaxation play in enhancing our learning ability?
StatsA: I think it's fair to say that we are witnessing an addiction to activity today. We think that if we don't do something, then it leads to problems. We get nervous if we can't reach the phone. Recently, a new colleague of mine asked me why someone doesn't reply to emails for several hours. I said that a few hours is not that long. And he replied that in his previous organization, people were measured by the speed with which they responded to emails. In a sense, this is a sign of zeal. On the other hand, will your fastest answer always be the right answer and the best way to move forward? Most probably not.
We must acknowledge our addiction to activity. We want others to see that we are busy with something, and that is a problem. My favorite example I give of this relates to football and penalties. Researchers looked at data on goalkeepers to find out where they jump more often - left or right. It was found that almost all the time they moved to the right or left, but only in 6% of cases remained in the middle of the gate. But when the shots were examined, it turned out that they were distributed approximately equally to the left, in the middle of the goal and to the right.
Then the researchers told the goalkeepers: "If you don't jump anywhere and stay in the middle, you can catch more balls." This is the optimal strategy: sometimes jump, sometimes stay in place. Basically, the goalkeepers told the researchers, “We're not going to do this. We see the data, we believe the data, but we are not going to do that. " When the researchers asked why, the goalkeepers replied that they wished they had jumped. One of them said:
“If I jump, my face will be covered in mud, grass will fall into my mouth, and everyone will agree that I did my best. But if I just stand, it will seem to everyone that I did not even try to stop the ball. "
This is exactly what we do at work. But we must be prepared to step back for a while to rest and reflect.
Knowledge @ Wharton: Let's talk about learning from others. If we openly ask questions, then not only the person who asked the question will learn, but also the rest of the people around.
Stats : You're absolutely right. When you ask a question, chances are that a handful of other people in the same meeting are also asking the question. As a leader, you must make it clear that if someone asks a tough question it will not lead to shooting, you must encourage this behavior. We often think that tasks are much more individual than they really are. We become obsessed with our small part, not seeing the problem more broadly.
When we work with other people, we have the opportunity to ask questions. And we can also share what we know. We conducted research looking at the power of teaching. In an organizational setting, when I teach others, I am better at absorbing my own material. I have a better understanding of product design or strategic plan. Including others is very important in dynamic learning.
Knowledge @ Wharton: What steps can organizations take to improve the learning environment? Give examples of companies that are doing well in this task.
StatsA: I would highlight the work that Deloitte is doing in relation to the performance evaluation process. As I mentioned earlier, we are faced with the difficult task of focusing on the process, not the result. The traditional annual performance review often includes tiered ratings, and the main question behind this is "what have you done for us lately?" Deloitte not only removed this rating in many areas, but also tried to measure performance on an ongoing basis. Every two weeks or weekly, depending on the project, you meet with your leader. You have mentors and trainers to help you along the way. If you communicate every two weeks, you really have an understanding of the process, don't you? You begin to understand how a person spends his time, what he does,how it can help him. This is much easier to understand. And if all you are doing is looking at the results of twelve months, it is difficult to understand what people actually did during that day. And if we are talking about development, then this is really worth paying attention to.
Another example is the idea of strength. We have done some work with Deloitte exploring how we can help people discover their strengths, particularly when they come into the organization. What can we do to help them leverage these strengths? We know that strengths and their use are critical to employee engagement.
Knowledge @ Wharton: Companies are collecting data on so many things right now! They use people analytics to understand the meaning of this data. How do you think companies can better use data and analytics to make informed decisions? Can you give any examples?
Stats: Oh, that's interesting. I think you are absolutely correct that the world of people analytics has opened up many opportunities. Now I would call most of my research people analytics. When I started them 15 years ago, the term didn't exist yet. I think we have a chance to understand what drives performance in a good way. We can understand what is preventing us from being effective. A number of different organizations we've worked with have sought to understand what sets people up for success by looking at them individually or as part of a project team, and then tried to combine data with business knowledge. In many places these things still exist separately. If you think you need an HR, analyst, and business expert, find a way to bring them all into the same room so that you not only understand the data, but also begin to correct course.