Continuous Learning,The Only Way To Avoid Becoming Dead Wood
By Bob Roth
It doesn’t matter very much what kind of job you
have. The people, equipment, procedures and technology
associated with your job are all changing.
Importantly, all employees must understand that these four
things will continue to change. That’s why employees
must also continue to learn, grow and change.
Today, there is a great need for accuracy, cost reduction,
speed, quality and service. This is how companies
compete. To help their employers reach these goals, successful
people find ways to anticipate, learn about and adjust to the
changes. They learn how to work with new processes, technology
and equipment. They look for ways to help their employers
increase accuracy, reduce costs, multiply speed, improve quality
and achieve exceptional service.
Everything associated with those workplace changes can be
understood and overcome with learning and knowledge. The
people who continue to learn and gain knowledge can keep up with
the changes and even create them. However, the people who stop
learning will stand little chance of making the needed
adjustments. With time, the people who stop learning simply
become “dead wood.”
When young adults graduate from college and land a job, they
sometimes feel that they have learned all they need to
know. That is not true.
Successful people work hard to be on the cutting edge of
change. They are the ones who are eager to create the
changes. They understand that it is positive change that
drives us into the future. Those who have become dead wood
have little value to employers because they are no longer capable
of change and fall further and further behind.
The challenge before each new college graduate is to develop
an ongoing, never ending, desire to learn everything there is
to know about their field of work and to look for, welcome and
embrace the changes that lie ahead.
Successful people recognize that they themselves are
responsible for keeping up with the changes in their
field. Nobody can do it for them. Employees should not
rely solely on their employers to do it for them. Some
employers simply don’t recognize the need or are unable to
afford the time and costs. Companies can become dead wood
too. They are the ones that go out of business.
You can stay up with the changes in your field by doing the
following:
- Reading job-related trade
journals
- Holding discussions with
associates
- Asking questions
- Conducting research on the
competition
- Taking additional
courses
- Joining professional
associations
- Attending lectures and
seminars
- Associating with the brightest in
your company
- Writing articles, papers and
books
- Conducting surveys
- Serving on an association board or
committee
- Networking with the leaders in your
field
- Volunteering to work on
projects
- Accepting consulting
assignments
- Touring other
facilities
- Conducting interviews
- Exploring the internet
- Teaching a college
course
Questions: Are you willing to slowly but surely become
obsolete in your fi eld simply because your employer can not or
will not support your need to keep up? -or- Are you going to take
personal responsibility for continually learning what you will need
to learn, as things change?
