Agile Learning, Better Results

Are you an agile learner?

According to researchers at Teachers College, Columbia University and the Center for Creative Leadership, learning agility is a “mindset and corresponding collection of practices that allow leaders to continually develop, grow and utilize new strategies that will equip them for the increasingly complex problems they face in their organizations.”

J.P. Flaum and Becky Winkler dive deeply into how learning agility plays out in a terrific recent article in Harvard Business Review. Their focus is on building leaders at a high organizational level, but clearly the principles of learning agility apply to anyone, whether you’re on your way to the C-suite or simply attempting to run a successful small business.

Being an agile learner is not for the timid. Or if you start out that way, you won’t end up that way—if you stay the course.

According to Flaum and Winkler, here’s what “enables” learning agility:

• You question the status quo, seek out new experiences, and generate ideas based on the new perspectives you’ve developed.
• You overcome unfamiliar challenges by staying present, handling the stress of ambiguity, and adapting quickly. To do this, you need to be an observer and a listener. And you need to pick up and perform new skills quickly.
• This speaks to seeking out feedback, processing it, and developing strong self-awareness and awareness of others’ behaviors and motivations. Studies show that the strongest predictor of C-suite success is strong self-awareness
• The learning agile continually seek opportunities where success is not guaranteed. They’re not thrill seekers.

And what “derails” learning agility? Not surprisingly, it’s defensiveness. Staying open, seeking feedback, processing it, and adapting “based on … newfound understanding of themselves, situations and problems” is critical.

The authors go on to discuss characteristics of agile learners. These folks are more extroverted, focused, original, resilient, and (blessedly) less accommodating. This last is interesting. These days, from the instant a child enters school, there’s a huge emphasis on teamwork. I see the point, and yet, I wonder if collaboration is overemphasized. And if introverts may be unfairly demonized here.

“Improve Your Ability to Learn" is an excellent piece. It’s not a comfortable read, but it will cause you to think about what may be holding you back and what you can do to move forward, whether your goal is the C-suite or not.