Have you ever heard words like “I hate school because I have to learn so much” or “This is a lot to learn for my studies, isn’t there an easier way?”. I’m sure somewhere in your surrounding you heard that sentence. To me, this happens a lot of times when I walk around and listen to young people.
After I listened to their conversations I questioned myself if I had the same impression when I was at that age. After some thoughts, I might have had some topics or areas where it would have been the same reaction because I had no interest in the topic or fun with it. But there were many things I had fun with and I was eager to learn more than the content I got provided at schools and university. So is there really a mind shift or is this something changing from generation to generation?
What’s your job?
That’s a question I get often asked by my family and friends. And it is sometimes hard to answer. Of course, there are some answers to what my daily work includes, what I understand a good leader does, etc., but if you ask me a couple of days later my answer might have changed.
I remember some words from my grandparents when I grew up. They always mentioned learning in school, getting good grades, then finding a good place to work and learning to do a job. Well, I’m sure this was the way back then when they grew up but is it still like this?
My passion was always within IT and the mathematical stuff in school, so I went to university to get a more profound knowledge of IT and business stuff. During this time I understood that my grandparents were mistaken. Of course, there is a lot to learn to do a job, e.g. financial analyst or craftsman. But there is not one way of doing things and it does not stop at where you ended your job training, especially in IT.
The technology we are using is so fast-paced and changing. I’m scared of this world sometimes, but then I take a step back, slow down and start digging into the new stuff that’s around the next corner. And I’m doing this not because it is my job or because I have to know these new technologies to do my current job. But… I’m humbled to learn new things, dig deeper, connect the dots and hopefully create a benefit to my company, myself, and my environment.
Some things might not change or change very slowly but if you don’t keep up with the environment of your proficiency, you might get lost in the future. Therefore when my son or our students will ask me what job they should learn my simple answer would be:
Your job should be LEARNING!
No title, no special proficiency, just learning. And by “learning” I don’t mean to study books or live in a conceptual world, it means learning by doing, learning by mistake, learning by pleasure, etc.
So sorry young kids…. to earn money and do interesting things in your life will be driven by learning and applying in your daily life. It won’t stop after finishing school or university. But you know what, if you go on the path of learning you will have a lot of fun!
What do you think?
