"The Lord doesn't put knowledge before us so that we can remain ignorant."

When I launched RR, I created a free educational course for developers. My intention was to give back to the community and build a talent pipeline. The course was comprehensive and completely free. The result? I got a few truly valuable developers on my team – they were willing to learn and hold onto every opportunity to do so.

Although, the outcome is not always like that. People tend to neglect things they got for free – most marketers will tell you the same. Same thing with free education – completion rates are usually lower. So not only did my developers pass the technical test but also proved they don’t give up easily.

It’s no secret that nothing is truly "free".

If you're not paying with money, you're paying with something else: time, attention, or data.

Facebook is "free", but we pay with our personal information. Google's search engine is "free", but we pay with our attention to ads. Even my "free" course had a cost.

Obviously, I am not the first one to use this tactic.

Coursera started by offering free courses from top universities. While this democratized education, they found that adding paid certificate options increased course completion rates and provided a sustainable business model.

HubSpot offers a mix of free and paid educational content. Their free offerings serve as a lead generation tool, while their paid academy courses drive deeper engagement and customer loyalty.

Even tech giants like Google and Amazon offer free training programs. Why? Because they're playing the long game – building a skilled workforce for their ecosystems.

Now, I'm not suggesting that all education should come with a price tag. Far from it. But, as leaders, we need to be strategic about how we create and deliver value.

We live in times when knowledge is abundant, but the willingness to acquire and apply it is rare.

As leaders and managers, our challenge is not just to provide information, but to create the conditions that motivate people to engage with it meaningfully.

Remember, "The Lord doesn't put knowledge before us so that we can remain ignorant." But it's up to us to recognize its value and act on it. Whether it's through monetary investment, time commitment, or attention focus, the key is to create a sense of investment.

So, think about this: How are you ensuring that the knowledge you're providing to your team, your customers, and your community is truly valued and acted upon? Are you inadvertently devaluing your offerings by making them "free"? Or are you creating the right conditions for engagement and growth?

In the end, the most valuable education isn't determined by its price tag, but by its impact. And the impact comes from engagement, commitment, and application. As leaders, it's our job to create the frameworks that foster these outcomes

The knowledge is out there. The question is, are we creating the right conditions for it to be truly valued and applied?