Why experiential learning works for entrepreneurs

Hey you, scrolling on your phone or laptop.

I’m willing to bet there’s a good chance you’re sitting in a boring meeting, conference or seminar right now, looking for just about anything to distract you. Friend’s photo of their lunch? Great. Cat videos set to silent? Genius. Article on your LinkedIn feed? Perfect.

Having sat through many, many, many meetings myself, I see where you’re coming from. While I’ve had the pleasure and privilege to learn from amazing people over the years with Investible, I can also count twice as many summits and symposiums that were more mind-numbing than mind-blowing.

It’s not so much a criticism as an acknowledgement that humans just learn things better from experience, not slideshows. In my new SBS show, The Employables, I take a group of 12 marginalised Australians on a practical bootcamp to help them start their own businesses. It brought home the importance of experiential learning – especially for entrepreneurs.

I originally developed the Investible bootcamp to help township entrepreneurs in South Africa (as part of the Branson Centre for Entrepreneurship) understand business in a very tactile way, given the majority of participants at that time had grown up under Apartheid and would be overwhelmed at being taught in a classroom with a textbook.

Tinker tailor

“If a child can't learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn.” – Ignacio Estrada

Instead we taught business lessons using a series of fun challenges with a purpose. We demonstrated the stages of business by getting them to climb a small mountain, the importance of planning and prioritisation through an orienteering activity and showing them that the elements of a business model is just like creating a recipe that came alive in our masterchef challenge.   

Fast forward 8 years and we have conducted over 16 bootcamps in Africa and Australia and our first is scheduled for a group of Thai entrepreneurs in October. Learning away from the distractions of everyday life using memorable experiences increases understanding and knowledge recall – particularly for entrepreneurs who by nature don’t like to sit still and are typically more visual or tactile learners.

Mastering mistakes

“I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.” – Confucius

I’ve spoken a lot about the importance of making mistakes for success. What will have the most impact on your efficiency: hearing the “right” and “wrong” way to do things, or making a blunder you’ll never forget? I still make mistakes all the time, and it helps me grow both professionally and as a person. The great thing about experiential learning exercises, such as bootcamps, is they will help people make mistakes in a safe and controlled environment.

A lecture has to reach hundreds of people at the same time, so its message should be broad and relatable to many. Bootcamps, on the other hand, are much more intimate in nature. In this environment, you can personalise your approach to people’s learning styles and strengths. For example, visual learners can brainstorm amazing ideas with a roll of butcher’s paper, while social learners could be better at presenting or pitching the concept.

Creating confidence

“You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” – Maya Angelou

One of the greatest benefits of experiential learning, as opposed to lectures and handbooks, is the opportunity for creativity. Bootcamps and workshops are really just a starting point for entrepreneurs to build their confidence before they start creating experiences of their own. And, in my experience, that’s where all the best ideas start from – not in a conference room.