The importance of learning

A few quotes on the importance of learning:

“In a time of drastic change, it is the learners who inherit the future. The learned find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists.
Eric Hoffler, Vanguard Management, 1989

“It’s what we think we know already that keeps us from learning.”
Claude Bernard

“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.”
Alvin Toffler, author of Future Shock

“The ability to learn faster than your competitors may be the only sustainable competitive advantage”
Peter Senge, Fifth Discipline

What do you think?

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Permalink Reply by Gabriel on 13 April 2008 at 11:12am: I like Eric Hoffler's quote, he's clearly a futurist but if you constantly have that mentality to be open to leaning new things then you'll never be left beind in the "WORLD THAT NO LONGER EXISTS"....I think that'll be a great movie title!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Emily Offutt on 14 April 2008 at 10:23am: having just done an exam, the thought of learning makes my head ache!

however being adaptable to change is very important. Thinking from my context of the NHS, the government makes all thses changes and once it's policy you can either moan about it, or try to beat them at their own game and find the loophole!

is this what we're talking about?; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Gabriel on 16 April 2008 at 8:29pm: Interesting..............

Does side stepping authorty enable you to think faster than your competitors? Or does perfoming it to the best of your ability before people grasp it give you competitive advantage?

I think Eric Hoffler sees being 'left behind' as the unwillingness to even explore the possibility of new and better ways of doing things, and if one acts that way then they're already to slow.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Vic Whittaker on 21 April 2008 at 4:10pm: Great quotes Sam.

It's Hoffer by the way, not Hoffler. He was known as the 'longshoreman philosopher'. One of the sharpest minds in America and he had no education beyond basic schooling. If you haven't read his book, The True Believer, on mass movements, you might want to check it out, it's a classic.

He was anti-academic, believing them to be ingrates who 'bite the hand that feeds them', which is the subtext behind this quote, but it remains valid for all that. Many so-called 'experts' often flourish on knowledge of what has gone before rather than by learning about what is to come. It's a potent challenge.

Emily, remember all your training in reflective practice? Donald Schon et al? Schon was reacting against the kind of instrumentalist knowledge the 'expert professionals' had come to rely on, in much the same way as Hoffer. R.P. is one strategy for avoiding instrumentalism and ensuring that we remain 'lifelong learners' (please forgive the PC term - I think Hoffer would have gagged!).; ▶ Reply to This