The Hall of Awesomeness

‘For the first six months we were apart I enjoyed all the things I’d missed. I went to see only movies I wanted to see-not one war picture. I went to the gym when it was most convenient for me. I had a manicure when I wanted a manicure I did what I wanted when I wanted to. I saw all the children constantly. Eventually, I even dated a little. I realized I could get along just fine on my own, the question was, did I want to? Other men left me cold. They all had their routines down pat-every guy had his own personal schtick. At least Jerry had his hair.’ Judge Judy Scheindlin Beauty Fades but Dumb is Forever.

The popular TV Judge provides an interesting example of what I call ‘real world’ learning. After twelve years of marriage the Judge and her husband divorced and she began to see other men. After six months she had realized that she didn’t really want that kind of life, even though we can see above she enjoyed it initially. Over time her learning pointed towards the fact that there was something intangible about her ex-husband that she was attracted to (her words) which drew her back to him. By going through the experience the Judge was able to learn what she really wanted and at the end she knew what it was. Granted there are better ways to learn such lessons but it’s still a key example of how learning in the real world sense is coupled with experience.

Learning is a key skill in solving life problems that forms the cornerstone for all the others. It’s not only the foundation but without it nothing can grow. By definition learning is the ability to acquire new knowledge, through a process or experience. The key point here is that to gain new knowledge, when we are learning, there needs to be the experience of learning. This is the key skill required to build a successful life skill set in individuals. As an education professional I have noticed this skill is something that a majority of business schools tend to shy away from. Indeed academia at large seems more concerned now with standardization that with imparting the principles of learning. Yet we are sending these students out into a workforce that calls for, above everything else, the ability to be able to learn. Why do we continue to do this? So what is learning?

What is learning?

Typically most lifelong learning books refer to learning as the gaining of new qualifications, experience and changing one’s personal education as required. While this kind of definition suits an academic approach to life, it is not entirely consistent with the capability of learning required to make hard and fast changes in the troublesome real world. We do not all have access to the higher levels of education required but all of us can learn. So how do we learn new things? What are the principles that are developed in us as children that shape the way we learn and help us to understand things? In order to understanding how to learn over the length of a life, a basic understanding in learning is required.

In the world of our actions and reactions we learn by applying our knowledge both conscious and subconscious to the situations of concern in our lives. An example of this might be the question: How do I get promoted? There are several answers to this question. First, I might be a political person and make strategic alliances with certain people and perform certain duties for them in order to gain their favour. This is a path of learning I have now set for myself to achieve; I need to know the boss to get promoted. However, what if my boss doesn’t take to me and ignores my actions? What if my politicizing results in me getting fired? I initiated a track of learning, it did not work for me, I now take what I have learned and tell everyone about it. I tell my colleagues “Don’t go being friendly to the boss that will get you nowhere.” The truth is that it didn’t in that case, but if I used the right kind of political muscle it might have worked. Here is the first barrier to learning (discussed in the next learning chapter), logic traps. Whenever I tell myself I cannot learn my mind will think exactly that. Even though my brain helps me to learn it also stops me from doing so.

Learning takes place when I gain new information, knowledge or experience about something I had previously learned about. To learn, I read, I experience and most importantly I gain insights from the world around me. As a learner I want to add to what I know so I can more effectively use it in the world I face around me. This means I have to be actively looking for ways to gain new insights into my surrounds by trying to understand it. So how do I do that? What do I go through to get to that place where I can add new things to what I know? Where does learning begin? You will have to read part 2 to find out!

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