Learn by Doing

“I hear and I forget, I see and I know , I do and I understand” – attributed to Confucious

“For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.” ― Aristotle  

I am a great fan of experiential learning.

Learning by Doing was one of the mantras of my early training in attempting to apply TPS to the complex and very different world of aluminium casting and  rolling. If you wanted to truly learn about 5S or Kaizen or TPM or Standard Work or any of the other LEAN tools then a little bit of theory was required to set you on the right path but the real leaning didn’t ever just come from the theory. The real learning came from trying to apply the theory, doing it and reflecting on what happened : how did it compare with what  you expected to happen before doing it ? What did you learn from the difference ? What now to do to either standardise to lock in the gain or what to do differently to achieve what was planned ? . In my experience,  the most learning came from when things did not go quite as planned.

Our current SIRF Intro to Lean course  uses a well designed CUBE factory simulation to allow attendees to learn by applying the LEAN theory presented to dramatically improve the manufacturing process and flow. The students are challenged to think how they can then apply the new learning in the real world. If you want to know more:  https://www.sirfrt.com.au/calendar/event_detail/5298