NEW TECHNOLOGY
I often find myself sitting with a group of people (usually the same group of people) arguing about something that’s not really that important. For instance, the constant battles I have with friends about Fantasy Football trades, is Kobe better than Lebron, and choice of hand soap (this actually happened, because one girl said she chose hand soap that reminded her of her long distance boyfriend). To win an argument, you have to base it on some sort of actual facts. My biggest question is, how did people used to look these facts up? If you were arguing about who was a better hockey player, would you have to postpone your argument until next time while you went home and looked it up on a hockey card? My grandma always complained that “you didn’t need to know anything more, you could just look it up”. I often responded with “at least I know how to look things up”.
HOW DO I LEARN?
When I was in grade 5 I remember having reading time every day. If you didn’t have a book to read, you would have to grab a volume of the encyclopedia (with pictures of course) and actually learn something while you were reading. I made it all the way through the encyclopedia in a year remembering barely any of what I was reading. The Encyclopedia Britannica recently announced they will stop publication after 241 years. We are obviously getting our information in different places than we used to. The way the younger generations are learning has huge impacts in the workplace considering the majority of the forest industry is over 45 years old. Those people all learned their trade through on the job experience, the younger generations is has more school education, and in a lot of cases prefers to learn on their own through technology then from an actual person. That also gives them the chance to choose when and where they’re going to do the learning. So basically what I’m saying is traditional book learning and gaining on the job experience is not the way I learn. I learn best with interactive online learning situations. I want to see how something is done then have the opportunity to try it myself. I don’t want someone to tell me how to do it. I want to figure it out myself.
WHERE DO I LEARN?
I’ve also noticed a difference in the way I look for information compared to other generations. If my grandpa wants to know something, he calls an expert and asks. If my dad wants to learn something, he’ll search for answers through google. When I want to know something, I’ll ask my friends on facebook. I guess there could be an issue with my technique because my friends are wrong a lot (I know this because I am always right, making them wrong unless we agree or something). But even if none of my friends know the answer, someone will know where to find it.
THE BEST PLACE TO LEARN!
When we started Work Wild we did a lot of research to figure out what people wanted in a career. One of the important things was OPPORTUNITY. Not just the opportunity to have a good job, but the opportunity to work with the best and brightest people and to constantly continue to learn. One of the best parts of my young career in the forest industry has been the awesome mentors I’ve got to work with. All of them have embraced my learning style. They’ve given me goals, and let me decide how to accomplish them whenever and however I can. If you’re a practical problem solver always looking to grow, this industry is for you.