Steal These Thoughts 29.03.22 | Sabotaging growth

View on the web

Erh, what now?

X = Y?

It feels like many of us like to overcomplicate what should be the simple process of learning. As a society we have been sharing knowledge on how to improve our skills from one to another for thousands of years, no buzzwords were attached to this, just good old fashioned you need to know something so let me share that know-how with you.Today it’s very different. It’s like we’ve made the process to learn new skills as difficult to do as creating dark matter in the hadron collider. All our fancy buzzwords and bloated EdTech that preach to do a million things, generally leave us more confused than ever in enabling anyone to grow their skills.Don’t get me wrong, I love a good old buzzword and reading new insight from various leaders in the industry, yet sometimes I feel like we get lost in our own shit.There are only so many 50 page dossiers on how people learn with fancy diagrams and stimulating equations that one person can read without thinking — you’re making this far more complicated than it needs to be.A key part of anyone’s role in a learning team should be making things simple.So, why is it we like to confuse each other when talking about what should be the simple ways that we can grow?

When simple becomes complicated

I try to see everything like an engineer would by breaking apart the pieces to see what makes sense, which part works best, what sticks and what’s not needed. It reminds me of an old proverb (if you will) from the legendary Bruce Lee who shared his thoughts on the simplicity of learning:

“Absorb what is useful, discard what is not and add what is uniquely your own”

I have this quote on my phone to remind me to keep everything simple and tailored with me in mind.We all constantly hear about the new learning philosophy on the block, whether that’s 70:20:10, social learning, hybrid learning (someone save us, please!).The concepts at the heart of these philosophies are all the same. And, when we break it down, the message we share should be simple — find what works for you.I’ve spoken with many who feel chained to the latest philosophies and feel awful that their people don’t understand it, aren’t embracing it and generally don’t care. I mean, think about it, why would anyone care what commercially marketed methodology you’re deploying in the moment?Philosophies and buzzwords will come and go, yet the basics of learning will remain the same.This brings me back to Bruce Lee and his philosophy on growth.When we look to make improvements, take on board what is useful, remove the rubbish and add in what works for each of us — it’s as simple as that really.Forget the flashy new learning philosophies, the endless buzzwords and fancy methodologies that are confusing our people. This only creates unnecessary complexion and more barriers for learning functions, especially when we’re are constantly asked, “What is it you bring to the business again?”When in doubt, keep it simple. Go back to the basics.

You might also like...

One more thing...

“Don’t aim to be popular, aim to be real” Nikki Sixx

That's it for this week. Please do share your thoughts with me on these pieces or anything I share on the Twitterverse and LinkedIn. Chat to you soon and stay healthy people!Don't forget to visit my website for more content.

(P.S. Writing this newsletter is a labor of love for me and I'd keep doing it if only one person read it. If you enjoy my words, this content and think it might benefit others too, then please do me the honor of sharing this with your community).