Power Up Your Mind: Learn faster, work smarter

Learning is essentially an active experience. One of the first

theorists to describe this convincingly was David Kolb, who articu-

lated something called “experiential learning,” now widely seen as a

model for effective learning. He argued that learning starts from

actual experience. It is followed by observations from reflection and

leads to the creation of a new model or theory. This is followed, in

turn, by active experimentation and further refinement.

For many in the business world, this has a ring of truth to it,

following as it does the product development cycle with which

many are familiar. The Swedish knowledge expert Klas Mellander

goes further still in proposing a development of Kolb’s cycle as

follows:

Think about what you have learned in the last month. Have you had some “aha!” moments?

If so, what were they? If not, how would you describe the process by which you tend to learn?

Does it fit with any of the models we have looked at so far?

For me, the diagram above shows a more realistic description of

what is going on when we learn, although if you think that you will

always have that “aha!” or “eureka!” moment you are mistaken, as

Learnacy 85

MOTIVATION

Being mentally

prepared and receptive

INFORMATION

Facts and data

changed into

information

PROCESSING

Information

converted into

experience and

insight

CONCLUSION

The "aha!" moment of

discovery as experience

and insight are converted

into knowledge

APPLICATION
Knowledge
converted into skills
and attitude

FEEDBACK

Further reflection and

refinement