Are You Committed to Lifelong Learning?

 

Albert Einstein said, "Learning is not a product of schooling but a lifelong attempt to acquire it."

Over the years I have had colleagues on both ends of the spectrum. Some are voracious learners, sucking up everything they can to learn something new. And, I've had others who would excuse themselves by saying they were too old, too tired or just unmotivated to learn anything new.

In a field as dynamic as project management, I don't believe we have the luxury of being able to sit on our laurels and stop learning. Every day I learn something new. Sometimes it's from a book I'm reading, sometimes I hear something on the radio or a podcast and sometimes I learn something from a colleague at the office (often from someone a lot younger than myself).

Unfortunately, there are many of us who don't take the opportunity to continue learning. For example, did you know that according to an article written by Alan Fram for the Washington Post in August of 2007, one out of four Americans didn't read a single book the previous year? I know the statistic is a little old, but I can't imagine that it's improved. In a report titled Reading at Risk, produced by the National Endowment for the Arts, only 57 percent of American adults had read a book in 2002.

Of course reading isn't the only way to measure whether or not you are committed to lifelong learning, but it's an important measure. And, I'd like to believe that my colleagues in project leadership are probably on the other side of the bell curve.

For example, of those who do open up an occasional book, the median readership for men is five books a year and increases to nine for women. Those with college degrees tend to read more than those without and if you're 50+, odds are you read more than your younger colleagues. I also found it interesting that Democrats and other liberals tend to read more than Republicans. Hmmm.

The project leaders I know, who tend to be the most able in their chosen profession, tend to be among those above the median. What's more, and this is a totally anecdotal observation by me, they read everything from novels and business books to history and psychology. I think it's more about putting new stuff in the old noggin and using it, than it is about the particular things you read.

With that in mind, crack open a book and learn something new. Feel free to share your reading list here. I'd love to add some new books to mine.