Core value · Growth family
Learning
Continually taking in new knowledge and skills
Also covers Education
What does learning mean as a core value?
Learning as a core value means always having something new on the go, picking up knowledge and skills throughout your life, and putting what you learn to use.
A week without learning something new feels like a week wasted. With learning as a core value, you’re happiest when there’s a book on the go, a course half finished or a colleague who knows something you don’t. Education, formal or not, is something you expect to carry on all your life. You love the moment something that confused you starts to make sense, and you tend to trust people more when they’re still learning too.
What does learning look like in practice?
- You listen to a podcast on something unrelated to your job on the way to work.
- You ask the expert in the room to explain the part you didn’t follow.
- You spend your training budget every year, and some of your own money too.
- You pick holidays where you’ll come back knowing something about the place.
- You learn a new tool properly, well past the three features everyone else uses.
When is learning overplayed?
Learning can become a comfortable place to hide. Another course, another book, another certificate, and meanwhile the thing you were preparing for never starts. You may also start to prize knowing above doing, or correct people’s facts in a way that makes conversations feel like a test. The healthy version puts learning to work. A small experiment: before starting the next course, pick one thing from the last one and use it this week.
Often confused with
Learning vs Curiosity
Curiosity is the urge to find out. Learning is the discipline of taking knowledge in and keeping it, so it turns into understanding or skill.
Learning vs Growth
Growth is about becoming a different person. Learning is about adding knowledge and skills, which may or may not change who you are.
Learning vs Knowledge
Knowledge is what you know. Learning is the ongoing process, and for people who value it, the next thing to learn matters more than what’s already stored.
Questions to sit with
- What have you learned in the past six months that you haven’t yet put to use?
- Which course or book are you reaching for when you could be starting the thing itself?
- Who do you find it hardest to learn from, and why?
More values in Growth
Becoming more than you were.
About the author
Matt Rutherford is a Career and Leadership Coach. The Values Finder is the same exercise he uses with his coaching clients. He also writes Stuff that MattRs, a weekly newsletter with practical ideas to help you think clearer and work better.
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