Transcript
A (0:00)
Hi, I'm Helen.
B (0:01)
And I'm Sarah.
A (0:02)
And this is day four of the Squiggly Skills Sprint. Today we're going to be talking about how you can lead your own learning. We've already covered quite a lot so far in the sprint. So we've talked about learn as you go. We've done learning hard moments and now we've got some lots of fun ideas that you can take action and take control with your learning at work.
B (0:21)
So the third and final fascinating feature of the lobster is they are a resourceful skill, self sustaining growth system. And the way that they do that is when they shed those old shells, they don't sort of leave those behind. They bury them somewhere close by for a handy snack. I think it's my favorite lobster fact. And they go back to those old shells and they eat them because they are packed full of calcium. So when they're growing back those big new shells that they need, it just helps them to kind of grow faster. They're not relying on other food sources. I feel like they've really kind of taken control of their growth.
A (1:00)
That's so smart. I mean, it's weird, but it is a very smart way of guaranteeing your growth.
B (1:05)
And I think that's the thing we know in squiggly careers, we don't want to make our development dependent on other people or other places. And I definitely remember at the start of my career, like waiting, waiting for my manager to tell me what to do, I was very up for it. I was very obedient. I was like, you tell me what to do and I'll absolutely do it. I'll tick every box, give me the list and I'll tick the boxes. Or expecting your organization to have defined, well, this is what you need to learn and this is what's most important. And then being like, and I'll follow somebody else's development plan or the kind of curriculum like at school where someone kind of tells you what you have.
A (1:40)
To learn, someone giving you permission, almost like I have to wait for permission to learn and grow and do something that's going to be for my good, for my development. And so we don't want this. We want you to create as much learning as you can because that is the thing that is going to help your skills to stay relevant. It's the thing that's going to help your squiggly career to be much more resilient, which is what we all want at work. And so today we're going to talk about one of the Skills to lead your own learning that we talk about in the book, which is the skill of adapting. So why does adaptability matter as a skill that helps us to lead our own learning? I think this is a really, like. It's a realistic thing. Like we can't. We don't have a perfect situation for our learning at work and there's lots that can get in the way. We hear all the time. People don't have time to learn. I'm too busy to learn at work. Sometimes the things that we might want to do might require investment. And there's definitely been times that you and I have wanted to learn and actually it has required some money to do it and that's been difficult. Or maybe some other people need to be involved in it. There's things that can get in the way and what we don't want is those issues or barriers to be a blocker for your learning. And so adapting is this skill that helps us to get around it. It means that our learning doesn't even when it might feel difficult to do. And the reality is it often does feel difficult to do, but the people that are adapting keep learning and growing even in those moments. So that's why it matters for us as a skill with our learning.