By Michele McDanel
Image credit: iStock
I have long held the viewpoint that learning is something everyone should do throughout their lives. I would even go so far to say that the opportunity to learn new things is a large part of what makes life interesting.
In the past, teaching in the corporate setting, I have seen adult learners bring feelings of defensiveness and insecurity to the classroom that not only detracted from their results, but those of others. As someone who regularly takes on new learning challenges, I wanted to share some principles that I use to promote a learning mindset.
Be open
First, be open to the idea that learning has value. Then, be open to the topic you are learning, the materials you encounter, and, if you’re learning from an instructor, the way they choose to teach it. Not every teacher is going to have a style that you like, and that is OK – but if you constantly challenge what the teacher has to offer, you are going to miss out on the learning itself.
Also, be open to a teacher being someone you might not expect. One concept that is gaining ground recently is that of the reverse mentor: someone younger than you, perhaps with less work experience, but who has expertise in something you know little or nothing about. I’ve recently formed a mentor partnership with a college student who is about to graduate. I provide perspective from my two decades of work in communications, and he is my “reverse mentor” on the latest thinking around social media.
Two key aspects to being open are being curious and asking questions. How about that book that was cited in the sources of a report? Look it up and see if it offers an interesting perspective. Find ways to connect to the learning, because we are better at remembering things that are connected to what we already know.
Some questions to have in your arsenal: “please tell me more;” “what makes you say that?” “what else?” And of course, keep asking “why?”
Be patient
Being willing to learn means you should be willing to look silly at some point. Last year, it took me weeks of practice and a lot of tips from The Great British Bake-Off to master something as seemingly simple as pie crust (it’s not as easy as it looks!). Good learners are willing to look silly while they learn, and because they aren’t stressing about that, they end up learning more quickly. And on the bright side, you might get to sample a lot of pie!
Along that same vein, tempting as it may be, don’t compare yourself with others. Your progress in picking up a new skill or concept might feel slower, faster, or right in line with people around you, but focusing on your speed relative to others won’t help – in fact, it can contribute to distraction and worry. Just like being willing to look silly, not worrying about how you are measuring up is a great way to relax and learn. Understanding comes after really immersing yourself in the topic, which takes time and concentration, and it’s tough to do that if you’re worrying about everyone else.
Also, be willing to fail, and be patient with yourself when you do. Remember that we often learn the most from those times when we fail, because we learn what doesn’t work. This leads to knowing how to invest your time more productively moving forward.
Be supportive
Network with other people and compare notes. See what you can glean about best practices for studying, for example. Share what you have learned with others; in fact, explaining what you know is one of the most effective ways to solidify your knowledge and check for gaps in your own understanding.
Be supportive to other learners as well as yourself. Not everyone learns the same way or at the same pace, so pay attention to how your language or tone might feel disparaging to someone who isn’t “getting it” as quickly as you do. You won’t be helping them if they feel belittled. If someone is willing to put themselves out there with a question or an idea, they trust you to observe them as they learn. Treat that as the gift that it is.
Be relentless
This last tip may be one of the most difficult. It’s about cultivating a learning mindset by avoiding distractions when you are learning and by being dedicated to, even obsessed with, figuring things out. This mindset goes hand in hand with being open and patient because you need resilience to achieve both of those goals.
Years ago, in calculus (math has never been my strong suit), I struggled through most of the course, despite my best efforts. Then, two weeks before the final, it felt like everything “clicked” and made sense. If I’d given up, I wouldn’t have had the pleasure of seeing my 92% on the final, and not just passing, but getting a B+ in the course.
It’s important to note that being relentless does not preclude you from reaching out for help when you need it. We all need a push in the right direction, a tip, a word of encouragement, or help finding an answer sometimes. In fact, being a good help-seeker is part of being a good learner—good help-seeking means trying things out on your own first with persistence, diagnosing when you’re not making progress, and reaching out rather than spinning your wheels.
I hope that this has given you a new idea (or several) to put into action for your next learning adventure. While you are out there learning, remember that some lessons will be hard-fought; others will appear like surprise gifts, unexpected but welcome. I encourage you to embrace them all.
Many thanks to my colleague Nora Presson, who contributed greatly to this piece.
What do you think? How does this map to your experience as a learner or as someone who works with learners? Tweet us your thoughts at @MicrosoftRI or follow us on Facebook (opens in new tab) and join the conversation.
Michele McDanel is a builder, an organizer, and a storyteller with a bachelor’s degree in Communications and an MBA. She is energized by solving problems and meeting business needs through communications and customer experience solutions that raise the bar. Michele enjoys building relationships and managing teams; and overall, just figuring out what the “special sauce” is that will be the competitive differentiator for a business and its solutions. She joined the Customer Insights Research team in 2019 to amplify the great UX research and data science work they do, and to showcase the thought leadership of the team across internal and external communications, events, and social media.