::: Learning the DIY way

Below are 16 ways to Do-It-Yourself Learn. Whether you are a manager or an individual contributor, these would be helpful. What is interesting about these 16 ways is that it puts the learner in charge. Many of them do not cost money and are very rich in results!

The basic rule is to focus on learning and not teaching.

What's the difference between the two?

Teaching is what others do to you, once in a while.

Learning is what you do to yourself all the time – 24/7.

1. Welcome 360-degree feedback: Your organisation might have a 360-degree feedback process or it may not. Develop your own 360-degree process by asking your customers, your colleagues and team members for honest feedback. Obviously, they need to trust you when you tell them that you are serious about receiving feedback without becoming defensive!

2. Welcome performance reviews: Remember that your boss, like most others, hates doing performance reviews for fear of how you will take feedback and how it will adversely affect your performance after the review session! You can make it easy for him by welcoming these sessions. You can assure him that you are keen on knowing about yourself. You may not accept what he says, but let him say it honestly.

3. Seek a coach: All of us can learn by partnering with another person who is inspirational, who challenges us and asks us the right questions. A coach can help bring about significant personal change in your life.

4. Work with your Manager: If you do not know how to do something, ask your manager to show you how. Even better, ask to observe your manager as he does a task that you are not able to do. It could be making a sales call or preparing for a presentation or chairing a meeting. Contract with your manager and you can learn a lot.

5. Work on a project: Many tasks today are time bound. Managing projects is a very critical skill. Ask to be assigned a project that you can work on. It could be a small improvement project. Use all your skills of conceptualising, planning, scheduling, monitoring and reviewing in this project.

6. Work on a cross-functional assignment: Participate in an assignment that calls for cross-functional interactions. You will learn to empathise, understand how other functions work and also improve your team working skills.

7. Seek peer reviews: One sure way of learning is to submit your work for review by your peers. Peers have a good understanding of your work and are in the same wavelength and therefore in a good position to give you honest feedback. Once you develop the comfort, you can use peer reviews even before submitting your work to your manager.

8. Build relationships: Building relationships is a very critical capability. Try and develop relationships with at least three people from professions completely different from yours. Try and understand what they do and what they like and dislike. Grappling with diversity is an excellent teacher. It will help you in building business relationships quickly.

9. Field Visits: One of the most forgotten ways of learning dates back to what we did in school. Go on field trips! Visiting other facilities, factories or places is a very rich source of learning in addition to being most refreshing.

10. Write a concept paper: A most crucial (and often missing) ability is the ability to conceptualise. While many are able to jump in and solve a problem, few are able to present their actions in the form of a framework of a generalized occurrence. Far fewer are able to build a theory around what they do. Writing concept papers on seemingly abstract subjects helps in this process.

11. Undertake a research project: Is there a question that keeps begging you for an answer? Undertake a quick research project - qualitative or quantitative. It need not be something grand and complex but can teach you the skill and the spirit of inquiry.

12. Teach in a local college or in in-house programs: Teaching is often the best form of learning. Teaching forces you to conceptualise, develop a teachable point of view and also helps you question and reexamine your ideas.

13. Enroll for an online course or do web research: Learning things online is going to be a skill we all will need in the days to come. More and more content-based learning will be available online. More and more universities are planning to place their content in public domain. Are you ready to make use of it?

14. Write a journal or dairy: When was the last time you wrote a personal journal or diary? Many did it as children and the habit faded away. A journal is one of the few occasions when you can be honest and candid. In the private world of your journal, you can honestly review what you did, what you said and what you did not. This is an extremely powerful form of learning.

15. Participate in interviewing prospective candidates: Most managers dread the chore of having to participate in selection interviewing. Yet, interviewing can be a rich source of learning. You get to meet different people, get to understand what their motives and needs are and also get to check how good your judgment is.

16. Volunteer for at least one social cause: Extending ourselves to work for a cause outside our work lives can be truly educative and fulfilling. More importantly, it is a great opportunity to discover that part of ourselves that we most often neglect - our compassion, sensitivity, empathy and sharing.

Once you have begun to learn how to learn, the feeling of empowerment is terrific and you will enjoy being in that state.

So, get set to wear the learner's cap. Take charge of your learning and also your life and destiny!