“Look, there’s nothing new to learn anymore.”
I’m serious, someone actually said those words a few years ago. I thought it was a joke when I heard it. The person who recounted the story imitated the deadpan face her manager used to utter such comedy.
But it would have been funny if he weren’t serious.
He’d been in his industry too long. Fine with his static position. Well seated on his gatekeeping throne, he didn’t want anyone to rise beyond him. With arrogance, he said to his direct report seeking growth opportunities: “Really…There’s nothing new to learn anymore. Pssss.”
Madness.
Fast forward to the present day.
I was discussing AI in industrial automation with an industry veteran, close to retirement. At he end of the call, he said: “Woooh…I must say…I’m so glad I don’t have to figure out this new world, with all the AI stuff. All the best to the new graduates.” We all laughed, uncomfortably.
It’s interesting how narratives can change in three years.
Yet some things remain the same.
The not-so-familiar flux:
The world is moving fast. People are overwhelmed.
Corporations are cracking the whip.
The world order is in flux.
People wondering: “what will I do?”
When you zoom in, it all doesn’t make sense.
It’s easy to lose track of meaning.
Most people want to shrink.
They go back to what “makes sense.”
The backward journey begins. They shun the AI agents. Throw out their computers. Unplug from the electrical grid. Pick up a spear and a basket. They fantasize of hunting and gathering for food. Like those times were soooo much better.
There’s no going back to the pre-agricultural age. We are in the automation age. However, you’re still going to be a hunter and gatherer.
But, this time however, you aren’t hunting and gathering for food.
In this age, you’re a hunter and gatherer for insights.
You search for, cultivate, and exchange them.
That’s it.
All we are doing in this era is insights and outcome exchange.
Learning is your most valuable skill. Teaching is the most valuable delivery system for that skill.
As long as humans remain curious there will always be something to teach.
Learn to teach.
Education is the Product: Tapping into the Teaching Economy:
Ever heard about The Lindy Law?
I came across it recently in a keynote by Nassim Nicholas Talib, the author of The Black Swan, a book I read almost 15 years ago. In this keynote, he talked about how to build resilient systems to withstand fragility.
Talib went into the Lindy Law, which proposes that “the longer a period something has survived to exist or be used in the present, the longer its remaining life expectancy.”
For instance:
Since artificial intelligence has been around for about 70 years, it will be around for another 70 years.
However, the new meme that’s been hot for one week, well, it has a one-week chance of survival.
Look back at things that have been around for a long time:
- trade
- Language
- storytelling
- social units
- need for energy
- Healing practices
- the need to express
- human inventiveness
- a search for purpose
For as long they have been around in the past, they would be around that much longer.
There’s one thing that humans have always done from time: learn new stuff.
We teach to help one another. Also, we use it to gain and maintain our position in the human dance of social coordination.
Learning and teaching will always be around.
Once you realize that, you look at technology differently. You see that the creator on TikTok is no longer “just a fad.” That creator is actually tapping into something that will be here for a long time – the two undeniable skills of learning and teaching.
Once you tap into this, you’ll find and develop your own teaching style.
It will help you nurture meaning in your life, facilitate growth, and help you live a more purposeful life.
Here’s how you spark the new teaching cycle to stay resilient in whatever economy.
Learning is painful when it’s not interesting
The school system failed most people.
A lot of us didn’t like school. We were forced into the class to memorize thick textbooks and recite things to pass static exams. Yuck! We learned to survive.
Learning is a lot more fun when you choose it.
I chose to learn how to make beats, spending hours on YouTube learning different producer styles. Wanted to learn to make my first website. I waited up hours, overnight, for responses on Stackoverflow. I learned how to market my business. Years of marketing consumed. Yum…Yum…Yum!!!
Learning is easy when you follow your interests.
Start with your interest.
Your creation is just synthesis
The price tag for learning is action.
Back in business school, we had an email list that went to all students. Students used it to ask for help, share a resource, or advertise an event. It was called “Blast.” You wanted to reach all the students? “just send a blast.”
But everyone had to pay the “blast tax”
You had to share a little insight, funny video, or something as a tax. This discouraged too many people from sending out random thoughts – all day. The same applies to learning online.
There is an action tax.
When you learn something new, either take a note or act on the new information you’ve consumed. Otherwise, you’d just keep consuming, aimlessly participating in the world of infotainment.
Synthesize and take action on your learnings.
From synthesis to expression
Sharing is the price for creative action.
Share what you synthesize to understand whether it’s beneficial to others. You can build things in isolation but the reality is that you’re human and we are social creatures. We thrive in close relation with others.
You learn and synthesize to foster growth. You share to foster contribution.
This is where most people shy away. They create stuff but don’t show it. They are concerned what people think about them. Sometimes they try, then stop because immediate validation isn’t knocking at their doorstep.
This is where you have to overcome the internal programming that you probably learned in the archaic school system.
The only way is through doing.
It will feel like you’re sharing into a void, remember that you’re just early in the process.
You are on your path to mastery.
You are becoming a teacher.
Teaching is a two-way street: Listen to your audience
The more you share, the more you learn.
People don’t respond to what you share? That’s a form of communication. It’s data you can use.
People love what you share? That’s also another data point.
It’s all data and feedback.
When you start your teaching journey, you have to prioritize feedback. You will begin to understand what people want. You’ll start clarifying your style. Your delivery process becomes better. You notice gaps in your knowledge, then you go live, learn, and experience some more.
The cycle continues and this is what fuels your creativity.
Become hip to what your audience.
Develop your style to teach your unique insights and experience.
Learning a Living
When you learn to teach, you teach yourself how to learn.
This puts you in a regenerative mode. As you hunt and gather insights, you exchange this with others to provide outcomes for yourself, business, teammates, and family.
Human curiosity is one of the oldest trades. It isn’t going anywhere, anytime soon.
Learn to teach.
Yours truly,
Nifemi
p.s. Want to learn my simple writing system to foster growth?
I launched my first ever workshop to help people find their teaching style and grow their audience from 10 years of doing this. There are a few spots left. Grab them here.
