Always Be Open To Learning
____________________________________________
"We should not only use all the brains we have, but all we can
borrow."
- Woodrow Wilson
____________________________________________ Leave it to a child
to remind you of the importance of humility and the willingness
to learn from everyone. One day, my daughter Alexandra was home
sick from school. Since she was home, I took her with me when I
went to run some errands. That morning, I was working on a piece
of business marketing literature. So I took it with me to review
at lunch and pencil in a few changes. While we were standing in
line to get our lunch, Alexandra noticed the paper I was holding
and asked to look at it. I thought, "Sure, what does it hurt to
make her happy and let her take a look?" I handed her the
marketing piece and asked her what she thought. Honestly, I just
wanted to satisfy her request. I did not expect to learn from
her perspective. What followed was amazing. I watched as my
eight (almost 9) year old daughter carefully and thoughtfully
reviewed what I had developed. She then offered two or three
very insightful and helpful comments on what she got from the
brochure. To be honest, it never occurred to me to seek input on
this piece from my child. I very nearly made a huge mistake. As
we grow in both knowledge and skills, it is easy to discount or
ignore input from people that we perceive as less skilled or
knowledgeable than we are. Whose input do we discount? Maybe it
is our children, our spouse, our employees, people with less
formal education, and . . . the list goes on and on. Is it
possible that they see something we don't see? Despite what we
think sets us apart from them, could we learn from their
perspective and experience? Virtually every successful person I
know or know of says that their willingness to continue learning
was critical to their success. So for now, I encourage you to
remember this simple tip . . . Always be open to learning.
Copyright 2005, Guy Harris
You may use this article for electronic distribution if you will
include all contact information with live links back to the
author. Notification of use is not required, but I would
appreciate it. Please contact the author prior to use in printed
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