Rise of Autodidacts in the Knowledge Economy

 Those who tread the path of continuous and self-directed learning will not just survive but thrive in this disruptive world. Rajiv Maheshwari talks about ways in which a sustainable Learning Culture can be cultivated.

We live in volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) times that pose a unique challenge. Having worked in five service industries and witnessing the creation of intellectual property by our clients, I can see the tsunami of these disruptive forces at play.

“The Child is the Father of the Man” famously remarked William Woodsworth more than two centuries ago. Let us allow ourselves the creative liberty and wish our “days bound each to each by natural curiosity” instead of natural piety.

We are often intrigued by the natural curiosity of children. The learning curve they exhibit during their formative years is a trainer’s dream come true. However, how often do we pause to ponder why the sparks of inquisitiveness have extinguished? What causes this “learned helplessness” in the field of learning itself? Is this caused by our faulty education system that was designed for the Industrial Revolution rather than the Information Revolution? Is this the result of years of corporate drudgery that dampens the yearning to learn in the quest of earning?

This is an extract from an article that was first published in Human Capital Magazine July 2016. Read the full article here.

Authored by Rajiv Maheshwari.