A Chief Learning Strategist with Temple Advisory, Robert Bennin, agrees learning is a daunting task, mostly unpleasant.
He believes one will need to be intentional if one wants to acquire knowledge.
Speaking on the Effective Living Series on the Citi Breakfast Show and Breakfast Daily on Citi FM and Citi TV respectively, he shared some barriers to learning.
“Learning is not a pleasant thing to do. One of the key barriers to learning that we should break is complacency, getting to a place where you are satisfied with the knowledge you have acquired so far such that you believe there is nothing more you should know.”
“Having the ‘I don’t know’ spirit is the first step to breaking that barrier.”
He also advised against confusing learning with acquiring information.
“Learning is active, it is practiced. The fact that you have learned how to fell a tree doesn’t mean you can. You need to practice it.”
He further advised all those who seek to learn to “avoid having preconceived notions about situations, as they cloud judgement. “
He further shared a learning framework known as the 70:20:10 model.
“This is mostly used by organisations, but individuals can also use it as we start a new year and seek to rebuild professionally and improve the way we learn. This model says that most of our learning comes from our on-the-job experience. That’s why it’s a challenge if you don’t like your job. Because if you don’t, you may not engage, how then do you learn?”
Below are some ways to make on-the-job learning effective, according to Robert Bennin.
- Define what you seek to learn from the job engagement
- Acknowledge the critical learning moments
- Conduct after-action reviews
These, according to him, make the 70 percent rule effective.
The 20 percent, he said, is acquired through developmental relations.
“You can take feedback from colleagues at work, allowing yourself to be mentored by others, among others, by this, you are broadening your scope.”
“There is also what we call reverse mentoring. You might be a boss or a Senior Colleague but be coached by a junior.”
“The 10 percent is acquired from formal education,” he added.
“Getting engaged in structured reading programmes. You should be actively engaged, doing some reading daily.”
He further highlighted some three things individuals who seek after knowledge should learn;
- Learn how to learn
- Learn about yourself
- Learn to thrive
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