One of the Most Underrated Skills: Learning How to Learn

Just ask Google. It’s one of the easiest ways to get an answer to your question. But is that really the best method to acquire knowledge?

“Googling” is an entry point, but shouldn’t be a final destination for deep learning. An observation that I’ve made over the years, now illuminated by my newfound experience as an adjunct professor, is that some people just scratch the surface when it comes to learning. If they can’t find the answer or solution right away at an entry point — the first page of a Google search, asking a question on Facebook, watching just one video tutorial — then the solution must be elusive. This couldn’t be farther from the truth.

Learning (design, in this case) involves not just the entry point, but also walking down hallways, opening side doors, drawers and file cabinets, engaging in conversations along the way, and then finally arriving at the light at the end of the tunnel — understanding.

I’ll admit that the most intimidating projects I’ve faced along the span of my career have been grand requests for things I’d never done before. Just of few examples included projects/requests like being asked to help a corporate business save $1M in a single year, training over 40 sales guys with new technology at a job I had recently started, writing and self-publishing a book, creative…