LEARNING HOW TO LEARN

 The creator of Ruby on Rails, David Heinemeier in an interview http://bit.ly/2ZWnOtm shares his profound thoughts on the subject of learning:

"You can get really good at most things, even if you start “late”, if you know how to learn..... I’ve realized that the hard part about most books is not reading them but recalling their knowledge or insight when you need it the most."

In today's fast-paced world, Learning is the only constant. 'Learning how to learn' is a skill that is a force-multiplier, yet it doesn't get as much mind-share as it ideally should.

Our learning strategies have to constantly evolve with time for us to be relevant. And at the same time, there are learning strategies that are timeless in nature. One such was suggested by Richard Feynman Nobel Prize winning American physicist.

The Feynman Technique (as it is popularly called) involves 4 key steps:

(1) Identify
(2) ELI5 ("Explain It To Me Like I'm 5")
(3) Reflect & Study
(4) Organize, Convey & Review
(source https://bit.ly/3mhZehr , summary in my sketchnote)

To me, the essence of this technique is in Step 2 i.e. to simplify your learning enough and make it comprehensible to a child.
Un-complexifying something is a super-power.

What are your preferred learning strategies ?

My Sketchnote:

My LinkedIn Post:

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6783932512935780352/

HOW TO FIND A MENTOR

In a podcast that i listened to recently, Raghu Raman shared an powerful anecdote:

During his early India Army days, once there was a general coming for briefing. The commanding officer (CO) suddenly looked at him and said- "You are going to conduct the briefing." He was stressed as the time was short and the fact that situation could explode if he messed up. He went through the intense preparation cycle and just before the presentation was about to begin CO indicated to him to sit down and instead CO himself started the presentation.

He could have felt "Why the hell did CO put him through that shit?" But that was the mentorship. He actually let Raghu go through the palpitations that are going to happen in the high risk presentation without actually the risk of doing that.

Teaching doesn't mean giving only lectures, it means how can I impart the lessons effectively.

Even if you are a rookie in your field or a successful pro, having the right mentor at right time adds immense value. But often people struggle in finding the right mentor.

"How does one find a mentor". I quite liked simple ideas shared in this tweet on finding a mentor https://bit.ly/2WB6LMB (Catch my sketchnote summary of this thread))

How have you leveraged mentorship in your career ?

My Sketchnote:

My LinkedIn Post:

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6782847941536313345/

ANTIFRAGILITY AS A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

 India fast bowler Prasidh Krishna recently made his International cricket debut. He got belted for 37 runs in 3 overs. Everyone thought his career is over before it started but he came back, took 4 wickets in next 5 overs.

Another recent debutant, Suryakumar Yadav was a consistent performer in domestic and IPL circuit for many years but was often ignored for selection. It took a long time before he got his chance.

Both of them faced ups and downs but they didn't let it break them. A trait known as Antifragility binds them.

Being Antifragile helped them to deal with not only failures but also with the situations when they were successful, yet didn't get their due.

From the book "Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder":
"Some things benefit from shocks; they thrive & grow when exposed to volatility,randomness,disorder & stressors & love adventure, risk & uncertainty. Anti-fragility is beyond resilience or robustness. The resilient resists shocks and stays the same; the anti-fragile gets better."

Sahil Bloom in his profound thread https://bit.ly/3lTuvr1 calls Antifragility as a competitive advantage and brings to the fore many such traits. Summary in my sketchnote.

What's your take on Antifragility as a differentiating skill ?

My Sketchnote:

My LinkedIn post:

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6781033076106637313/