By Jonathan H. Westover, PhD
Abstract: This article discusses the importance of lifelong learning and developing a growth mindset in a rapidly changing workplace. It argues that the only constant in today's world is change, so skills and knowledge become obsolete quickly unless employees continuously learn and reinvent themselves. It outlines several approaches for organizations and individuals to foster a learning culture and become self-directed learners. It emphasizes the need to cultivate a growth mindset, curiosity, deliberate practice of skills, reflection, and knowledge sharing. Leaders are encouraged to choose tailored learning approaches, provide learning resources and opportunities, model growth behaviors, and create a supportive environment where people feel empowered and accountable for their own development. When learning becomes an ingrained work habit supported by networks and coaching, both individuals and companies can thrive in disruptive times by constantly renewing competencies and adapting to change.
As someone who has spent over 20 years working as both an organizational consultant and academic researcher, one theme has become abundantly clear - the only constant we can truly count on is change. The pace of innovation and evolution happening across all industries means that the skills and knowledge we have today will tomorrow be obsolete if we fail to continuously renew and reinvent ourselves. Learning how to learn effectively has become a crucial leadership competency for thriving, not just surviving, in this VUCA world.
Today we will explore how to master the art and science of becoming self-directed, lifelong learners. If we can develop the capacity for continuous learning and adaptation at work, it will open up unlimited opportunities for personal and professional growth.
Establishing a Growth Mindset
One of the first steps to becoming an active, engaged learner is establishing a growth mindset - the belief that our abilities and intelligence can be developed through effort, practice and persistence (Dweck, 2006). Those with a fixed mindset view their skills and talents as innate gifts whereas growth-mindset thinkers understand that talents and abilities can be cultivated through hard work and learning from failures or setbacks. Research shows that people with a growth mindset are far more likely to embrace challenges, perceive effort as the path to mastery, learn from criticism and experience setbacks as temporary learning opportunities rather than permanent failures (Dweck, 2012).
Cultivating Curiosity
Maintaining curiosity is vital for continuous learning and success in our rapidly transforming world (Kashdan & Silvia, 2009; Grossnickle, 2016). Curious individuals eagerly explore new ideas, concepts and experiences, constantly questioning what they don't know and considering multiple perspectives on problems or opportunities. Leaders can foster curiosity in themselves and their teams in several ways:
Embrace unfamiliar challenges or assignments to stretch knowledge base and break routines (Grossnickle, 2016).
Surround yourself with knowledgeable others and generate learning partnerships (Hatala & Fleming, 2007).
Encourage brainstorming diverse ideas without dismissing any too quickly (Tormala et al., 2006).
Promote psychological safety for questions and experimentation without fear of criticism from peers.
Provide learning resources and growth opportunities for continuous skill-building (Grossnickle, 2016).
An curious organizational culture where team members draw out each other's curiosity will drive greater innovation, problem-solving skills and engagement compared to an environment lacking in intellectual stimulation.
Mastering New Skills Through Deliberate Practice
Simply accumulating more knowledge or experiences does little on its own to enhance performance - expertise requires intentional effort to strengthen targeted skills through deliberate practice (Ericsson et al., 1993). Deliberate practice involves setting specific goals for development, receiving regular feedback to identify weaknesses and improve technique, repetition of challenging tasks at the edge of competency and pushing through plateaus with improved strategies. For example, to enhance presentation skills, one might:
Video record practice sessions and analyze delivery style and body language (self-feedback).
Seek peer feedback on content organization, storytelling impact and question-handling abilities.
Gradually decrease reliance on notes while incorporating more spontaneous stories.
Practice new presentation formats or content domains outside of comfort zone.
Leaders should carve out time for structured skill-building, reflect on development areas, and find opportunities to apply new techniques in low-risk environments before high-pressure situations. Through deliberate practice of their craft, individuals gain deeper understanding and automaticity that comes from extensive feedback-driven repetition (Ericsson et al., 1993).
Facilitating Reflection and Knowledge Transfer
Simply learning new things at work means little without pause for reflection on how to apply those lessons. Leaders must make space for assimilation, questioning how ideas connect or fit with previous knowledge, weighing applicability to current challenges, and planning how fresh concepts may enhance future results (Boud et al., 1985). Some avenues to facilitate reflection include:
Journaling about successes/failures to extract key takeaways
Discussing lessons with colleagues to gain different perspectives
Connecting new ideas to organizational strategies and priorities
Explaining insights to others via presentations forces crystallization
Equally, if knowledge stays isolated in individual minds, its power to transform work amplifies little over time. Organizations depend on networks of learning and knowledge transfer between team members (Ibarra & Hunter, 2007). Leaders can spur knowledge-sharing by role modeling open discussions, creating regular forums for idea-pitching, utilizing intranet repositories to archive lessons and setting clear expectations that growth comes from mutual learning not hoarding insights. An environment with strong social capital and psychological safety to openly converse elevates collective intelligence exponentially.
Building a Habit of Learning
To sustain lifelong learning requires integrating it as a daily work habit rather than an occasional venture. Leaders can institutionalize informal learning rituals such as setting aside 15 minutes each morning for reading industry reports or blogs, experimenting with a new technology at lunch, brainstorming future scenarios over coffee breaks or scheduling learning lunches with a peer monthly (Grossnickle, 2016). Sustaining curiosity means regularly varying tasks, roles and activities to prevent boredom and stagnation. For example, job rotations or special project assignments every six months keep problems multifaceted and prompt employees to view familiar processes with a fresh perspective. Technology also augments learning through ubiquitous online courses, virtual team collaborations and MOOCs fitting work rhythms (Grossnickle, 2016). Above all, an organizational culture valuing experimentation, feedback and continuous improvement reinforces that learning equals progress.
Choosing the Right Learning Approaches
Given unlimited options, taking a scattershot approach wastes precious development opportunities. Discerning the right learning styles and strategies tailored to individual and team needs ensures that efforts translate into meaningful change (Kolb & Kolb, 2005). Through diagnostic tools, leaders can uncover if direct experience, conceptual thinking, experimentation or reflection serve as preferred learning avenues. They may also consider learning modality preferences like visual, auditory or kinesthetic inputs. Additionally, determining prior knowledge gaps, job demands or passion areas guides tailored curriculum design. Coaching employees to self-assess strengths/weaknesses and connect aspirations with growth areas generates ownership over stretched goals. A variety of internal and external programs from workshops to mentoring to self-paced resources addressing myriad learning profiles boosts skill mastery.
Creating a Supportive Learning Ecosystem
No learner progresses alone - each benefits from an encouraging environment and network championing growth (Ibarra & Hunter, 2007). Leaders as coaches play a pivotal role motivating teams to continuously expand their boundaries. They offer guidance selecting pivotal challenges, check-ins on goal progress, assist overcoming obstacles through brainstorming, and celebrate small wins cultivating mastery experiences (Bandura, 1994). An engaged leader empowers distributed responsibility while still holding direct reports accountable. They model eager embrace of criticism and new information as opportunities rather than personal attacks. Psychological safety forms the bedrock of any learning culture where people feel secure sharing incomplete ideas knowing setbacks represent transient difficulties en route to advancement (Edmondson, 1999). Overall, cultivating a community dedicated to the development of each member unlocks unlimited potential for organizational agility, creativity and success.
Conclusion
In today's digital age transforming at exponential speeds, the only viable strategy ensuring career longevity involves dedication to a growth mindset, mastering learning agility and cultivating a habit of lifelong learning. As practitioners and leaders, our responsibilities extend beyond subject-matter expertise to stewarding cultures committed to the perpetual development of all talents. The approaches outlined here, forged from research and experience, equip people at any level to take ownership of shaping their abilities and continuously adapting to evolving realities. When learning becomes embedded as an intrinsic work practice with robust support networks, both individuals and enterprises unlock untapped reservoirs of innovation and resilience necessary to thrive. By focusing on education as the primary work we perform each day rather than an occasional venture, we fortify our careers and organizations for sustainable success in disruptive times.
References
Bandura, A. (1994). Self-efficacy. In V. S. Ramachaudran (Ed.), Encyclopedia of human behavior (Vol. 4, pp. 71-81). New York: Academic Press. http://www.uky.edu/~eushe2/Bandura/BanEncy.html
Boud, D., Keogh, R., & Walker, D. (1985). Reflection: Turning experience into learning. New York: Nichols. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED254869.pdf
Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York: Random House. https://www.mindsetworks.com/science/
Dweck, C. (2012). Mindsets and human nature: Promoting change in the Middle East, the schoolyard, the racial divide, and willpower. American Psychologist, 67(8), 614–622. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0029783
Edmondson, A. (1999). Psychological safety and learning behavior in work teams. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44(2), 350–383. https://doi.org/10.2307/2666999
Ericsson, K. A., Krampe, R. T., & Tesch-Römer, C. (1993). The role of deliberate practice in the acquisition of expert performance. Psychological Review, 100(3), 363–406. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.100.3.363
Grossnickle, J. (2016). 25 Ways to Cultivate a Workplace Culture That Fosters Learning. https://hbr.org/2016/10/25-ways-to-cultivate-a-workplace-culture-that-fosters-learning
Hatala, J.-P., & Fleming, P. R. (2007). Making a Business Case for Training: Beyond Improving Performance. Advance, 21(5), 36–47. https://doi.org/10.1002/pfi.4910210511
Ibarra, H., & Hunter, M. (2007). How Leaders Create and Use Networks. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2007/01/how-leaders-create-and-use-networks
Kashdan, T. B., & Silvia, P. J. (2009). Curiosity and interest: The benefits of thriving on novelty and challenge. In S. J. Lopez & C. R. Snyder (Eds.), Oxford handbook of positive psychology (2nd ed., pp. 367–374). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Kolb, A. Y., & Kolb, D. A. (2005). Learning Styles and Learning Spaces: Enhancing Experiential Learning in Higher Education. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 4(2), 193–212. https://doi.org/10.5465/amle.2005.17268566
Tormala, Z. L., DeSensi, V. L., & Petty, R. E. (2006). Resisting persuasion by illegitimate means: A metacognitive perspective on minority influence. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 32(3), 354–367. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167205282768
Jonathan H. Westover, PhD is Chief Academic & Learning Officer (HCI Academy); Chair/Professor, Organizational Leadership (UVU); OD Consultant (Human Capital Innovations). Read Jonathan Westover's executive profile here.
Suggested Citation: Westover, J. H. (2024). Learning How to Learn: Mastering the Art and Science of Becoming a Self-Directed Learner. Human Capital Leadership Review, 11(2). doi.org/10.70175/hclreview.2020.11.2.5
Comments