The Digital Learning Journey: The Three Phases of Learning

The learning curve has three main areas, the first is growing the value to self, called the Motivate phase. The second is the point when the values growth become equal, called the Demonstrate phase. The last is when the value to others exceeds that of yourself, called the Advocate phase.

The key point, where the rate of change for Value to Self and Value to Other is equal, is the middle of the journey. It rests in the middle of the second phase.

Earlier in the journey, when you are working more on the Value to Self, you are building motivation and confidence. Later in the journey, when the focus is more on developing Value to Others, you are making connections to a bigger perspective of the skill or discipline.

Motivate: Why you do it.

The opening phase is about establishing confidence and momentum for your skill development to accelerate you up to skill curve and how to learn what you are learning. It answers a core question: Why am I learning this, and why do I want to develop this skill?

“Why the hell am I doing this?”

When you are learning something new, you often need to remind yourself of the answer to this question. Learning can be challenging, and really push back if you are having difficulty—especially in the beginning. Starting anything new is complex and risky.

Let’s take a few example skills you might be kicking off. You might be learning how to code, speak in public, build a tool to automate activities, or design amazing slide presentations with PowerPoint. Any of these are valuable skills to have but aren’t the easiest to learn.

So, what is your motivation to learn?

There are a couple of ways to answer this question. You can start with the tactical uses of the skill. Learning how to code can lead to new job opportunities or give you the tools you need to do different types of projects. Tactical skills have a tangible benefit for the user, and they are put into action to solve problems.

Alternatively, you might see the skill as a component of a larger initiative where the skill will open tons of other skills for you to learn. Take for example learning how to speak in public. This skill isn’t valuable in isolation, but it necessary to take something else you are passionate about and to bring it to other people at talks, conferences, or in gatherings at the workplace. These types of skills aren’t as tangible and using them enables other skills to shine.

In the beginning of your learning journey, you are answering the basic question of, “Why you do it.” Why you perform this skill in scenarios that are relevant to you. Either as a future opportunity, a component of a current role, or as a reinvention or hustle to fulfill a different need. You are establishing the motivation for the journey you have ahead by answering this question and using that answer as your momentum for the learning journey. During this first phase, establishing confidence, dealing with imposter syndrome, and establishing critical wins for you to reflect and be proud of are part of this section of the journey.

Demonstrate: What you do.

The second phase is the application of that skill in work that you can exhibit to others, demonstrating your acquisition of the skill; and your ability to adapt that skill to solve unique problems.

When you understand the relevance and context of the skill or discipline you are looking to learn, you are beginning to experiment and play with it at the same time. There comes a point when you want to dive right into the middle of it and learn exactly how it works, and what you can do with it. This is the second phase of the journey, when you can demonstrate what you can do with this skill or discipline.

In the beginning, you are demonstrating this skill to yourself—building on the confidence that you have been building in the first phase, along with the tactical skills that are part of using that skill. By the end, you are demonstrating this skill to others, and can definitively show your competency and growing mastery of the skill.

At this middle phase is when the growth of your two values becomes the same, and you enter that key point. The phase is the transformation of your value, based on your ability to apply what you have learned and create something new from the skills you have learned.

Advocate: How you do it.

The third phase develops the depth and sophistication of how you apply that skill, looking deeper at the mechanics and framework of the skill beyond the nuts and bolts of the skill itself.

Just like an actor that can harness emotions to make a performance compelling, or a software developer that can see the system they are building through the code, and the chef that understands the interplay of spice and texture, there is a point where what we do evolves to understanding how we can do it better, more effective and create a path for others to learn.

This is the point when you have that giant flash in your mind and you say, “Damn! I get it!” It is when you see the system and the connections of what you do in a completely different light. You start to see why things earlier in your journey were taught to you in a specific way, even though during all that process you kept getting frustrated or confused.

But this is totally additive. We each see the system a little bit differently than others, because we each have our own unique set of skills, talents, and experiences. And you know what that makes us? Amazing candidates to help the development of others that are just starting the journey.