#21: Intrapreneurship in 31 steps - 3. Make Learning a Priority

Some of the best things in life are free. And that includes access to information to build our knowledge. But whether we gain from it or not depends on what we do with it. In fact, this newsletter is free. Reading it, learning from it, and applying it to your career and leadership growth is a choice. We all have a choice; are we making the best use of it?

Knowledge is almost free (in most cases). There is no reason to depend on someone else, our manager, or the company to provide us with learning opportunities.

Continuous learning is one of the best tools available for an Intrapreneur.

Theoretical knowledge is partially helpful. What we gain through experimentation, trial-and-error, and test-and-fail is much more.

Half-life period of knowledge

I borrow this term from the "half-life-period" of radioactive materials. For the curious ones, here is what it means for the elements.

"The half-life of a radioactive isotope is the amount of time it takes for one half of the radioactive isotope to decay. The half-life of a specific radioactive isotope is constant; it is unaffected by conditions and is independent of the initial amount of that isotope."

But what do I mean by using this term in the context of knowledge we gather in the business and technology area, as it applies to knowledge work?

The validity of a piece of learning, velocity of change, and variation of available information are considerably high in modern business. What used to change every 3-5 years was reduced to every couple of years, and now it's quarter to quarter.

I refer to it as the half-life period of our current knowledge. Think of it as a measure of how fast what you know deteriorates, gets invalidated, or becomes inefficient as something more efficient and faster comes into the picture.

It applies to what we know: the tools, technology, processes, and business practices. Everything is changing at a rapid pace.

Your ability to work as an Intrapreneur is not because of what you know but what you can learn and how fast and efficiently you can embrace that knowledge and apply for tangible results.

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Own your learning

Some companies are doing a fantastic job of promoting a culture of learning. Use whatever is available to you. But do not stop there. Structured learning, including courses, in-person classes, and training programs, is good, but learning must be a part of your daily life.

1. Build a habit of learning
2. Follow thought leaders and subscribe to YouTube channels and newsletters.
3. Connect with peers in your industry.
4. Collaborate with colleagues within your company and engage in projects that expand your learning.
5. Participate in work that is outside of your core domain. If you are a technology expert, learn more about the business and vice-versa.
6. Write. You learn a lot by writing. Ideation generation happens in mysterious ways when you get into a habit of writing and reading.
7. Form a small group and share articles that you come across. You can do internal projects based on ideas that you're interested in. Theory has limitations, while doing the work is a powerful way to develop new projects and viable products.

At Khyanafi, we have capped the monthly utilization of all our employees to 150 hours. The remaining is freed up for learning. We circulate and share ideas through an internal LinkedIn group that includes employees and consultants we work with.

The only way a person can add value daily is to focus on making learning a priority.?But if that is the case, there must be more than just standardized courses, structured learning, classes, and organized training.

Whose time is it anyway?

The rate of change happening around us is mind-boggling. And overwhelming. The key to maintaining sanity is accepting that we can learn less than we want to.

But a critical question that will arise in all our minds, sooner or later, is, how do we do our work and still learn? How do we do this in 40 hours a week?

The short answer is that we can't. If learning increases our value, and our compensation is tied to the value we bring to work, should we try to fit or limit learning time in our work time alone?

I don't know. How much do you want to grow in your career, how valuable do you want to be to your company, and how much do you want to make through your employment? You hold the answer. Whether you count the minutes and hours you spend on learning or if you are going to embrace the accelerated growth that comes with learning, it's a personal decision.

But I can say this. If we don't learn, the evolution around us is not going to slow down; the half-life period of our current knowledge will keep working, and sooner, what we know will come down, and the value we generate from our work (i.e. if we are in knowledge working).

A word on Work-life balance

It doesn't exist.

I practice work-life-integration. There are times when family and personal life are a priority, and there are times when work is a priority. Covid has taught all of us more tolerance and inclusion.

The company will grow if we hire the right people to support them in an environment where they can thrive by learning, doing, and growing. These individuals will grow into empowered leaders who will develop more leaders.

These practices and ideas will not work for all companies, but if you are wondering how to develop a team of Intrapreneurs and nurture a culture of Intrapreneurship, let's discuss. I may be able to help.

1. If you are an incoming leader and want to start strong, I welcome you to explore the "Accelerated Transition " service from Khyanafi Corpsulting. Our team of Corpsultants (former corporate leaders in consulting) and I work directly with leaders like yourself to ensure a great start. Early Wins Matter.
2. DAAMAAS: Data Architecture And Modeling As A Service. Finding field-tested, reliable talent for #dataarchitecture and #datamodeling work continues to challenge many companies. If this is your problem, write to us at [email protected] .
3. If you are a leader looking for my advisory, mentoring, or coaching help for your company board, yourself, and your team, contact me at [email protected] .