by Bradley R. Staats
If you know me, you won’t be surprised that I was drawn to this book when a copy was sent to me. After all, I am a lifelong learner, and nearly all of my writing implies (if not overtly suggests) the value of lifelong learning.
The book was sent to me in the hopes I would like it and have the author on The Remarkable Leadership Podcast, which I did (here is a link to the episode). Like I said, the book had me at the title.
Title alone, of course, doesn’t make a book good, so I was pleased when I dove in to find the book lived up my hopes and expectations. The author and I agree on the value and importance of learning (and he sells that idea in the first chapter), and we agree that while humans can be voracious learners, we seldom are.
Concept
While the book discusses some ideas you may have read elsewhere (i.e. ask questions, play to strengths, and don’t fixate on weaknesses), it does a great job of telling you how to do what it suggests. The practical approach sets this book apart and makes it more readable and useful.
To give you an idea of the flow of the book, here are the chapter titles:
- Becoming a Dynamic Learner
- Why Don’t We Learn From Failure?
- Learning Requires Process Focus, Not Outcome Focus (a particularly good chapter)
- Asking Questions
- Learning Requires Recharging and Reflection, not Constant Action (amen)
- Being Yourself to Learn
- Playing to Strengths, not Fixating on Weaknesses
- Specialization and Variety
- Learning From Others
- Dee-termination (a short, memorable closing chapter)
As a book from a University professor, it is on a solid research foundation, but doesn’t read like a textbook. While the book would apply to college students, in many ways, it is even more relevant and helpful the older you are.
I recommend this book highly. Buy a copy and listen to the podcast of my conversation with Bradley.
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