I have been fortunate to study as long as I could — eight years with a bachelor’s and two master’s degrees, shaping my technical and business foundation, thanks to my parents. The lessons learned were not just subjects; they helped shape my critical thinking in every step of my career.
But does learning stop when you graduate from school? No. It never stops. It’s continuous learning for life. If I had to do the same thing again and again, I would lose interest. That is the core of who I am — curious and always looking for the next opportunity to change the status quo.
As leaders, the only constant around us is change. We need to be agile and looking for new innovative ways to solve the same problems. An open mind and curiosity show new perspectives that are necessary for clarity and focused thinking.
It’s easy to get deeply involved in the day-to-day business needs. It’s important to step back and think about the direction we are headed. Challenging the norm and having a curious mind will help ask the right questions at the right time, guiding the vision with a learning mindset. Sometimes, we need to be brave and take risks, accept and learn from mistakes, and iterate to be change agents and mindful leaders.
Every Day Is New Learning: Online Or Offline
At work, we are often exposed to new opportunities. We are in a digital era where every customer expects a seamless experience with a business — at the right time and the right place. Every opportunity to learn should not be taken for granted. We are blessed to have information at our fingertips.
For me, it’s the research side of my brain that gets me excited to figure things out. I was fortunate to give a guest lecture at Cornell University on digital transformation trends, the evolution of integration platform as a service (iPaaS) and the future of work for graduate students. While walking the beautiful campus, a thought struck me: Are schools and 50-minute lectures how students consume information and learn today?
Based on my current bite-sized reading and learning habits, I doubt I could pay complete attention to a 50-minute session. That’s where interactive learning makes it more engaging. Some professors provide the lectures as video recordings for students to listen to on their own time and then have discussions during the live class. Not everyone processes information at the same pace, so it’s unfair to expect students to learn at a fixed moment in time.
I anticipate a shift in schools moving away from quarter and semester schedules in the coming decade. Our campuses are getting smarter, and students’ expectations of learning are changing drastically. We are on the next wave to see how campuses and schools will become global without boundaries, and how students can learn from anywhere in the world at any time and pace that they are comfortable with.
As leaders, we should encourage and support our teams in their career growth. And we should do the same for our curious minds. I dedicate my commute hour and weekends to reading articles and learning new technology and business trends.
Interactive Learning And Gamification
I enjoy learning new languages and wanted to learn Spanish. I had started a few years ago, but my learning was sporadic. Today, with gamification, I found an app that allows me to learn when I want, where I want and how long I want. I could spend just 15 minutes a day and learn more than I ever would if I waited to enroll in a class. That is the power of the digital era.
Leaders are always challenged to think on their feet and come up with solutions to problems at the moment. It can be challenging at first, but asking the right questions is key. When we do the same thing every week, it can become monotonous and boring. It would be great to include different formats for team meetings and discussions with interactive learning and gamification. We can learn new topics at our own pace and teach each other.
Bite-Sized Learning
That’s how we consume information today: 20 minutes here and there, not a dedicated two or three hours. It’s worth thinking about education today. I believe the distributed workforce will drive the change. We have short attention spans, so why do we still have long hours? Meetings should move from an hour to 30 minutes maximum — short, concise and to the point. We can consume information on our own time and use short meetings for decision making.
Feeding your mind and soul is critical for success. I listen to audiobooks and podcasts during three-hour walks to help stimulate the brain and spark new ideas. I read books, but it’s sometimes hard to stay focused and not lose context within a few days, so I have been reading more articles in bite-sized formats and then going deep with online courses. There are plenty of leadership-oriented podcasts and industry-specific news curations that are great sources for leaders to learn on the go.
Learning Forever
We are fortunate to live in this era where information is at our fingertips. Let’s embrace continuous learning and bring the best forward for our future generations. Find your sweet spot on how you would like to learn, and pick a topic of interest. Go deep and become an expert. Now that’s learning for life — wisdom in its true form.
To sum it up, visionary Mahatma Gandhi said it right: “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” A student forever, embracing change in the world and looking to “be the change” I want to see in the world, as he said.
