Are You Learning as Fast as the World Is Changing?

Marcel Proust famously said, "The real act of discovery consists not in finding new lands but in seeing with new eyes." What goes for novelists goes for anyone searching to design a novel strategy for their company, a new product for their customers, or a better way to organize their employees. In a world that never stops changing, it is essential to never stop learning.

Which leads us to the question: Are you learning as fast as the world is changing?

Of course, learning new things is all about exposing yourself to new ideas. Therefore, if you want to learn faster, you have to think differently about where new ideas come from. Here are a few ideas developed over the years— three "habits of mind" that will help you keep learning as fast as the world is changing.

First, the best learners have the widest field of vision.

When Steve Jobs talked about the original Macintosh computer, he talked less about semiconductors and software than he did about painting, music, and art. "Ultimately it [creativity] comes down to taste," he explained.

"It comes down to trying to expose yourself to the best things that humans have done and then trying to bring those things in to what you're doing...I think part of what made the Macintosh great was that the people working on it were musicians and poets and artists and zoologists and historians who also happened to be the best computer scientists in the world."

Translation: You are not going to learn faster than everyone else if you seek inspiration from the same sources as everyone else. Educators know that we learn the most when we encounter people, experiences, and ideas that are the least like us. And yet, we spend most of our time with people and in places that are the most like us — our old colleagues, our familiar offices, our reassuring neighbourhoods. If you want to learn faster, look and live more broadly.

Second, and more tactically, the best source of new ideas in your field can be old ideas from unrelated fields.

During a talk about innovation, a frustrated member of the audience asked for advice about dealing with her boss. "My boss likes to say, 'I want a totally new idea — and three examples of where that idea has worked before.'" The audience roared in recognition of the oxymoronic absurdity of the boss's sentiment.

But then again: Often, it turns out, a powerful source of "totally new" ideas in one industry can be standard operating procedures from another industry — well-established practices that look downright revolutionary when you simply move them from one place to another.

For example, leaders at Lexus identified all sorts of new ideas to reshape the customer experience for luxury cars by searching for clues at brands such as Four Seasons and Apple — companies that were great at what they did, even though what they did had nothing to do with automobiles. Physicians and administrators from London's Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children redesigned many of their surgical procedures by studying how Ferrari's Formula One racing team handled pit stops.

Sure, there is always a place for research & development (R&D). But ideas that are routine in one industry can be revolutionary when they migrate to another industry, especially when they challenge the prevailing assumptions and conventional wisdom that have come to define so many industries.

Finally successful learners work hard not to be loners. These days, the most powerful insights often come from the most unexpected places — the hidden genius locked inside your company, the collective genius of customers, suppliers, and other smart people who would be eager to teach you what they know if you simply asked for their insights. But tapping this learning resource requires a new mindset — enough ambition to address tough problems, enough humility to be willing to learn from everyone you encounter. Nobody alone learns as quickly as everybody does together.

We all want to become better leaders. And the best leaders, as it turns out, are the most insatiable learners.

Adapted from a blog published by William C. Taylor is author  and cofounder of Fast Company magazine, January 26, 2012.