Leaning into Learning in 2021
At EnticEdge we’ve always believed that actively seeking new opportunities to be inspired and to learn is part of your own lifelong development cycle. Seeking opportunities to learn doesn’t have to mean going back to school full-time, it can mean reading a new book, attending a webinar, participating in an online course, or even watching a series of YouTube tutorials or talks. Just seeking inspiration in 2021 in unique ways can give you an active role in your own lifelong learning and definitely can make a lasting impact at work.
The influx of classes available online is just incredible. From top universities like Cornell, Northwestern, and Harvard (bonus: many professors have mastered their virtual classroom skillset in the last year), to online platforms from Skillshare to Masterclass to YouTube, the breadth and depth of opportunities at an approachable price point are notable. The boom is of course in part due to the ill-fated pandemic, but grabbing a silver lining opportunity for an extra lifelong learning moment if you can create the time is worthy indeed! Encouraging your team members to do the same is equally impactful. Some resources you might already know are Coursera, General Assembly, and Lynda (which is now LinkedIn Learning), but also be sure to check out leading universities and keep an eye out on LinkedIn as many companies are adding online symposiums, roundtables and more. Non-profit associations are also offering more online, and don’t forget professional associations and thought-leadership groups you’re already a member of that would welcome your re-engagement by joining a virtual discussion or two.
Remember that these classes and opportunities may often exist in departments and industries adjacent to your own area of expertise. For example, if you’re a UX Designer, can you take a course in Business Strategy to further your big-picture understanding of the final product to deliver to clients? The goal of taking an active role in your own learning isn’t always to add items to your resume (or even to your “to-do list”), but to find inspiration and spark movement and growth in your own development both personally and professionally, which shines through in more ways than you might imagine.
At work, the start of a new calendar year (even when that doesn’t mark a new fiscal year) brings anticipation, goal-setting, and excitement. What comes along with all of that are expectations, a bit of trepidation, fear of the unknown, and unidentifiable stress. Honestly, we get why a recommendation to take a class is the farthest from your mind right now, and not exactly “on the list,” but the value it can bring to helping you step back from that trepidation to focus on something altogether new or going deeper into a subject that you already have some expertise in, can make an identifiable difference. And, if at the end of the day, you really can’t swing a full-blown course, don’t forget that there are tons of books (just read 10-minutes per day), short videos, and podcasts right at the tip of your fingers.
Bringing new learnings to team discussions or with a colleague one-on-one adds interest and intrigue and churns the ideation space. Going deeper in your space of expertise can allow for new levels of understanding, creation of new processes for 2021 plan execution, and revised ways of explaining concepts for next action steps. At your own company, what can you do internally to energize your team and to better understand the mission, the business model and the associated action plans for 2021? Is there a short course or an online resource that could help you and team members step outside of the usual process and add more value and gain further clarity to start the year?
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