Are You Closed or Open to Learning?

Today, I had a meeting with a co-worker which caused me to do some self-reflection.  I had to ask myself, "Am I really open to learning?" 

The co-worker was opposed to working on administrative duties although the duties are major components of any program manager's job, especially one without administrative or support staff.  The co-worker didn't consider the new assignment as a way to grow and broaden her experience.  In this particular instance, the consequence to being closed to learning was the employee missed an opportunity to create a highly, visible program and display her talents.

So many of us feel as though certain work duties are beneath us just because they don't appear to be equal to our position, title, grade level, degree, or credentials, instead of looking at new assignments as opportunities to grow and as pathways to other more rewarding work.  If we close our minds to opportunites to do different work or take on new assignements, we will never grow or expand our experience. We eventually STOP learning! 

 L&D professionals cannot afford to be closed-minded. We are in fact among the innovators and change agents who create learning environments within our organizations. We are supposed to open to continuous growth and improvement.

I ended my self-reflection with thoughts about how I once had a closed-mind to learning, until I changed my outlook.  I can only wonder how once being closed deferred my own growth.  I now look at all tasks and assignments as opportunities to learn and grow.  This encounter with my co-worker gave me an opportunity to see just how much I've grown in my learning journey!

Are you closed or open to learning?  How have your views about learning changed on your learning journey?  Feel free to share some of your experiences.