When
you work in the technology industry, success isn't possible without continually learning new skills.
While our
Core Value #6—Learn and Grow—certainly includes professional skill development, it goes
beyond that. We believe in stretching our capacity on a personal level as well.
In the team Huddle devoted to Core Value #6, we covered a number of themes and reviewed some relevant videos and posts. Here are a few of the ideas we discussed.
1. Jump right in and try out what it is you’ve been meaning to learn or change.
Planning and plotting are, of course, useful, but sometimes the most successful way to incorporate something new into your life is to just do it.
Google engineer Matt Cutts encourages us to jump in and just do something we’ve been thinking about, and work on it every day for the next 30 days.
2. Draw inspiration from life’s obstacles instead of letting them stop you in your tracks.
We all have ideas of who we are and who we are not, and these definitions of ourselves are often the biggest obstacles to growth.
Professional snowboarder Amy Purdy lost both legs at 19. She explains how letting go of who she used to be and embracing her enormous obstacles took her to new levels of success and happiness.
3. Tear down life / work boundaries. A blog post by Peter Shallardargues “Your life and your career are one…Trying to draw a
line between your business career and your personal life doesn’t work.” Shallard suggests that one of the best ways to enjoy career growth is to focus on personal growth. His post offers up seven "real-world experiences that'll
permanently transform your thinking for the better."
4. Make learning and growth a priority.
What would you do if you could focus on anything you wanted—at work—for 8 hours a week or 8 hours a month or some other set amount of time? Google has a “20% time policy” that allows employees to spend 20% of their time
at work on any project they want, as long as it advances the company in some way. Ex-employee Marissa Meyer has said as many as half of Google’s products originated via the 20% time policy.
How do you help your team continue to grow and learn, both professionally and personally? How do you manage this for yourself? Let us know in the comments below.