I used to hate Maths and I hear my daughter and my wife both come home from working in schools and lament the poor way Maths is taught in schools. I can relate to that as I was in my early 20s by the time i figured out that Maths relates to the real world not dumb old paper problems.

The tension between problem solving (one of my strengths) and creating something has fascinated me for several years. In this short video clip Peter Senge, Author of the 5th Discipline, talks about why we might want to switch our focus from problem solving to creating.

Just once in a while you stumble across something of such great value that you have to share it. I remember having the same feeling about Jim Collin’s book Good to Great as I do right now. Simon Sinek isn’t talking about anything we don’t know already or haven’t heard before but he’s bringing a fresh insight that is so profound it stopped me in my tracks. To see a written transcript just click here

The term ‘life long learner’ is often bandied about in the further and higher education sectors. It is used to imply that we never stop learning but people seem to have distorted the meaning as far as I can see and used it to denote someone who does endless courses. Universities are hailed as the centres of learning and where boundaries are pushed but I’m not quite sure that is true either. If you read for a degree today you are invariably being taught by people who did their learning 20 plus years ago and they just reiterate what they learnt all that time ago.

So where does real learning happen?

• The Wright brothers learnt on a field in the USA and in a shed
• Columbus learnt on a ship
• Jensen Button learnt on a karting track
• Barrak Obama learnt on the streets
• Airline pilots learn to fly by flying a plane
• chefs learn by cooking
• chemists learn by experimenting

What is the common denominator in all of these examples – they learnt through practical experimentation.

Universities are centres of learning and the most important things that students learn are how to conduct research and experiment.

When you work in an area and feel secure start asking the question ‘what have I leant so far and what do i need to be learning now and over the next 3 months’?

Start experimenting – Start Learning