Respecting A Person’s Learning Curve
Posted by Mitch Mitchell on May 19, 2011
I was reading a blog post of a friend of mine's named John Dilbeck as he was talking about the topic of learning curves and how they can hinder people in their quest to make money. I thought about it because something many of us have difficulty with at times is respecting just how long it might take the uninitiated to learn what it is that we do as independents, and just how long it might take an employee to learn their job if they've had no history with that industry before.
I've had a computer of some kind since 1986. Unlike many people, I wasn't scared to start trying to do things, mainly because I'd had time with another friend's computer here and there and understood the basics already. Not only that but where I worked we did computerized medical billing. So, the learning curve was very short when it came to using software specifically built for the computer I had, as well as its 2 floppy drives.
Therefore, I find it incredible that here we are, 25 years later, and there are still people that have no computer skills. Sometimes I forget that not everyone has access to a computer on a regular basis, and thus it's not a part of their history. Without that, I have to recognize that it will take those people beats longer to learn how to do something on a computer and get comfortable with it. Goodness, closer to home, both my mother and my wife can't claim to be experts on the computer, and almost daily I'm being asked by one or the other to explain something that's very easy to me, and something that I've already told them multiple times. If you don't do it often enough, sometimes it just won't stick with you.
In a work situation, things are both the same and different. In some instances one can't wait too long for a new employee to understand how to do something; time is money. At the same time it's illogical to think that everyone is going to learn at the same pace you learned at, if you were a quick learner. If you weren't a quick learner, it's even more hypocritical to expect someone else to learn quicker than you did.
Once again, this is a case where managers need to balance the concepts of treating everyone the same and treating everyone equally, as this example once again proves that they're not quite the same thing.
Mitch,
I think you bring up some excellent points.
I’ve been using and programming computers since 1969 and I think that I no longer have a realistic concept of how involved it can be to learn to use one.
I got to where I didn’t have the patience to teach introduction to computer type classes, and preferred to work with more advanced students. I’m not sure whether that was because I was tired of going over the same basics over and over (with each different class), or whether I was getting frustrated because I didn’t respect the differences in each individual’s ability to grasp new concepts and master the skills.
I almost never think of computers in relation to employers, managers, and employees, any more. I did two decades ago, but I’ve been an independent since then and lost that perspective.
I have discovered, recently, that I no longer learn as easily nor as rapidly as I did a few decades ago. Things that I intuitively understood back then are harder to master and now require study and repetition to grasp.
Even something like switching to a different accounting package has been very difficult for me, and I have a good grasp of the principles and have developed accounting software in the distant past.
So, not only are the learning curves different for each person, they can be different for each of us, in different stages of our lives.
All the best,
JD
PS. Thanks for the link. I enjoyed reading your perspective on this.
Thanks John. You know, I’ve always picked up on technology pretty fast myself, and now I’m finding that I’m having difficulty and hesitations with this new smartphone I have. It’s not so much that I’m worried about breaking it, like many other people do, but about using up resources too fast and potential viruses and the like. Definitely something different than what we’re used to, and it helps remind me about perspectives and learning curves all the time.
It’s great you mentioned about learning curves because there are leaders or managers who sometimes miss that everyone’s not equal, at least at the start. Some learn fast, some need more push and guidance. We don’t need to berate the ones who climb the curve slower.
Thanks for your comment Andy, and you’re right on the ball with your comment. Depending on topic and technology everyone is going to come to it with different speeds.
It’s about motivation and about tools. Motivation because if you don’t have a use for computers, you won’t give a damn about them (typical case, my mom).
It’s about tools because, if you put my mom in front of a Windows computer, she’ll blow it up in 30 seconds and set herself on fire in the process.
However, if you give her an iPad (as I did), even if she never even touched a computer she’ll be able to browse the web and send emails in an afternoon, with a simple “here, take and experiment”, no instructions, no manual.
Gabriele, I hadn’t thought as much about the tools, but that’s a very interesting point because it does lend itself to looking at how people learn. For instance, I’m a monster with a screw driver but not with any other tools. Not sure why, but that’s just how it goes. 🙂
Learning curve for different people is different, it also depends on the age of the person, I think that it is much easier to learn when you are younger, after that is becoming almost impossible, especially nowadays. As an SEO supervisor with a decade behind me, I have train many people, however only few of they were learning fast, some of them were very talented, but I have also had workers that can not learn almost anything, I think this is because they don’t have a heart for this job, simply don’t like it. I advice they to try to work something that they really enjoy.
I almost agree totally with you, Carl. I think it’s easier to learn when you’re young, but I also believe if you’re young and don’t care about what someone’s trying to teach you then it’s hard to learn it. Also, if you’re older and really care about learning something, you’re going to learn it as quickly as someone younger because for some reason life skills have taught us all how to learn certain things quickly. Still, just because someone learns something quickly for them doesn’t mean it’s always quickly for the people doing the training or needing work done. And it’s those folks that have to sometimes modify their thinking.