When does the learning stop ? (Collected)

It was some 10 years ago when I was interviewing a candidate for the position of a General Manager. The applicant was a young guy of 41 years age. While explaining about the learning environment of my organization, I told him, “Fancy designations and fat pay packets are not our USP. Our USP is tremendous learning and growth opportunities.” 

Can you guess the young man’s response? There was a questing look on his face and a murmur, “learning opportunities…. at this age…??” 

It came as a shocker to me and I couldn’t believe my ears. The message was that this guy had learnt enough for his life. Dear Shahir Ahmed, what do you think about this aspect? Well, as far as I am concerned, my learning continues and may not reach saturation in the foreseeable future. I personally feel that if I ever reach the stage of having learnt enough, that will be the last day of my life! 

In fact, even this message is reaching you as a result of my continuous learning. Some of you may be surprised to know that I did my engineering (in 1970) using slide-rule. In those days, there were no calculators even, what to talk of computers. Thank God, my learning never stopped…

Unfortunately, learning is the biggest casualty with successful people or professionals. When one achieves success fast, there is a tendency to think that he or she has learnt enough. You can find many such people, who are never comfortable to learn. After all, they have reached at a level, where they think that others are supposed to learn from them and not vice versa. 

With the business environment and technological changes taking place at an astronomical pace, learning – including de-learning and re-learning – has become a critical requirement for employees at all levels, personally and professionally. Even though the risk of obsolescence always existed, its importance has grown manifold in recent decades. 

Learning is extremely important for any individual and organization who want to continue to prosper. Opening your mind helps you expand your knowledge base, facilitates your journey towards your goals and makes you a better individual, a better leader, a better organization. 

Stagnant water gets contaminated and can be home for many kinds of bacteria and parasites. Stagnant air results in accumulation of pollutants due to lack of precipitation.