On Education

I'm somewhat of an education nut. There's a scarcely a point in my career when I haven't been actively involved in learning, doing a course, attending a class, completing a long track or consuming a few hours of online training. It's bordering on obsessive and the faster things move, the more (like I'm sure most of us feel) do I feel the need to stay ahead significantly ahead of the curve. That being said, I don't believe learning and professional education should be consistently viewed the way it is - as a means to an end or a qualifying of knowledge or competence and a destination point from which thereafter, you are free to practice.

I hate to regurgitate the ol' modern world changing faster than we can keep up but surely a reassessment of learning is in order. The privilege I have of watching my young boys consume and learn varying degrees of knowledge without a coherent and definitive direction other than the love and joy of learning. Of growing, expanding, understanding and of the wonderful absolute benefit that learning brings - that of an expanded and more robust world view. That's really the rub in my opinion. Every time I come out of either a module, a talk, a lesson or lecture I ask myself is my mind better for it. The most quantifiable metric is do I see the world differently. Do I understand something a little better and therefore have more appreciation for it and hence, application for it in real world business? Not always the case but somethings I guess have a way of dot connecting themselves later on.

In summary, this mini rant is meant to perhaps reframe education. Are we all not in a constant state of learning and compounded knowledge can never be taken away or unapplied? You are the collection of all you've met, experienced and learned. The sooner we define ourselves less by our titles and professions, the sooner we can be open to the vast stores of education that surround us.