【中英双语】四招建立学习敏捷力，避免职业陷阱

一家电信公司的CEO坐在我对面，向我诉说他和他们公司其它高管是如何被一项颠覆行业的新技术杀得措手不及。“我们没有看到WhatsApp的崛起。”他一边摇头一边说道。

The CEO sitting across from me is explaining how he and the other executives of a telecommunications firm were caught off guard by a new technology that disrupted the firm’s business. “We did not see WhatsApp coming,” he says, shaking his head.

他想要增强自己的学习能力，能够洞察并理解公司内外的发展状况。他认为这不仅对于现在的工作业绩很重要，对于自己职业生涯未来的成功也有很大影响。“我现在刚过50岁，恐怕下一次我想要换一份工作的时候，人们会觉得我跟不上世界发展的节奏。这已经发生在很多其他人身上。如何才能让我保持竞争力，让别人相信我依旧能贡献很多？”

He wants to increase his capacity to learn, to spot and understand developments inside and outside of the firm. He believes this is vital not only for better performance now, but also for the continued success of his career. “I’m in my early 50s, and I’m afraid that the next time I want to change jobs, people will see me as irrelevant. I’ve seen it happen to plenty of others. How do I stay fresh and convince people that I still have a lot to contribute?”

他的预感正中靶心。研究表明，一直遵循自己固有思维和行为习惯的领导者，更容易停滞不前、表现不尽如人意，甚至与公司发展脱节。正如谷歌高管领导力培训总监David Peterson所说，“呆在自己的舒适区，对于准备好当前的事务是一种不错的方法，但对于明天来说，却是非常糟糕。”想要持续成功，你必须建立起学习敏捷力。

His hunch is right on target. Research shows that leaders who think and act from the same assumptions and behavioral repertoires they’ve used for years are prone to stagnate, underperform, or derail. As David Peterson, director of executive coaching and leadership at Google puts it, “Staying within your comfort zone is a good way to prepare for today, but it’s a terrible way to prepare for tomorrow.” To sustain success, you must develop learning agility.

“学习敏捷力”是什么？

What is Learning Agility?

学习敏捷力，是一种能够从过往经验中快速持续学习的能力。敏捷的学习者善于把过往经验相互联系起来，并且他们能够放弃那些已经没用的观点或方法。换言之，在需要新的解决方法时，他们能够抛弃旧东西。这样的人倾向于以学习目标为导向，并且愿意尝试新的体验。他们做实验、寻求反馈并且系统性地复盘。

Learning agility is the capacity for rapid, continuous learning from experience. Agile learners are good at making connections across experiences, and they’re able to let go of perspectives or approaches that are no longer useful — in other words, they can unlearn things when novel solutions are required. People with this mindset tend to be oriented toward learning goals and open to new experiences. They experiment, seek feedback, and reflect systematically.

学习新技术、掌握新方法而获得成长的意愿，是学习敏捷力的基本元素。敏捷的学习者珍视学习过程本身，能从中获得满足，并且激发自己的动力和能力，从具有挑战的发展经验中学习。

A desire to develop by acquiring new skills and mastering new situations is a fundamental element of learning agility. Agile learners value and derive satisfaction from the process of learning itself, which boosts their motivation as well as their capacity to learn from challenging developmental experiences.

他们往往不会固步自封，而是愿意承担风险。文章开头出现的那位CEO就是不固步自封的代表。2014年10月，在哈佛医学院培训中心IESE商学院举办的领导力论坛上，我们进行了交谈。他向4位刚遇见的高级教练敞开心扉，谈论自己遇到的挑战及担心，询问反馈。不幸的是，许多领导者错失了关键的学习机会，因为他们不愿意质疑自己，也不愿意主动跳出舒适区。

As a result, they don’t get defensive and they’re willing to take risks, such as making a mistake or appearing non-expert in public. The CEO in the opening paragraph epitomizes non-defensiveness. Our conversation took place at the Institute of Coaching (a Harvard Medical School affiliate) Leadership Forum, held in October at IESE Business School. He talked openly about his challenges and fears, inviting feedback from four executive coaches whom he’d just met. Unfortunately, many leaders miss out on key learning opportunities because they avoid questioning themselves or intentionally moving outside of their comfort zone.

学习敏捷力也包括对新体验、陌生人和新信息保持开放的心态。这些年来，我在学术会议上遇到过两位高级管理学教授，分别是两个极端。

Learning agility also involves being open to new experiences, people, and information. Two senior management professors I’ve encountered at academic conferences over the years exemplify opposite ends of the spectrum.

A教授对于新创意总是如饥似渴。尽管已经拥有很崇高的学术地位，但他却极有热情。不仅和学术专家，也和研究生、不知名大学的初级研究员交谈，他与各种各样的学者都合作过。他现在已经年过70，但依然元气十足、活力满满，并被认为是所在研究领域中非常活跃的领导者。

Professor A has a voracious appetite for new ideas. Despite his lofty academic stature, he converses just as enthusiastically with graduate students and junior faculty from little-known universities as he does with fellow academic stars, and he collaborates with a wide variety of scholars. Well into his 70s, he’s vibrant, energetic, and recognized as an active leader in his research domain.

相反，B教授对于自己熟悉圈子之外的学者不怎么感兴趣。他的演讲通常总是重复旧观点，已经很久没有新东西产出了。虽然他学术生涯早年做出了许多重要成就，但他的学习敏捷力低下，已经导致他的名声正在逐渐衰微。他正是陷入了那位CEO想要尽力避免的职业陷阱。

Professor B, by contrast, shows little interest in scholars outside of his familiar circle of followers. His presentations generally rehash old ideas; it’s been a long time since he produced anything new. Although he made many important contributions earlier in his career, the low level of learning agility he exhibits now accompanies his fading reputation. He’s fallen into the exact career trap the CEO is seeking to avoid.

如何发展“学习敏捷力”？

How Do You Develop Learning Agility?

发展学习敏捷力，需要识别和改变无意识的日常，如能获得一位教练的帮助则事半功倍。Peterson把职场教练称为“终极定制学习解决方案”，他们可以帮助学生理解自己的思维是如何工作的，如何才能改进。但即便你没有职场教练，也不必灰心。按照以下步骤自己练习也能增强你的学习敏捷力。

Since developing learning agility involves learning to recognize and change automatic routines, the aid of a coach can be invaluable. Coaching, which Peterson calls “the ultimate customized learning solution,” helps clients understand how their minds work and how to make them work better. But even if you’re not working with a coach, there are steps you can take on your own to enhance your learning agility.

1.询问反馈

找一位或者几位和你一起工作的人，只要是能在某个特定任务中观察你的人。告诉他们你期待并珍视他们的反馈，请他们评价一下你的表现如何，下一次该如何提高。要将他们的评价最大化地学习利用，必须注意抑制任何为自己辩解的冲动，这一点很重要。感谢他们的评价，然后自己好好想想能从中学到什么。

Ask for feedback. Think of one or more people who interacted with you or observed your performance on a given task. Tell them you’d value their perspective on how you did, and ask what you could do differently the next time. To maximize learning from their feedback — and this is vital — restrain any urge to defend yourself. Thank them for their input, and then ask yourself what you can learn.

想要降低自己的防御心理，建立一个学习的心态，不妨考虑选一个座右铭。比如Peterson的这一句：“一定会有更好的方法，只是我还没发现。”这句话的力量主要体现在“还没”一词上。

To reduce your defensiveness and develop a learning mindset, consider adopting a motto like Peterson’s: “There has to be a better way, and I don’t know it yet.” The power of the motto lies in the word “yet.”

心理学家Carol Dweck关于成长型心态的一个研究发现，如果你总是抱有还有很多东西需要学习的想法，并且敢于涉足陌生的领域，你就能解放自己的思维，化解对于失败的恐惧，助力成功。

As research on growth mindset by psychologist Carol Dweck has found, if you hold the view that there is always more to learn and embrace the process of wading into unfamiliar waters, you can free your thinking, dissolve your fear of failure, and power your success.

2.尝试新方法

为试炼找到新方法，Peterson建议回顾你曾经遇到的一个挑战，然后问自己这些问题，“我能做一件什么事来改变当时的结果？”或“下一次我会做的有何不同？”

Experiment with new approaches or behaviors. To identify new behaviors for testing, Peterson recommends reflecting on a challenge you’re facing and asking yourself questions such as “What’s one thing I could do to change the outcome of the situation?” and “What will I do differently in the future?”

你也可以进行思维试验，从不同的角度去发现多种可能性。例如，我的一位学生要带领新团队外出团建。她的新团队中汇聚了来自全国的才华横溢的管理者。通过回想分析，她意识到自己困在了一个思维困局中，觉得要想被新团队认可，就必须比他们知道的多。但她是新人，比他们知道的得更多是不可能的。这样的想法只能带给她压力，让她低估自己的可信度。

You can also conduct thought experiments, unearthing possibilities from trying out a different point of view. For example, one of my clients was concerned about leading the first team development offsite with her new team of highly talented country managers. With some reflection, she realized that she had gotten stuck in the perspective that in order to be seen as credible, she had to know more than they did. Since she was new, this was impossible. Holding on to that perspective would have caused her stress and undermined her credibility.

她果断放弃了自己必须是这一领域专家的假设，换了个角度把自己打造成为有价值的协调人员。于是，她得以设计并完成了一次会议。在会上这些有才华的高管们交流顺畅，智慧火花自由碰撞。此前，这个团队因缺乏协作而受苦。而这一次活动让他们建立起更好的合作关系。

By letting go of the assumption that she had to be the subject-matter expert and adopting the perspective that she could add greater value as a facilitator, she was able to design and carry out a meeting at which creative ideas flowed freely. The team, which had previously suffered from poor coordination, developed more collaborative relationships.

3.寻找连接点

举例来说，Peterson就将自己学习到的红酒知识系统性应用到发展领导力中来。酿造师们通过品尝不同的葡萄酒，对比其不同，并与同行讨论来获得专业品位。借用这些原则，Peterson意识到自己可以通过寻找到各种类型的领导者去培训、比较这些领导者在各个方面的不同，然后和其他专家研讨来延伸自己在领导力发展方面的知识。

Look for connections across seemingly unrelated areas. For example, Peterson has systematically applied principles he’s used to learn about wine to the domain of leadership development. Oenologists develop expertise by trying many different wines, comparing them, and discussing them with fellow experts. Borrowing these principles, Peterson realized that he could extend his mastery of leadership development by seeking out a wide variety of leaders to coach, comparing leaders to each other on various qualities, and discussing leaders with other experts.

自己尝试这种方法，可以找到一个你擅长但是和工作无关的领域，然后问问自己该如何将你所擅长领域的经验应用到目前的挑战当中。

To try this technique yourself, choose a domain you have expertise in but that’s unrelated to your work and ask yourself how you might apply that knowledge to your current challenge.

4.进行复盘

越来越多的研究表明，对工作经验的系统性复盘，可以显著提高学习能力。为了确保持续进步，养成问自己这些问题的习惯：“我从这一次的经验中学到了什么？”“最终结果跟我预想的有何不同？”那些自己应用并鼓励复盘的领导者，不仅自己获益良多，也鼓励其他人意识到复盘在实际情况中的作用。这为整个团队的学习敏捷力打下了基础。

Make time for reflection. A growing body of research shows that systematically reflecting on work experiences boosts learning significantly. To ensure continuous progress, get into the habit of asking yourself questions like “What have I learned from this experience?” and “What turned out differently than I expected?” Leaders who demonstrate and encourage reflection not only learn more themselves, they also spur increased contextual awareness and reflective practice in others, thereby laying a foundation for higher levels of learning agility in their teams and organizations.

练习这些策略，可以帮助你最大化从经验中学习到的价值。我们文章中的那位CEO学到了什么？撇开别的不说，他意识到了自己总是就当前的挑战询问那些在自己社交圈内的人，他们倾向于和自己持有相似的观点。因此，他坚持向两位来自其他行业的人士学习，想清楚自己希望从与他们的交谈中学到什么，并且第二天早上就打电话联络他们。

Practicing these strategies will help you extract the maximum learning from experience. What did our CEO learn? Among other things, he realized that he’s been seeking advice on a current challenge from people in his network who are likely to have similar perspectives, and that he stands to learn a great deal from two individuals in different industries. He articulated what he hoped to learn from talking with them and scheduled a time to pick up the phone the next morning.

齐菁|译      蒋荟蓉|校

Monique Valcour是高管教练、演讲者和ThirdPath Institute成员。她研究、培训、提供咨询，以帮助企业和个人实现职业发展。