Last week I mentioned a bit about learning to write ‘academically’ and also to ski. This week I would like to expand a little on this topic.
We went skiing with friends over the break. One of those we have been skiing with often is my friend Sam. He is 16 and I have known him all his life. I was there ten years ago for his very first skiing holiday.
Since then his level of skill has rocketed. He flies effortlessly down the slopes, swaying elegantly. It is a joy to watch him skiing.
How Did He Do It?
How has he reached such a level in ten years? Well, there are two main reasons.
Lots Of Practice
The first is that he has been on many skiing holidays since that first year. Some years two holidays, perhaps even three. I’m afraid practising is really useful when it comes to learning a skill. But it’s not all.
Approach To Learning
The way you approach learning makes a real difference too.
You Learn By Your Mistakes
How often have you heard this? It is rubbish. But it’s close to the truth. Let me tell you more about Sam’s approach to skiing and you’ll see what I mean.
He Doesn’t Mind Falling Over
I don’t think I have ever heard Sam complain about falling over in all the years I have seen him skiing (and falling over). When it happens, he just gets up and gets going. Often he laughs.
He Is Always Trying New Things
Last year Sam was keen to try some complicated jumping. We went to the ’ski park’ and he tried many times to jump and do various twists at the same time. It looked really hard but he didn’t give up.
He fell over lots of times and didn’t end up achieving his goal before the end of the holiday, in spite of many attempts.
But that didn’t dampen his enthusiasm.
Playing It Safe
You don’t learn from your mistakes, you learn from trying out new things and finding ones that works. The key to learning from these situations is not being worried or embarrassed about making a ‘mistake’.
Knowing Your Limitations
One of the things you often come across on skiing holidays is people keen to show how good they are by being very ‘macho’ and hurtling down black slopes. Funnily enough, Sam wasn’t bothered about doing the black slopes. In fact, I don’t remember him being that concerned about doing them last year either.
He clearly doesn’t feel the need to prove how good he is.
Asking For Help
Another thing you notice about really skilled people is that they don’t mind asking for help. I suspect that’s probably one of the ways they have become so skilled. They’ve just asked for help when they needed it or wanted to know something.
So often I see people who don’t want to do that because they think of it as a sign of weakness.
Speaking German
We were in the German-speaking part of Switzerland for our holiday this year. As we had dinner one evening, Sam asked me how it was that my German was so good (it is compared with his).
I had to laugh when he asked. His German is very poor (he has less than 10 words available to him I think) in spite of three years of lessons. I explained to him that the reason I am still able to communicate in German some 30 years after learning it at school later is because I have used exactly the same technique as he has used in skiing:
I use every opportunity to practise, I don’t mind making mistakes and I’m happy to ask for help when I need it. In the many queues for the ski lifts I practised translating the posters just for a bit of fun.
The Key Lesson
So here’s the main point. There are probably areas in your life where you are applying Sam’s great strategy for learning to ski. But there are probably other areas where you are applying his strategy for learning German (do no work, take no risks, avoid at all cost).
Perhaps you could gain a great deal by changing your strategy and trying something new or taking a few risks. Research tells us that risk-taking is one of the best ways of improving performance, second only to getting clear accurate feedback. It even comes above having clear objectives. So have a go. Let me know how you get on.
Do you think it’s good to take risks?
Nice analogy, but not sure it translates to business accurately. Did Sam have accident insurance? Was the ski park overlooked by skilled and trained medical professionals, or did Sam (at the grand age of 16) just throw himself off a ramp?
I am respected for my “outside the box” approach to business and have been very successful. I’m the first to try something new (much to some established industry leaders dismay), but I believe in taking risks where the worst case scenario is controllable and ultimately acceptable to the business.
I also have been snowboarding for 15 years, and am very confident on the slopes and am always pushing myself. Last year I also went into a ski park eager to try some ‘tricks’.
I broke my back!
I did learn a lesson – wear armour when in a ski park! Take risks, consider the negatives and plan for them as much as you plan for the success.
Hi Richard
I do hope you have recovered from your injury. I was expecting someone to write in to make this point. It’s a very good one. Risks need to be carefully managed.
I always wear a helmet when I’m skiing and am not skilled enough to try out the things Sam does (yet!).
One of the examples I often give to relate this to work is the conferences I go to on neuroscience. There are far too many lectures to go to so I have to decide which ones I will attend.
I have three buckets:
A – The people I already know and whose books I have read
B – Those who have been recommended or about whom I have heard good reports
C – The people I know nothing about – even topics I know nothing about.
I spread my time equally in these categories. Guess where the biggest leaps come from? Yes, it’s C. However, sometimes I get nothing from the C’s, other times 3 or 4 innovations. I always get something from the As, but hardly ever a big leap.