How to learn to “keep learning”. August 28, 2007
Posted by mukundmohan in News.trackback
Will Price talks about the Beginner’s Mind and the ability to keep an open mind to keep learning. This is the #1 skill (if it could be called that) that I personally look for when I am interviewing any candidate. People that are always curious, ever willing to learn, try things out and keep on the edge of discovering are people that I always want to be associated with.
One of the people I admire a lot is Vinod Khosla. I had the opportunity to work in one of his portfolio companies a few years ago at Asera. He would come a couple of times a quarter and sometimes address the team. What I was amazed by was his ability to learn new fields, areas and technologies so quickly and ‘immerse” himself in learning. Granted it was for a purpose (or profit) but during the time he invested in Asera, he had done a deep dive on Optical Networking, investing in several successful companies (one of which he sold for several Billion – yes, B during the bubble) to Cisco. He had previously done the same apparently before joining Sun. And currently is on the Green Tech quest.
Here are 3 “tactics” that I use to immerse myself into a “new”, uncharted area. I did this with SEO – search engine optimization (which I am currently learning and thanks to Rand, Danny and Lee).
1. Talk to as many experts as you possibly can FIRST. I do this initially so I can get a lay of the land quicker. Most people I talked to dont mind giving the expert opinion to a relative newcomer.
2. Read as many blogs, review news and peruse as much relevant online content as possible
3. Keep an ongoing list of all the relevant webinars, conferences and seminars that you can attend. Then attend as many as you can to get multiple perspectives.
Finally write about your experiences (best way to remember is to write) so you can help other new comers to the field.
