LEARNING MINDSET

BLOG 9: LEARNING MINDSET

Vivekananda once told that if we want to know the depth of the universe we need to keep on learning new things and embrace those new ideas. We did an exercise in class where we evaluated our self-learning ability through jotting down what type of learner we think of ourselves. Most of us wrote down to be flexible and quick learners, which was not surprising to the fact that millennials are agile and always ready to keep them updated. We came to know about the goal of learning which can be divided into abstract and clearer goals. We know about some courses where the final outcomes are specific and objectives are brief with clearer statements whereas others too abstract to determine. A class in “Learning Mindset” is incomplete without knowing about “Learning Organization” by Peter Senge. Peter Senge’s 1990 book The Fifth Discipline that brought him firmly into the limelight and popularized the concept of the ‘learning organization’. Learning Organization are” organizations where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning to see the whole together.” We also need to create learning environment, where the following factors are considered:

1)     Psychological Safety

2)     Appreciation of differences

3)     Openness to new ideas

4)     Time for Reflection

We always need to create an environment which encompasses a concrete learning process and practices. The top management should help to reinforce the practices. Our teacher taught us about the purpose of learning, which are as follows:

1)     Learning to gain skills

2)     Learning to acquire a qualification

3)     Learning for intrinsic joy of knowing

Learning process should imbibe certain qualities like creativity, observation and as an individual we should be brave enough to unlearn, learn and then relearn. It is also an attitude which discards obsolete ideas intentionally and come down to zeroth step. We should be willing to come out of our comfort zones, start dialogue with each other and start respecting opinions of other people. Some people have high resistance to change, which should be discarded whole heartedly to learn new things. We should always seek for transformative learning. Finally, we jotted down the attitudes required for learning:

1)     Receptivity

2)     Resilience

3)     Agility

4)     Humility

5)     Patience

6)     Being shameless when it comes to learning.

Thus, aspiration should lead to self-awareness which head to curiosity which in turn moves to vulnerability. Next, we learned about loops of learning: Single loop, Double learning (Root cause analysis), Triple loop ( Bringing new ways to solve problems). We should all vouch to move from fixed mindset to growth mindset.