50 ways to learn fast

oktober 6, 2021 door Eric van de Graaff 1 reactie

Have you ever experienced pressure cook learning? After 4 months in my new job I feel challenged to write a recipe. It reads as follows: Get hired in a job at the forefront of technology, in a customer partnership focussed culture with very cool colleagues, aiming to solve the big challenges of 21st century!

This is exactly where I am at in my new role as pre-sales learning consultant. My most impactful moments of learning:

Committing to a deadline for a customer without realising the full impact of the task ahead: not clever. When you do accept it and fail, it becomes downright stupid. Asking a colleague for help and forgetting to plan time afterwards to digest the advice: not clever.

Not recording the navigation across a powerful platform: that is a waste. Heading to miss an already extended deadline, before a well deserved holiday: painful. It is okay to not know and it is okay to ask. It is annoying to ask for the same solution for the third time, because you failed to take notes. Answering a question without knowing the right answer is even more painful.

So what did I learn? So far 7 lessons: Balance: do not try to cramp 3 jobs into a 50 hour workweek from home. Enjoy: find pleasure in the conversations with new colleagues from different cultures. Let go: Do not hold on to the conception that you should know it all. Ask for advice when you need it and inform other when things may divert in the wrong way.

Inspire and challenge others and yourself to be your best, even when you make mistakes. Empatically bond in your team and understand other perspectives. Visionary: talk with the founder of the company to learn his passions and dreams. Energetic in the way you prioritise and complete your tasks.

In short, if you collect the starting keywords from above: BELIEVE! My dream is helping companies to learn faster and smarter. I feel proud to be learning to be this guide on this journey in digital learning. Do let me know your challenges and lessons in transitioning to digital learning, we learn together!