The Have-A-Go Self-Improver

This is an interesting insight into learning:

If I was to rank the ways in which I actually learn it would look a little like this:

1. Having a go myself
2. Having it demonstrated
3. The internet
4. Books

The first three are, in some way or another, conversations.

I’ve spent a lot of the last nine months delivering training. The vast majority of it is stuff I learned through 1 and 3, delivered via 2 with as many encouragements to use 1 as I can.

When it comes to digital skills – in journalism and elsewhere – the ability to learn by having a good old go at it is incredibly valuable. Why? Because the environment around us is constantly changing. A good training course can get you up to speed – but without some ability to self-teach, you’ll slip behind again.

And the key skill to doing that is assessing what went well and what went badly, and having another go…