Today’s post is going to vary a bit from my decision dilemma and decision analysis posts. We are going to be looking at the idea of “choosing not to learn” and the “costs of not learning’ (and not learning to make better decisions).
I am currently a Leadership Team member for a National Science Foundation (NSF) Grant. The grant aims to prepare K-12 “Master Teacher Fellows” for leadership in math and science education in urban settings. Today, I participated in the first of a two-day workshop for the NSF grant on developing leadership identities. I was excited to be a learner today (rather than a presenter), even though I have a doctorate in Educational Leadership and have experience with this topic.
The workshop presenter is Lucy West, a nationally known speaker on instructional practices, content-focused coaching, and leadership development. During a discussion about school culture and teacher self-awareness, Lucy brought up the point that all of us (not just struggling students) “choose not to learn” at points in our life. She then asked us to think about– “What is the cost of not learning?” And I quickly connected that to the work I am doing on helping people make smarter decisions.
Lucy explained how it had cost her seven years and almost $5000 choosing not to learn Tai Chi. It wasn’t that she didn’t attend Tai Chi classes in those years or that she wasn’t interested in learning Tai Chi. Lucy said that she just never practiced it outside of class or learned it well enough to do it on her own. She was exposed to it and tried it, but never really learned it.
Then it was our turn to think of something we chose not to learn. My mind immediately went to my choice not to learn how to play the piano. I took piano for six (long) years and participated in the yearly recitals. You would have thought that I would have learned how to play in that length of time – but I really didn’t. I went to my lessons and even got to the point of playing some difficult pieces, but I never actually learned how to read the bass clef (the lower notes you usually play with your left hand). I somehow figured out a way to play the notes by memory, but I never took the time to learn how to read the music.
When I thought about the “cost of not learning” to play piano, I realized this was an instrument I could have played throughout my life. I wasted a lot of time and energy (and my parents’ money) and at times I still regret the decision to quit and not actually learn it… (And yes, this may be something I put back on my “to do” list now that I have more time after Turning Down The Full-Time Job I was offered!)
So are you already thinking about a few things you have “not learned” and what some of the costs were too? I thought that might be the case!
Lucy went on to discuss school culture and the importance of the adults in the school being learners and maintaining an intellectual curiosity. She explained that the adults need to model learning and an attitude of persistence for students, and this in turn will help students see learning and their own efforts as being valuable too.
As I thought about it more throughout the day, I jotted down - Learning needs to become “What you do” and not “what you have to do”…
So, what is the “cost of not learning” for students? Well you can probably guess many of the costs. Those decisions result in a tremendous waste of time (for both the student and the teacher), money and other resources. This “not learning” can also cause anger and resentment (for both the student and teacher again), and an increasingly negative school culture.
The focus of our workshop and the NSF grant is to help “grow” teacher leaders who will positively influence school culture and use strategies to motivate students to want to learn. They will then help lead change with other teachers as well. This will hopefully reduce many of the “costs” related to student’s “not learning” over time and change the culture of the school.
So what does this have to do with you and the focus of this blog?
I am hoping that as I can play the role of “teacher leader” in terms of reducing your “costs of not learning” how to make better decisions in the past! I also hope you will see the value of making a “choice to learn” more about various ways to make better decisions in the future.
The first thing I’d like you to consider is Lucy’s original question. The “costs of not learning” to make better decisions are similar to the costs of students choosing to “not learn” in school. They may result in problems related to:
- Personal growth and development
- Building or maintain relationships
- Financial struggles
- Social or emotional challenges
And probably a lot more…
So why can’t we all just learn to make better decisions?
Here are just a few of the Obstacles to Learning that we discussed with Lucy today. They apply to decision-making as well and they may play a role in your “choosing not to learn”.
- Being blind to your biases (or not knowing what you don’t know!)
- Needing to look good (not appear incompetent, back your prior decisions)
- Not allowing others to teach you anything (you already know it, have experience)
- Thinking you have to do it by yourself (or not knowing when/how to seek help)
- And probably the biggest one - Not having time…
Is there anything we do about it?
Well sure, if you are willing to put in some effort! These are a few ideas we discussed related to the Self-Management of Learning. It was suggested to have students choose one or two things to focus on and then add new ideas as time goes on.
- Figure out what you are having trouble with and be strategic as to how you will address specific issues
- Pace yourself
- Hold yourself accountable to high standards of understanding (and ask for help when needed)
- Control the conditions of your learning – know what works for you
- Participate actively and collaboratively – help others understand
- Work productively without distractions for sustained periods of time*
(*OK – that last one is a real challenge and something I have to make plans to do more often. I know it will help my learning!)
I am looking forward to tomorrow and another day of making the choice to learn! It won’t cost me anything.
Is there anything you have “chosen not to learn” and was there any “cost” involved? What are some other costs that might be involved if people choose not to learn how to make better decisions? Can you think of other obstacles to learning? Or ways to self-manage the learning?
Photo credit: [email protected]
Obstacles to Learning Ideas - adapted from talk given by Julia Olalla, Newfield Network
Self-Management in Learning Ideas -adapted from Resnik & Hall, Principles of Learning for Effort Based Education
Sometimes it can be hard to put a cost on something you decided not to pursue or couldn’t find time to learn. We all make sacrifices in our life whether for family, work, etc. Even when there might not be a true dollar amount to associate to this, it could still just help your happiness level. Learn a new skill, hobby, joke. It’s good for you!
That’s true about the happiness level for sure! I was certainly happy when I didn’t have to play in those piano recitals anymore! I guess it is important just to increase our overall awareness of the costs (financial or not)- that is a win!
There are quite a few things I choose not to learn at work, mostly on the technical side because I am not interested in being a developer, it may end up costing me since I work at a tech company and to move up in my department it may be the skill that gets someone else the job over me.
That’s interesting! If you are planning on staying there would you be looking to move in to management? Or some other type of roll?
I created a project manager role that doesn’t require me to be more technical for the time being, the biggest risk will be competing with someone for a promotion that has a very technical background.
I may end up switching departments down the road.
You created the project manager role - that’s great. If you want a promotion - I am guessing you will do what you need to do 🙂
This is a very thought-provoking article. Sadly, I think there are many instances in which my choices “not to learn” have hurt me. As a musician, I, too, did not apply myself as I should have, and I often wonder what I might have achieved if I had been more disciplined. As a high school senior, I was named the lead trombonist in the all-state jazz band. When I went to college, I lost sight of my jazz passions and didn’t practice as much as most music majors. I regret that now.
It is hard to say if there was a cost involved beyond the emotional disappointment I now feel; I probably wasn’t going to end up in the Tonight Show band, but maybe I could have continued as a regular gigging musician in the Chicago area.
So interesting! I was thinking about the idea of “side gigs” too when I read that you were such a good musician. I know it is important for growth to try new things and we need to give ourselves a break in terms of regrets. It was just a really interesting discussion in our workshop. Thanks for your comment!
Unfortunately, I can say with complete honesty that I’ve sat through more than a few meetings and training sessions where I’ve completely zoned out. I’m someone that needs to be engaged entirely in order to have my attention peaked. I can only imagine how many things I missed out on learning as a result of my inattentiveness! - Mrs. FE
I have definitely zoned out at times too! I wasn’t thinking I would hear anything at this workshop that I could relate to the blog writing, so I was happy about that! Lucy was a great speaker - tremendous experience and very engaging! It was easy this time to stay focused 🙂
I’ve spend my whole life “not learning” to listen to advice or suggestions. I always think of a reason it won’t work… then often find my way back to it after banging my head against other walls. I’m trying to focus more on why things could work.
I still won’t blindly follow advice without considering it, but I’m trying to be more open to fully exploring ideas before dismissing them.
That’s really interesting Julie and I think the fact that you know you do that is huge. Today we talked about “listening stumbling blocks” in the leadership workshop and we had to identify what some of our stumbling blocks were. I chose “peacekeeper” as one of mine - (having the tendency to pretend to agree with someone to placate them or avoid confrontation). It sounds like you might have chose “judger”-(having the tendency to listen with a critical ear and prejudge the merit of an idea, perhaps dismissing it prematurely). We all have these stumbling blocks - now to learn about them and work on them!
I am young and really enjoy learning from others. Taking advice and following through can be hard for me as I am sometimes stubborn. I can;t even think about how much I have missed out on but I am still skeptical of what people say sometimes due to my investing history and certain things people have told me in the past. Going into the business world I want to continue expanding my knowledge to climb the ladder and be an engaged member of the company.
I can tell from your blog and from your comments that you are much more mature than many your age! Keep reading and keep learning - you will go far!
Hey Vicki,
I enjoyed reading this and about the concept of the cost of not learning. It’s a wonderful thing, and very hard to quantify, which I suppose is the point - you don’t know what you’re missing out on 🙂
I think a key thing that I’ve tried to tried live throughout my adult life so far (which isn’t very long) is to be humble. Humble about what you know, what you think you know, the people you talk to etc. You learn a lot, lot more by being open to new ideas, different ways of thinking about things. You grow a lot more that way, rather than being stuck in our ways.
Thanks 🙂
Tristan
YES! I love this and this is something we talked about as well yesterday in terms of learning and leading. I just dug out my notes from the 2nd day of the conference and I think Lucy called it “scrupulous humility”. I am not sure if that can be easily learned or if that is more a part of our personalities. I try to be humble too - and hope it can become more of who I am as well. As you age, I fear you may always try to “show what you know” and that could replace some humility! Great comment!
One thing that I deal with daily in my profession (pharmaceutical drug discovery and specifically on the technical / business side of doing any deals) is risk mitigation. This is a constant learning curve and slows things down for much of our work.
We spend a great deal of time to understand that piece of the puzzle to enable us to make an informed decision. Risks in discovery of new medicines are always there as we don’t yet have the ability to tell how a patient may react to a given drug under testing compared to prclinical studies. Or whether minor issues identified in early clinical studies may be a red herring or manifest in a more problematic way further down the line. Or whether the commercial projections for sales are valid. The list goes on and on….and get rather complex in a hurry. Rarely are there black and white to each of these examples. Any many times they are interconnected.
I would be interested to hear your thoughts on risk management, how to quantify risk, risk mitigation. And how this all fits into how you look at decision making.
The whole idea of risk mitigation isn’t something I have talked about much on the blog yet. I can see that it would be a huge part of your work in so many ways. The interconnections just add to how complicated things are. I will work to address the topics you mention at the end in an upcoming post. Our risk factors in education (and in other life decisions) would certainly look different but I hope I can share something of value with you. Thanks for your thoughtful reply!
Well i definitely consider myself a DIYer so learning everything is a huge deal for me. The problem is even though I learn something, sometimes I just cant get it right!
I do think that when it comes to finances, its always best to learn as much as you can no matter what!
That’s great to include the DIY piece here. The cost “not to learn” how to do some things can be steep! I was telling the Green Swan that my husband fixed our flat screen TV with a $35 part and watched a YouTube video. Crazy! You are definitely right about finances - learn anything and everything you can!
I’m in the same boat as you actually - I took piano for years but I hated every minute of it when I was doing it. I could have put in more effort and learned it and I believe it would have benefited my life. It is amazing the time we can burn and money we can waste when we have a bad attitude when it comes to learning something new.
That is so true! I hadn’t really thought about “not learning” before - because I thought I did learn it. I guess I learned it “a little” but I don’t think I could play anything now. Trying something new and not learning it (over a short period of time) makes sense to me - as we all try new things. But after doing something for 6 years, I definitely didn’t learn what I should have!
This is my first time coming across your blog and it’s great! I love this concept of how much “not learning” might cost you. I look forward to more great articles. Thanks for writing.
Hi Rob!
Thanks for stopping by! I thought the same thing when we were presented the topic in our workshop. We can’t undo the costs of the past, but we can consider it as we move forward.