Learning or Doing...What's the difference?

Today's article is about GROWTH. This is the third installment in this seven-part series where I share how I’ve experienced Glint's People Success Elements in my life.

My research over the past two years has shown that more than ever people want to feel competent and see their skills fully utilized. They desire diverse experiences that help them discover and develop new talents and open up greater opportunities to continue growing. In fact, employees who see opportunities to grow are 3 times more likely to say they will remain with the company in two years’ time. That's good to know in today's talent war.

This was all true before the pandemic, but what's new is people want to pursue a learning journey and development paths that pave the way to greater mobility, not just promotions, and in many cases a whole new career path. In today’s job market, people want clear and real opportunities through their work to learn those skills that will help them expand and move their career forward. They want to see talent decisions based on demonstrated skills and competency, not on pedigree. And they won't wait around long if their employer is not clued in.

"Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.”

— Pele.

This quote by one of the greatest athletes in sport resonates strongly with me. I cannot do work I don’t love doing. And I can’t love it if I’m not growing and learning while doing.

I have never been an avid reader – my real learning comes by experience. I realized as a young boy that watching sports was not my thing. I remember while my dad sat on the couch glued to the sports channels all weekend, I was outside on the field or court playing. To best learn the rules and tactics and truly understand a the game I had to be actively doing it, pushing myself up against my own mental and physical limitations. Learning through hard knocks.

This early understanding of how I actually learn and accepting my own strengths and limitations was key to steering my growth path.

Journeys of discovery require a certain amount of curiosity, and often require taking risks and pushing limits, which in turn, can lead to triumphant successes as well as traumatic set-backs. One summer day in college, I was hanging in the backyard of the run-down apartment where a skateboarding friend rented a room. The landlord owned a pet monkey who approached me, and as I stuck out my hand to greet it, it abruptly attacked me severing two major tendons in my right wrist.

It took several months after the surgery to heal during which time I continued skateboarding and even learned to write with my left hand! Note the cast on my right wrist. Photo: Thrasher Magazine, November 1982

Everyone has hidden talents - Our potential is always waiting patiently to be fully discovered.

To regain strength and mobility, the physical therapist recommended hours of light-weight repetitive motions which sounded awfully boring so I asked if I could play the drums instead. I had zero musical experience, but a couple of my college housemates had started a band and they needed a percussionist. The doctor approved and it turned out to be one the fastest recoveries she’d seen -- I poured myself into learning, practicing for many hours a day until I was able to play in the band. And best of all I had discovered yet another entirely new creative space for learning and growth – playing music!

In the next few years our little band (The Kingpins) grew from playing local parties to headlining shows around the California music scene. We were eventually invited to compete on the show Star Search and we won the grand prize in 1987!?

Make no mistake, it was hard touring and playing in the band at night while holding down a full-time engineering job during the day.?But I needed that creative outlet and I loved it. And when it was time to quit the band and pursue other adventures, I had no misgivings.

How have you really challenged yourself, taken 'crazy' risks, and tried new things to continuously grow?

Over the years, I’ve been extremely fortunate that my career has been a continuous growth journey more than a paycheck. Learning has always been in the doing for me.

But we can't do it alone.

I have been blessed with advocates in my life who understood that learning for me was about “being in the game” not watching from the sidelines. I am indebted to bosses, coaches and mentors in my early career like Sherry Whiteley and Eric Hummel who challenged me and entrusted me to take on new roles and "stretch" projects, as much for my growth as for business outcomes.

In the late 2000's when I headed West Coast business development at a small consultancy, Sirota (acquired by Mercer), I complained to the boss that I didn't have the right sales promotional support to which he responded in fine CEO fashion: "Great, you'll now run Marketing!" This could have been intimidating or a non-starter for anyone who had no background doing marketing, but I dove in and learned everything "on the fly". I launched a new brand strategy, modernized our messaging and web presence, and hired and trained staff to manage PR, communications and social media channels. It was a delightful challenge and a massive learning curve. Again, I loved being "in the game".

Today, I’m learning something new every day in my job as a People Scientist at Microsoft. I still skateboard, snowboard and have learned to play several more instruments over the decades. Last year I started learning how cook my favorite Indian dishes, and this year I began guitar lessons. Soon I want to incorporate Vapasana meditation to bring more presence and mindfulness into my life. Just trying to stay in the game.

Where is your learning zone?

• In the classroom: Teach me the rules of the game.
• On the bench: Let me watch and study the game.
• On the field: Put me in the game and I'll figure it out!

In part four of this seven-part series, I dive into CLARITY, one of Glint's six People Success Elements, and the lessons that I've learned about being focused and intentional, yet adaptable.

Craig Ramsay is a Principal People Scientist at Glint, which recently joined Microsoft Viva with a mission to help people be happier and more successful at work. As lead foundations researcher he oversees the design of Glint’s employee experience measurement architecture and supporting assets.

Craig has over 20 years of organizational development experience holding leadership positions at Sirota (acquired by Mercer), Intuit, and Symantec where he provided executive consultation to improve employee engagement. He currently serves on the board of HR Strategy Forum, a consortium for California-based HR leaders.