THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
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Grow your ‘learning mindset’ to be transformational

Grow your ‘learning mindset’ to be transformational

IT IS because of learning that the light bulb was invented. It is also learning that allowed the discovery of electricity to power that light bulb. All the advancements in our world that make our lives better exist because of learning.

It is not an exaggeration to say that we need to keep learning in order to grow, and learning itself doesn’t benefit only ourselves but also our society and the world as a whole. 
As human beings, in order to continue developing ourselves and our world, we need to keep learning. This learning can come from our own daily experiences or more deliberately through reading, attending classes or asking questions of others.
Today’s reality is that in an increasingly fast-changing world, the only way to stay relevant is to keep learning. But learning alone cannot create change, and so we must aim towards transformative learning. 
According to a study by LinkedIn, “transformative learning is the expansion of consciousness through the transformation of worldview and capacities of the self. It’s an act of changing how we see and do things.” 
Transformative learning is beneficial in many ways. As tedious and repetitive tasks get automated, this opens up a new set of jobs for which learning new skills and being able to apply them at work are crucial to the organisation’s growth.
Other benefits include an increase in engagement among people in the organisation, as well as an enhancement of creativity and an inevitable push towards innovation. But learning isn’t always easy and it can sometimes be something on which we tend to procrastinate.
Nonetheless, I know that some people perceive learning as a boring chore. This is why we need to develop a learning mindset. It is a mindset it which we instil lifelong learning and the curiosity about our world today in order to transform ourselves along with our organisations, communities and even the world.
Here are a few ways to nurture and strengthen a learning mindset so you can transform yourself and your organisation towards change.
First, understand that the learning of each individual is different. In order to nurture that learning mindset, understand what is most effective for yourself and your organisation. This will, of course, be difficult especially in large organisations with hundreds or thousands of employees, maybe even spread across the world.
For this, consider blended learning in your organisation. There are so many ways to approach this, depending on the needs of you and your organisation. However, blended learning gives you and your people options for how you want to develop certain skills.
Second, keep in mind that failure means you’re actually learning and using that learning in application. Transformation doesn’t happen when you simply just learn things and keep it to yourself. Real change – whether internal or external – happens only when you apply to your work what you’ve already known and the new things you’ve learnt.
As Morihei Ueshiba, Japanese martial artist and founder of the Japanese martial art of aikido, said: “Failure is the key to success; each mistake teaches us something.”
Third, keep in mind that it is with learning that you can master anything. But in addition to this, understand that this comes with consistency and |practice. 
Fourth, seek out feedback. You’ll never know what you’re missing, or doing well at, if you don’t seek feedback. Simply assuming cannot help you transform yourself and it won’t help you progress in your learning.
Sometimes, you may not get the feedback that you’d like to hear, but it doesn’t mean you haven’t learnt anything. It means that you tried but something went wrong somewhere. This is something you’ll never know if you keep to yourself. Feedback also allows you to understand what you’re doing right so that you continue practising and eventually master the skill or subject.
When it comes to transformative learning, the key words are learning and application – you learn new things and you apply them at work. Our world is moving at a rapid pace, and in order to move forward we need to integrate transformative learning into our organisations starting with the right learning mindset. That could help keep you on top of the game at every single opportunity or challenge you may face.

ARINYA TALERNGSRI is chief capability officer and managing director at SEAC (formerly APMGroup), Southeast Asia’s leading executive, leadership and innovation capability development |centre. She can be reached by email at [email protected] or https://www.linkedin.com/in/arinya-talerngsri-53b81aa 
 

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