Cage a bunch of mice in a giant box and give them everything that they could ever need. Outcome? Not happy mice, but complete extinction within five years, in multiple experiments. Why, when they had everything? Maybe “everything” is missing something vitally important for survival long-term. What might this be, and does it have any implications for human survival?
We don’t learn from history, but we should, according to various wise folks. But is this really true? My head learns from the study of history, but my heart and will learn from direct personal experience. Also known as the hard way. The leaders who are making history today probably act primarily on the basis of personal experience and consequent hard-way learning. Why
How often have you heard that “… life is a learning process.” Life is certainly a “process” but the learning part is largely optional. And uncommon. How many people do you believe actually learn much of anything from life? My observations over a lifetime tell me that most don’t like to learn this way. Most prefer learning from a teacher. What can living itself teach us, anyway?
Learning the hard way means making mistakes, often painful ones. The “hard way” means pain. Taking great care never to make mistakes is a mistake since it avoids much learning. The trick here is to make only non-fatal mistakes. So much of real learning comes from mistakes. The hard way works and is so important.
Facts were once thought to define reality. Only one reality was real, with only one set of real facts. But no more. New realities pop up regularly, each with its own set of facts. Facts are now fungible and personal. Your choice. But this presents a serious problem for those of us who must manage real businesses and organizations: Which reality should we use and what is real about it?
