Is Your Learning Useful or Beautiful?

Emma Weber

What do you think William Morris – the 18th century founder of the British Arts and Crafts Movement and Learning have in common?

I’m a big fan of William Morris’ work and have included some of my favourite textile designs in this article. I studied his work for hours upon end and used to practically camp out at the Victoria and Albert Museum where his textiles are housed. I not only love his designs, but I love that he stayed true to his core belief.

William Morris used to say ‘do not have anything in your house that you do not know to be beautiful or believe to be useful’.

 I think the same of learning.

 If you are going to learn something, learn it because it is either;

a)      Useful

b)      Beautiful i.e. it gives you pleasure or is fun

 

 You might learn a language because you are either visiting that country (useful).

You might learn a language because you love the sound of it (beautiful).

You might choose to study phi dynamics because you find it fun and fascinating (beautiful).

You might learn a new negotiation technique because you think it will help you increase your sales (useful).

 

Think about what you are learning and why.

If you can get clear on the why – useful or beautiful it will help you keep the learning alive much longer.

 Let me know what ‘beautiful’ or ‘useful’ learning examples you have.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Emma Weber is a recognized authority on the transfer of learning. As CEO of Lever–Transfer of Learning, she has helped companies such as Telstra, Oracle and BMW deliver and measure tangible business results from learning. She has also been a guest speaker at learning effectiveness conferences worldwide and authored the hugely successful book “Turning Learning into Action“. Much more detail around the issues and solutions examined in this article are available in the book – please feel free to download a free chapter. Emma and her team also developed Coach M, a coaching chatbot that delivers fully scaleable learning transfer. She is also a co-author of the books Making Change Work, and Designing Virtual Learning for Application and Impact. Her work and approach is also featured in Data and Analytics for Instructional Designers by Megan Torrance (Author), Foundations of People Metrics and Analytics – by Renjini Joseph and an ATD 10-minute case study series – Chatbot Coaching for Learning Transfer.