Thursday, January 14, 2010

Constant Learning - Deciding What to Learn

I was interested in an Harvard Business Review article on "Should you Sack Yourself". The gist of the message was that often people fall in love with their own strategy and methods even though they are not working. Sometimes the company would be better off without them.

I have seen many cases where a company outgrows people. Perhaps this is because I have always been involved in growth businesses or perhaps because I have always been in the technology business which is naturally high change.

Change is inevitable and therefore people need to adapt. I have long believed that proper adaptation or the "right" changes can be studied and learned.

I have constantly set myself with the challenge of "what do I need to know" and "what will I need to learn". I then devise learning programs around it. For me, much of the studying is reading books but some is setting myself with the question and then I find that material I feed myself becomes relevant - eg - the article a friend forwards hits home or a passage in a book triggers a thought pattern.

People often ask me how I managed to run a start up from the trunk of my car and also a Billion $ plus business. For me, it was this deliberate study.

I am a life long learner.

2 comments:

  1. Hi Jim,
    Thank you for sharing this article - very unique way of looking at career transitioning. I will continue to follow your blog!
    Thanks,
    Michelle - Career Edge Organization
    www.careeredge.ca/CEOblog

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  2. You're dead on. I'm amazed that most people cease educating themselves after college...or better said, most people never educate themselves since the people who stop growing post-college, probably weren't growing much in college.

    ReplyDelete