One of my Gen Y friends tells me that perseverance in learning is the most difficult piece of his development. I can't disagree with him. Sometimes, though, your job forces your to learn. For example: You usually set to learning when your boss gives you a task. In those instances your reputation and maybe your career are on the line, so you get with it and learn whatever the project needs. That's the best way to learn--what I think of as context-driven learning. In those settings, motivation and perseverance are not usually a problem.
But, there's another kind of learning that you also need to take seriously in today's world--strategic learning. Without external drivers to learn, most people fail to step up to the plate. How can you change that for yourself?
In this economy, it doesn't take much for a person to see that unless he/she makes some changes and adds new competencies to the skill base, employability could get to be a real problem. That's the handwriting on the wall for most of us.
Let's take a typical case: a bit of self-analysis suggests that for now your current technology expertise is not at issue. By technology I simply refer to your area of business expertise--say finance, accounting, manufacturing or marketing.
But with further thinking, it's clear to you that you need to add some soft skills to your toolkit. For example, you've been promoted to manager and found that getting things done throughout the system is difficult. You have no real power coalition or network of people to lean on to help you get things done in the work system. You can't put that learning off forever. You keep thinking about it, but can't get off the dime. No motivation?
How can you get moving on strategic skill development?
Self-motivation works best through a process known as "small wins." Research by social psychologists has found that the experience of success is highly motivational. Since success is motivational, how can you best get success from your learning? The answer? By setting very achievable goals. I suggest that you take your skill--in this instance, networking--and break it down into very small chunks that are quite achievable. Chunking often makes for a win and motivation, all at the same time. It's serendipity.
An example of chunking.
Where do you start to build a power base? Here are some possible chunks: what are the various purposes you want for your power base? What three or four people could give you insight into developing a power base? Who are the easiest to talk to? How should you set up the conversation. I've laid out four chunks merely by asking questions. I should also say that it's important to keep records of your chunking, so that you can mark each chunk off as you've achieved it and jot down significant notes.(I keep info like this in a computer folder just for that purpose.)
Then set yourself some goals on a weekly basis for each chunk. If you keep tabs you'll notice that each of those chunks takes about two hours to achieve. That's a good estimate and an appropriate amount of time to spend on strategic development per week.
In business, motivation has been the subject of endless research, books, articles and consulting asignments. The majority of this work has focused on what a manager can do to motivate his people. What I'm suggesting, however, is self-motivation, along with the support and input from your network. Recent studies by Theresa Amabile at Harvard add a very important factor to learning. Self-motivation (and small wins) is also conducive to creativity. And in our highly competitive economy, those kind of small wins are extremely valuable not only to yourself, but also to your company.
Here's the rule: the more you learn, the quicker, easier and more fun learning will be for you.
