27 Mar
2011
To really "get" something, I believe you need to have:
-
Purpose in what you are learning so you know why that competence is important to learn.
- A safe environment where, if you do it wrong, you are able to try again.
-
Feedback given so that you know when you did well, poorly, and what you can improve.
When learning, punishment is one of the biggest deterrents. If you are learning from someone who gets frustrated with you doing something wrong, while you are learning, will that motivate you to learn more?
Avoid rewards as carrot when learning. (Read
Drive). A carrot today will lead to lack of motivation tomorrow if that carrot isn't there. Rewards can take the fun out of what you are doing, because you end up doing what you are doing for a reward. The satisfaction of doing a good job, and positive feedback will be fuel that will take you farther. Hearing the words of your teacher/mentor who told you how quickly you learned something will go farther than a tangible reward.
I believe that it is easiest to learn something when you know the purpose behind that. Purpose can be inspiring and cause you to have more internal motivation than external motivation. When you are able to see how what you do for the first time today will affect your career, learning will come more naturally.
Toastmasters was a great experience for me because it is a safe environment to speak. You can get in front of a group of people and give a speech knowing that nothing negative will happen to you if you screw it up. You will get encouragement on what you can do better. Being laughed at, asked to leave, or being kicked out is never an option. You are speaking to a group of people who are all routing for you! This is the type of environment where learning happens the best. The safety allows you to do things you didn't think you could do.
When you do something good, or bad, feedback can allow you to know exactly what you did, and how to improve or repeat that. Some tasks have built in feedback. If you are wiring a house, your feedback is achieved when the lights do or don't work. There are testers that will tell you before hand if things are wired correctly. If you turn something in to accounting, and they send it back - there's your feedback on whether you filled out the form properly. Othere things don't have the same feedback. They may not be as simple. Leading a meeting well is something that you need feedback from other people on. Did it go well? poorly? You can only guess. Feedback from team-mates who were also in the meeting is key to your success in leading the next meeting. Having a debrief after meetings, tasks, weeks etc. can allow for a good format to find out how you did, and how to do better.
Since almost everything in life is a learning experience, having purpose, a safe environment and feedback are necessary in everything that we do in order to do it better next time. These things will give us long term accomplishment in what it is you've chosen to do.
