Tweet

FAILING FASTER: The Secret to Accelerating The Learning Curve

Written by: Richard Fenton

Article Overview: Richard Fenton makes the case that experience is not gained through the passage of time it’s gained through participation in activity. And nothing gives you more experience than failing!

FAILING FASTER: The Secret to Accelerating The Learning Curve

Years ago, I made a move from working in the men’s wear industry, which had been my home for over 10 years, to the optical industry. In the optical business there is what is referred to as the “dispensing area”, the place where glasses are custom fitted to the customer’s face. Fitted is a nice way of saying bent, and I was terrified at the prospect of having to fit glasses. Why? Quite simply, the extent of my ability to do work with my hands stops at changing light bulbs, and I am not exaggerating. So what did I do? I spent the first few weeks on the job avoiding the dispensing counter, convinced that I would break the first frame I attempted to adjust.

Finally I decided that it was time to confront my fears and spend some time at the dispensing counter. A woman walked in the front door and headed straight toward me. I took a deep breath and said, “What can I do for you this morning?” “I need to have these glasses adjusted they’re a bit tight over the ears.” I took the glasses and glanced around, hoping I’d be saved, but there was not a single optician in sight.

I held the temple in the “bead pan” for about 10 seconds to warm it up, to make it easier to bend, then took it in my hands and gently began to apply some pressure and… SNAP! The temple of the glasses broke off in my hand. The customer asked, “What does this mean?” Well, it meant that she was going to get a new pair of glasses, but it also meant that my fear of adjusting glasses had now moved up to complete terror!

For the next three weeks I spent my time doing everything but dispensing. Finally, the General Manager, Cheryl, called me in the office to talk about the progress of my training. She said she was very pleased with my sales and management ability, but she wasn’t sure about how much progress I was making at learning to dispense glasses.

I told her about my first (and only) experience in dispensing so far. She nodded and replied with a smile, “I heard.” Then she said, “Back in the laboratory there is a box of about 100 old frames waiting to be shipped back to the manufacturer. Why don’t you take an hour or so to play with them… you’ll find that most frames don’t break as easily as you think. And,” she added, “don’t worry if you break them.”

For the rest of the day I bent and twisted and mangled every one of those frames, taking notes of what they were made of… the exact type of metal or plastic… and exactly how hard it was to break each of them. I was shocked to find out that some of them were virtually indestructible. The next day I walked in and went straight to the dispensing counter, started adjusting glasses and never looked back. As a matter of fact, in the five years I worked in the optical business I never broke another frame, which I later found out is better than average. Even the best opticians break one or two frames a year.

Which brings me to the point of this story: If the average optician breaks several frames a year, then what Cheryl allowed me to do was to get 30 years of experience in a single afternoon! And this is a very critical lesson… Experience is not gained through the passage of time… it’s gained through participation in activity. Time and experience are not one in the same. The dictionary defines experience as “something done, seen or taken part in… personal participation in an activity leading to knowledge.” Notice what word isn’t mentioned at all: time. Also, notice what words are… participation, and activity.

What I experienced with the eyeglasses was learning acceleration, or learning compression. To compress something is to “press together.” I compressed, or pressed together years and years of breaking glasses into a single day… by pulling the time out of the process. I am convinced that had Cheryl not given me the opportunity to accelerate my learning by letting me break all those frames it might have been many months, or even years, for me to gain the experience I got in a single afternoon.

The question for you is: What can you do in your environment to accelerate learning, and ultimately the performance, of your people? Discover this, and you’re on your way to amazing results!

Related Articles
  The #1 Success Shortcut to Look for When Starting an Online Home Business
  Legal Marketing: First steps for a law firm adopting social media
  Mind-Set Before Skill-Set
  The Key in Life Coaching is Spiritual Empowerment
  Top Internet Marketers Share How to Build a Six and Seven Figure Businesses

Article Tags:



Related Forum Posts
Victoria's Secret - Too Sexy? - This will be upsetting for some men. I just heard a report about Victoria's Secret and it was interesting. Their sales were down drastically in the 4th quarter of 2007 and the report was about how they are thinking the company has gotten too far away from the heritage that made it the blockbuster company it is. They are thinking the ads etc have become too sexy and the plan (at the moment) is to make the ads more sophisticated. That would be like the Super Bowl commercial which was very tasteful, but very different from any Victoria's Secret I've seen lately. Who do you all think the current sexy ads are targeting? I think its the men that they hope will buy these items for their female significant others. I hate to give Omarosa any kudos - but most women aren't "sold" on an item by an ad of a near naked sexy woman. Shri
Re: Success - I study success intently, and would like to share: Here's two excellent and nearly identical success-formulas from a couple of the world's masters. FIRST FORMULA: 1. Passionate Desire 2. Clear, Definite Purpose 3. Committed Decision 4. Take Action In Faith (Bonus Secret Sauce: 5. Repeat Consistently) I made a video about this, but am not allowed to link it yet. Google "Ryze Success Steps" for it. Oh, and this is Napoleon Hill's (Master Of Success Laws)'s Formula. SECOND FORMULA: 1. Passionate Desire 2. Understand It Is Already Done (Faith) 3. Relax & Allow It To Unfold (Go about your life calmly) This one is courtesy of Abraham-Hicks (inspiration for the movie The Secret). Hope that helps!
Re: My Favourite 7 Boldest Entrepreneur Moves of All Time - Hi Evan, I have a new suggestion for "Boldest Entrepreneur Moves of All Time" and a suggestion for your Learning from the Masters series: 1. Boldest Entrepreneur Moves of All Time = Christopher Columbus: "... he saw the possibility of treasure and commerce where others saw only danger. He committed so wholeheartedly to that vision that not even dozens of rejections and ongoing penury could dissuade him from pursuing a journey to Asia via the West. He built on his technical strengths as a seaman to plan a viable journey and eventually marshal an expedition." - Christopher Hoenig, 6 Essential Secrets for Thinking on a New Level I bought Hoenig's book about 10 years ago but couldn't make head or tail of it then... reading it now and finding it inspirational... 2. Nomination for Learning from the Masters video: Dee Hock, founder of VISA. (Source = Hoenig.)
The Secret - Hi Binary Guy - The Secret certainly has been getting a lot of attention and promotion by the likes of Oprah. What have your experiences been with the program?
Social media - which is more effective social media networking; Facebook or twitter? follow me at My Secret Staff cathy secretstaff05


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Work at Home Moms and Their Bad Rap?

The five pillars of internet marketing strategy

Soda Vending Machine = Energy Hog

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.