Learning & Doing Anything You Want in the Age of Information: Part 1 of 3
Jennifer Namvar?
Delivering Results & Growth to USG Contractors and Clients through Capture, Collaboration, & Engagement
Part 1: Half truths:
In the age of information,
ignorance is a choice…
I’ve recently heard some people, rather smugly, touting this as truth.
And they’re half right.
It’s half true.
I believe it, halfway.
You can learn about anyyyything you want to learn about. Knowledge is a Google search away.
But before a thought to seek information even manifests inside of your brain, it has to be triggered somehow. Something lights up to make you curious.
Your mind skips from an observation like, “Wow, that car is pretty,” to curiosity, “I wonder how much it costs?”
Or, oooh… Miley Cyrus got divorced from Liam? Let me google that and see what happened to make those two split.
And this type of observation→thought→curiosity trigger happens inside your brain ALL DAY LONG. As a response to the stimuli, you probably pick up your phone and Google facts or ask Alexa all the time.
So, you tell me: if you are ‘in the know’ about the pricing of luxury cars and all celebrity gossip, are you now LESS IGNORANT than the next person?
Possibly… At a minimum, you are less ignorant of those two topic areas.
Instead of looking up anything that crosses your mind, you can also choose to be more deliberate and research topics of more substantive nature. You can research and educate yourself on topics that can change your life’s trajectory.
How do I get out of debt?
How do I find my soulmate?
How do I negotiate a better salary?
How do I become a better communicator?
How do I start a business?
Etc., etc…
And it’s all out there. All the answers to those questions are on the web, or, in a physical book you can order from the web, or an e-book you can read on your e-reader, or on a podcast you can subscribe to from your mobile phone…
If you were to receive actionable advice on any one of these topic areas and it triggered you to make a positive change, what impact would that have on your life?
The impact would be immeasurable. That is the power of the age of information. That’s what they mean by the statement:
In the age of information,
ignorance is a choice.
But in my opinion, that is only half of the equation.
Stay tuned for Part 2 of this series where I will discuss the missing link that keeps you stuck right where you’re at. In Part 3, I will cover taking action in the age of information.
Sr. Federal Account Director, Capture Director at Lumen Technologies, Inc (GWAC Center for Excellence)
5 年Jennifer you're absolutely spot on! One should never stop learning. When I was a young capture manager I was terrified of having to do my own pricing. However, over the years I decided to put in the time to learn and learn, and studied with the best 'pricers" and got all the training I could to do to do my own price to win, cost to win, cost plus, firm fixed pricing, etc. It forced me to become an exception Capture Director. I became a widget counter, a bean counter, developed ROMs, BOEs, LOEs, WBS, and I learned how to do my own pricing. Thus making me a SME for new Capture Mgs joining our company and developing my own pricing volumes. I write the narrative, I collect all the costs and I'll leave it at that-- because I can't give away my secret sauce! Learning is breathing, learning is exciting and my boys have benefited from it! Keep on learning!