New Learners for the New Economy

By Kirsten Olson

While things are looking a little brighter, the economy still seems to be in a state of flux. And if you aren’t looking for work yourself, you probably know someone who is searching for a job, who just graduated, or is tuning up their skills so they don’t get permanently furloughed or downsized.

What qualities do you need as a learner to adapt to our new economy? What learning attributes do employers seek in the flatter, fragmented and constantly changing workplace? It’s clear many of the ways we were taught to be learners in school are directly in contrast to the qualities we need in today’s economy and job market.

Below are 12 habits and attitudes critical to adapting to our new information-overload economy, thriving amidst constant change and allowing you to enjoy your work more.

Moving out of the old ruts of learning—that it’s boring and someone else is in charge—will help you grow personally, expand your skills much more rapidly, and allow you to experience greater pleasure in your work.  And seeing what you do as pleasure is perhaps the greatest asset you can bring to any employer.

New learners are highly adaptive

They are able to see where opportunity lies and network to it. Perhaps you were hired for program development, but that market is withering. As a new learner, you are strategically attuned to the signals your sector offers, and are able grow your skills and experiences toward new opportunities. Where is opportunity right now in your sector? Where will it be in a year? If you a job seeker, in interviews be ready to talk in about how you adapted to workplace or educational change, and provide examples. Then, when you get that job, be that adaptive person you described.

New learners ask great questions

Powerful learners ask lots of questions. After that, they pause and listen carefully to answers.
Are curious about everything.

Folks who do not take advantage of new ways to understand their businesses or their work, through blogs, online newspapers, newsfeeds, wikis, Googlereaders, are missing important opportunities. Great learners are self propelled and entrepreneurial about their learning, and have lots of “learning projects” going all the time. Read avidly about your business or market sector. In fact, read avidly. As much as you can, whenever you can.

New learners have a broad knowledge base that they are always expanding

Although many of us are pushed to specialize in our jobs, new learners for the new economy are also broad thinkers. They have interest in lots of different knowledge domains.

New learners are good at seeing patterns

As you sort through mountains of information available all the time, what patterns do you see? What sources are reliable? Why? And how can you synthesize? One of your most valuable attributes as a new learner is your ability to recognize the underlying patterns in information, workflows, organizational crises and be able to synthesize.

New learners are generous team players who willingly share what they know

Lead horizontally, through influence, not by backstabbing or out maneuvering others. As a learner this means not hoarding what you know, but offering up knowledge to others and collaborating around tough problems. You really are a better learner and thinker when you work with others, and your own influence only grows through right-spirited cooperation.

New learners are glass-half-full resource managers

The New York Times recently reported that the University of Washington’s department of communications decided to eliminate landline telephones. “We found a way of saving money that doesn’t hurt the student experience and I think everybody’s happy,” said the communications department chair. Landlines, the department concluded, were an old fashioned technology that weren’t needed anymore. Can you figure out how to survive—and thrive—on less? We are on the forefront of a massive shift in North American culture, where we consume less, own fewer things and do more for ourselves.

New learners understand that every contact matters

Great learners are tutored by everyone. From the man you give a dollar to on the street on the way to work, to the company president you see in the elevator, every time you interact with another human being you are learning. Embrace every opportunity to learn.

New learners know that hierarchy doesn’t matter

The old command and control ways of managing the world are being disrupted and disordered. The new reality is influence coming from everywhere, and success and profitability can be found from virtually any position. New learners believe this and live it in their actions at work. Are you learning all you can from every phone interaction? Every position matters; everything you do matters.

New learners are choiceful about how they socialize

Where are you linked in? How do you spend your time? Who influences what you think? Great learner-employees are mindful about their social contacts and habits, because they know this affects their learning. Take your influences seriously.

New learners make mistakes

New research tells us we actually learn more from our mistakes than our successes. Successful new learners are good at owning their mistakes, admitting errors and fluent at figuring out what valuable lessons they contain. No matter how painful, practice seeing your screw ups as opportunities. Turn lead into gold.

New learners see learning as pleasure 

There is almost nothing more exciting than the adventure of a new learning project. Live this adventure. This alone will make you a vital, energetic, standout employee.

Finally, here’s the great thing. Probably almost everything you’ve been doing in your free time: playing online games, IMing, Facebooking and Tweeting will help you be the employee you need to be. Enthusiastic, engaged, co-operative, self-propelled learners are now more than ever highly valued employees. They are the new learners we need.

Kirsten Olson is the author of Wounded by School: Recapturing the Joy in Learning and Standing Up to Old School Culture.