The keys to learning are turning feedback into lessons, carrying the good forward, and staying curious. The worst pitfall for learning is falling into learned helplessness, where you start to shutdown or think that no matter what you try, it won’t work. The following are solutions at a glance for improving learning:
How to fail forward
Turn failures into lessons. Don’t just ask, “Why did I fail?” It’s important to also ask, “What did I learn?” Carry the good forward.
How to avoid learned helplessness
Keep testing your results. At the very least, if you think you can’t accomplish something, test that assumption and prove whether you really can or can’t—you might be surprised.
How to learn and respond
Shorten your learning loops so that you can adjust your approach. Stay flexible in your approach. Use feedback as your guide to improve your results. When something is not working, find the way forward by paying more attention to what you’re learning from the experience.
How to use monthly improvement sprints
A simple way to keep learning is to pick a theme and focus on it for a month. Using this approach, you can cycle through and experiment with other domains or interests.
