Sometimes Learning Takes Work

Have you noticed that not all learning is easy? That sometimes, the lesson in front of you took far more effort than you'd expected or wanted?

We learn in so many ways. Some of them take work. While music comes naturally to me, I do have to really work to learn a new language. My Spanish is broken and at an elementary level, but brings me such joy I plod on, even though it comes with much difficulty.

Projects learn at the speed of the team, and sometimes the team is reluctant to learn. "Why can't things just work the way they always have?" "How long do we have to stay with this until it turns out the way we want it to?" These are questions team members sometimes ask. It depends, of course. It depends on how fast, and with how much difficulty, we learn what we need to learn.

If all learning was effortless it wouldn't do us much good.

It's in the effort that we stretch. It's in the difficulty that we grow. It's in the testing that we prosper.

Sometimes learning does take work. And, it's worth it. It's worth it for better projects. It's worth it for better teams. And it's worth it for improving performance.

What are you working on to learn today?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

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High Performance Leadership

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