There's this learning shortcut I've been doing for the past few years that has yet to fail me. It's about finding the role model to learn from in whatever environment you find yourself in.
If you are the best in the room, you're in the wrong room.
The world is big and there's bound to be someone better than you at what you're good at. Rather than give in to envy and jealousy, this should be taken as a call to learn from the best.
One mini mental exercise I've been doing by learning from experience is trying to shadow people that I want to emulate. Sure, in the work place everyone is doing exactly what they are paid to do but there are those that stand out better than the others and those types of people are the ones you should learn from. Want the fastest route to improve? figure out what the best in class are doing with their time and try to do copy which techniques work for you.
I learned not to bother being the best in class if the objective was just to pass. You just need to intentionally claim your false answer to be right loudly and watch some Einstein prove you wrong, boom, you finally found the answers to your assignment easy. There's a good chance that you'll be surrounded by people who have a need to constantly prove themselves right so you setup situations that could make them shine and then copy their assignment as a win-win.
This is how I survived in high school and college. Instead of thinking too much, why not let other people who can think better than you do it?
But wait... how does this even relate to finding role models to emulate from?
Well, spot who's on top of the pecking order, figure out their habits and create your own spin to their techniques that works for you and then you're on your way. I used to follow the procedure by the book and this made me effective but less efficient compared to what my seniors were doing. So I found some shortcuts that worked for me thanks to paying more attention to what the best are doing when faced with the same dilemma.
How so? let's say my senior resident used an interview technique that's a little bit brazen yet it managed to work and even got the patient's cooperation, the moment gets stuck in my head and I repeatedly examine the memory on how to make it work if I applied the same method with a twist. When I stopped talking like a textbook doctor during the interview, I started getting more rapport from patients since there's a shift from the business tone while the others kept doing what they were told because the textbooks said so.
I don't think there's anything wrong with the guidelines but guidelines shouldn't make an intelligent individual be prisoners to it. The role models I speak of are the current seniors I look up to and each has their own spin off approach to situations that are common for them but novel encounters for me.
So once I started repeating the habit of trying to figure out what the best in the class were doing, I started getting results over time.
I really believe that a lot of people fail not because they lacked the effort to "work hard", but rather it's the lack of effort to work smart and to do this is to learn from the people that already have a system in place. This is what senior wisdom in the workplace benefits the junior if the junior is paying attention.
I constantly search for mentors in any field I'm in. When I can't find one, then that's the time I've probably outgrown an area and try to seek another area to get better at.
All it takes is to consciously observe what the best people for the job are doing that you're not. It's not enough that you pick up on what they are good at but what conditions are present to make them shine even more.
For example, there's this one doctor that manages to get on top of things when others struggle often, but a little investigation led me to see a strong social network that gives them live feeds.
Or that doctor that somehow manages to remember the complicated text book lessons only to figure out they have a custom made notes handed down to them from the previous batch (which they withheld for their own personal use).
The best have tricks to make them the best and that's what I look for in role models on my work place. What makes a person do better? what's the gimmick they're pulling off that I've not doing, I make this small investigation an obsession and this led me to improve on several areas than peers of the same level. Who knew my street smart attitude in high school had practical use as an adult.
Thanks for your time.
That's awesome that you use that superpower to your advantage. Learning from other people that are skilled in something we are not is a great way to improve in life.
OMG
You just made me learn something about my own childhood. I was the self-conscious smart kid who thought saying the right answer out loud gave my life value.
THEY WERE PLAYING ME ALL ALONG! like a fiddle
boy good thing we grow up! thinking too long about childhood has got me feeling like an old man
brooooo, great post.
!pimp
It's still the same bait being thrown out in the corporate ladder where the boss tries to "make a mistake" and the intern fixes it for some points but the higher ups wouldn't hear about the find. It's those that feed on other people's need to prove themselves that are poised to be effective, not too tall to stick out your head too much and not to low to be at the bottom of the pecking order.
"I really believe that a lot of people fail not because they lacked the effort to "work hard", but rather it's the lack of effort to work smart and to do this is to learn from the people that already have a system in place." I will put this in analogy via Super Mario. Mostly can finish the game until you found out that some people can finish it in world record time, with extra life and with a lot of coins and that's what I want to learn. Imho people should start being a student and seek for more knowledge out there.
@adamada, you're rewarding 3 replies from this discussion thread.