Information Navigation

Creative Thinking

Knowledge Navigation

Learning Uncertainty

Agile Learning

By Jim Ollhoff, PhD

The Four Skills of

Agile Learning

2

Table of Contents

The Four Skills of Agile Learning

Copyright © 2013, By Jim Ollhoff. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in

any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by

an information storage and retrieval system—except by a reviewer who may quote brief pas-

sages in a review to be printed in a magazine, newspaper, or on the Web—without permission

in writing from the author.

I am indebted to Dr. Fredrick Bartling for helping to co-create many of the

concepts in this manuscript.

Introduction to Agile Learning ..................................................... 3

Types of Learning ......................................................................... 5

Overview of the Four Skills ......................................................... 8

Information Navigation ................................................................ 10

Knowledge Navigation ................................................................. 13

Creative Thinking ......................................................................... 16

Learning Uncertainty ................................................................... 19

Hindrances to Agile Learning ...................................................... 23

Summary ...................................................................................... 26

3

Introduction to Agile Learning

We need new skills.

A thousand years ago, most people were farmers. Things didn’t change much from year to

year. Books were rare and only for the elite. Most scientific knowledge hadn’t changed sig-

nificantly since the times of the ancient Greeks. For the average person, there wasn’t much

to learn. Sure, every decade or two people had to learn a new taxation system, but even that

was pretty simple. Knowledge on the planet doubled about every 500 years. There simply

wasn’t much for the average person to learn.

In Western Europe during the time of the Renaissance, there were the occasional news arti-

cles. A guy named Columbus found Asia or possibly a new continent. A man named Coper-

nicus published a heretical theory about the earth moving around the sun. If you were a pro-

fessor at a university during the renaissance, the times were pretty exciting. However, for the

vast majority of people, they made their living on the farm or as a merchant in a local town.

Things still didn’t change much.

But since the later middle ages, change has been increasing;

and change increases exponentially. Today, we have a tightly

interconnected world where one thing always affects other

things. A drought in West Asia can affect food prices in the

United States. Medications we take affect the genders of fish.

The burning of coal to produce energy changes the climate.

The chemicals we put on our lawns to make the grass green in

Minnesota create massive dead zones in the Gulf of Mexico.

Chemicals used to make non-stick pans show up in the fat of

arctic polar bears. Things always affect other things in unexpected ways.

Today, change is rampant, and it’s difficult to keep up with all the changes and interconnec-

tions. Through most of human history, knowledge on the planet doubled about every 500

years. Today, depending on the discipline, knowledge on the planet can double every 500

days.

Change is sometimes incremental and sometimes volatile. Sometimes change is helpful,

sometimes change gives us more obstacles. Sometimes change is welcome, sometimes it is

disruptive. Sometimes change is predictable, and other times change blind-sides us. Typical-

ly, the relentlessly increasing pace of change has both negative and positive effects on the

human psyche.

Agile learning:

To learn what we need to learn,

when we need to learn it.

4

On one hand, the pace of change and the avalanche of new information can be exciting and

stimulating. We have the opportunity to learn new things and find new insights. New solu-

tions are available to us that weren’t available before. But on the other hand, the relentless

pace of change can make us fatigued and uncertain. We can experience the guilt of thinking

we should know more than we do. People can fall behind and become the “information have

nots.”

The changing, fluid, chaotic nature of our times means that we will face problems that we

have never faced before. We are called to make decisions on issues that are new and original

to us. In a world that is densely interconnected, every solution we implement can create

more problems.

People entering the workforce today will change careers, on average, six times. Not six job

changes, but six career changes. People will have thirty different jobs in their lifetime. Fur-

ther, for 80% of us, those future job changes will be jobs that don’t exist today.

There is only one way to thrive in today’s constantly changing, turbulent world. And that is,

to be a self-disciplined, life-long learner. Our jobs are never static. We need to continually

learn new skills, new ideas, and new techniques. We need to shift paradigms regularly. We

need to unlearn what we used to know and replace it with new knowledge.

In many cases, our educational system hasn’t prepared us for life-

long learning in dynamic, ever-changing environments. Our edu-

cational system tends to value knowers rather than learners. Chil-

dren, youth, and college students are often evaluated based on

their ability to know and recall specific factoids. It is much more

difficult to measure the ability to learn, even though that’s more

important. The skill of recalling factoids is no longer so important

when we have multiple devices at our fingertips that can look up

any information on the planet. However, our educational system

often simply measures what it can measure, and we end up valu-

ing the ability to know rather than the ability to learn.

This monograph explores the need to be a life-long, self-disciplined, self-responsible learner.

This is sometimes called self-directed learning or agile learning. To be agile is to be nimble

and quick, to move with ease. We need to be agile learners—to quickly and with great ease

learn the things we need to learn.

Here’s a definition of agile learning: To learn what we need to learn, when we need to learn

it. Some have this capacity deeply embedded in their bones. Others struggle with agile learn-

ing, waiting for someone else to tell them what to learn and how to learn it. Research has

shown that the best agile learners are the most successful and effective in their jobs.

Our educational system tends to value knowers

rather than Learners.

5

Types of Learning

When education researchers talk about learning, they sometimes talk about the objective

and the process of learning.

The objective of learning is your goal—it’s what you want to learn. You need to learn about

lean six sigma, or you need to learn how to operate a new computer program. You might

want to learn ballet, or learn how to play the guitar, or get a working knowledge of quantum

physics. That’s the objective of learning—what you need to know or want to know, the body

of knowledge you want to have at the end of the learning process. Sometimes we choose the

objective. Other times the objective is chosen for us—often by a boss who needs us to learn

something new. The boss may say, “go find out our competitors are doing,” or “learn this

database program so that you can teach it to everyone else.” If our boss tells us what we

have to learn, then the objective is chosen for us.

The process of learning is how you are going to meet your objective. Are you going to read

books? Take a class? Interview people? Practice on your own? Earn a degree in that topic?

The process of learning is the path that you will take to learn whatever you need to learn.

Sometimes we are in a position to choose our own process. For example, you want to pick

up a hobby of vegan cooking. So you can decide the process: you’ll read some books, talk to

vegan friends, watch a couple DVDs. In this example, you have chosen the process.

Other times, we don’t have control over the process of learning. For example, if you want to

change careers and become a nurse, there are specific classes you must take and only certain

schools you can attend. You must go through a lengthy certification process. If you want to

become a nurse, you don’t have control over the process of learning.

That leaves us with four possibilities. When the learner controls the objective of the learn-

ing, but not the process of learning, we call that non-formal learning. An example of this is

when you take a self-enrichment class. You decide what you want to learn (the objective),

but the teacher of the class tells you how to learn it (the process).

The objective of learning is your goal—it’s what you want to learn…

The process of learning is how you are going to meet your objective.

6

Learner controls the objective of the learning

Non-Formal Learning

Autodidactic Learning

Learner does not control the objective of

the learning

Formal Learning

Informal Learning

Learner does not control the process

of the learning

Learner controls the process of the learning

When the learner does not control the objective of the learning, and does not control the pro-

cess either, we call that formal learning, probably the most common type of learning. Virtu-

ally all elementary, middle and high school, and most college experiences are formal. For

example, you are a freshman in college want to get a bachelor’s degree. The university stipu-

lates the courses you must take and the order you must take them. Virtually every decision

about the objective and process is made for you. The classes you must take, the assignments

that you must do, and how many years you have to study are all decisions controlled by the

university, not you.

When the learner does not control the objective of the learning, but does control the process

of learning, we call that informal learning. An example of this may be when an employer

tells you to learn something that the business will need. “Go figure out how to use this com-

puter program” is the mandated objective. But you have the freedom to learn the computer in

any way you wish (the process). You could take a class, read a computer manual, learn from

someone else, or click around in the software and figure it out on your own.

When the learner controls both the objective and the process of the learning, it is called auto-

didactic learning. This means that you decide what you need to learn (the objective), and

then how you want to learn it (the process). An example would be if you decided to learn

more about fitness, and then chose a book, a trainer, and some online videos.

There is no best type of learning. Each of these four types have their place. Most of us are

more engaged in the learning when we have more autonomy (when we choose the objective

and the process). When we are more engaged, we tend to learn more. However, we need to

be able to take responsibility for our own learning whether we have chosen the objective or

not, or whether we have chosen the process or not.

7

That is what agile, or self-directed, learning is: agile learning is to take responsibility for

whatever kind of learning is needed. For example, an agile learner wants to learn the guitar,

and so signs up for guitar lessons (non-formal learning). As they get started however, the

learner realizes that the class demands a greater level of music proficiency. Since the learner

won’t benefit from the course, the learner stops attending class and enrolls in a music class.

This simple act shows a responsibility for the learning process.

The boss asks an agile learner to learn a new database computer program, so it can be taught

to everyone. The learner starts to learn it by reading the manual, and then clicking around to

become familiar with it (informal learning). The learner will perhaps, take a variety of ave-

nues to learn the software. This is agile learning.

In a college class (formal learning), the agile learner works to adapt the assignments to

something that will be useful for the learner. Perhaps the learner skims the required book and

reads a different book, not on the syllabus. The learner talks to the professor about taking the

assignment in a different direction. Taking responsibility for learning is agile learning.

The point is that self-directed learners learn what they need to

learn, when they need to learn it. If the learner engages in one

of the ways of learning, and the process doesn’t work for the

learner, they change. They take responsibility to learn and they

work to control their own learning process. There is a consistent

strong correlation between exceptional leaders and the skill of

agile learning.

This grid of four types of learning was introduced by Donald Mocker and George Spear.

They wrote about this model in 1982, and it continues to be used as a helpful way of seeing

the constructs. A couple of the terms have been changed. Their original paper is called Life-

long Learning: Formal, Nonformal, Informal, and Self-Directed.

Agile learning is to take responsibility for whatever kind

of learning is needed.

8

Overview of the Four Skills

Agile learning is to take responsibility for our learning, and to learn what we need to learn

when we need to learn it. Agile learning is set of interconnected skills. Presented here are

four skills that are critical to self-directed learning. None of these four skills are innate—

they are all teachable and learnable. These skills are information navigation, knowledge nav-

igation, creative thinking, and learning uncertainty. Information Navigation

This skill encompasses how to find and evaluate information. When we are good at infor-

mation navigation, we can scan large amounts of data quickly to determine whether it is use-

ful. This skill allows the proper use of information. We always have more information avail-

able to us than we can use, so we need ways to sort through the avalanche of data to deter-

mine the critical pieces of information that will get us where we need to go. We need ways

to navigate massive oceans of data.

Knowledge Navigation

This skill is the ability to move through the information, and then finding meaning in it.

When we find meaning in the data—when we coalesce and combine critical pieces of infor-

mation so that it has meaning, then we have created knowledge. With the skill of knowledge

navigation comes the understanding of what we know and what we don’t know. Navigating

knowledge is to have the passion and drive to actually learn the knowledge that you need. It

is the executive processing of information—taking the information and applying it to real-

life situations, transferring the information into new disciplines and domains, and extending

information with other concepts. When we have done this, we have created knowledge.

Creative Thinking

One of the consequences of an ever-changing world is the gener-

ation of new problems—problems that have never been seen be-

fore. In order to meet this challenge, we need to look at prob-

lems in new and useful ways. This skill encompasses the ability

to bring a creative charge to problems. Creative thinking means

to think about knowledge in new and useful ways. It is to bring

knowledge from another discipline and use it in the new prob-

lem. It is to bring skills of curiosity and imagination to bear on a

problem and think about the problem in innovative ways. When-

ever we can step back and look at a problem in a new way—a

way that is helpful—then we have engaged in creative thinking.

None of these skills are innate—

they are all teachable and

learnable.

9

Information Navigation

Creative Thinking

Knowledge Navigation

Learning Uncertainty

Agile Learning

The Four Skills of Agile Learning

Learning Uncertainty

This skill is the ability to understand the transience of knowledge. Knowledge comes and

goes, it grows and it becomes obsolete. Self-directed learners must embrace the uncertainty

that comes with learning. Knowledge eventually becomes unable to solve new problems.

Learning uncertainty is to know how to move between tentative information and certain

knowledge. It is to be able to unlearn knowledge that has expired or is no longer useful.

* * *

These four skills give us the capacity of agile learning. We’ll be able to learn with quickness

and nimbleness, and to find, learn, and then use the information we need. The degree to

which we have these four skills is the degree to which we’ll be agile learners.

10

From the fury of the Northmen, Lord, deliver us!

For a thousand years, the English church prayed this prayer (up until the 20th century). Of

course, originally they were seeking divine intervention from the Vikings, who were known

to lust after the loot in English churches. From 800 A.D. to 1100 A.D., the Vikings of Scandi-

navia settled, farmed, battled, traded, and pillaged. Their influence was felt in Europe, Can-

ada, Russia, and the Middle East. The Vikings are known for their invasions; but less

known were their skills as explorers and navigators.

The magnetic compass hadn’t been invented in Europe yet (although the Chinese had al-

ready had it for 1000 years), but yet they were great navigators. One tool was the sun com-

pass, which was a crystal stone that could find the position of the sun on a cloudy day.

Scholars think that the crystal, when held a certain way, de-polarized the light so they could

see where the sun.

They knew how to sail by the stars. They also watched birds. Depending on the food that

the birds had in their beaks, and the direction that they were flying, it could mean that land

was near. Ancient sailors could often read how the waves lapped against the side of the

boat—and from that they knew when land was nearby.

The Vikings knew what to look for when they were out on the water. Of the millions of

cues—fish jumping, wind, rain, waves, sky, sun, stars, constellations—the Vikings knew

which clues were important. They could sort through millions of clues to find the clues they

needed which would guide them to where they wanted to go.

Today, we need the skills of information navigation. This is the skill to sail a huge ocean of

information, and find the few bits of information that we really need. It’s finding and evalu-

ating an ocean of data to get where we want to go. We need to be Information Vikings.

Information Navigation

Today, we need the skill to sail a huge ocean of information,

and find the few bits of information that we really need.

11

The Skill We are engulfed in data. Information is churning all around us, constantly hounding us for

our attention. Further, we are churning out more and more information, at an exponentially

increasing rate. The shelf-life of information (the amount of time it takes for information to

become obsolete) decreases constantly. Information expires quickly, and new information

replaces the obsolete information.

Most of the information that hits each of us is meaningless (“Celebrity wardrobe fail!”). A

huge amount of the information is simply incorrect (“Vaccines cause autism!”). Somewhere,

in the avalanche of information, are the few bits of information you need. These few and far-

between pieces of information might help you with a hobby, might help you with a problem

you need to solve, or might make you more effective on your job. Being able to sort through

the sea of data is having the skill of information navigation.

Information navigation is the ability to find and evaluate information. For example, it is easy

to find information saying that vaccines cause autism. But only in the popular literature do

you find this kind of information. Popular literature is entertainment-driven, highly opinion-

ated, and loose with facts. On the other hand, peer reviewed research is where experiments

are done. These experiments test the questions that the rest of us have. When researchers test

whether vaccines cause autism, it is crystal-clear that vaccines do not cause autism.

Information navigation is to be able to scan large amounts of data to quickly determine

whether it is useful. Having this skill helps the person use information properly and effec-

tively. Not very many years ago, this skill was virtually unnecessary. Today, information

navigation is vital to survive.

Critical Components

The skill of information navigation has several components.

Finding information. The fir st component of effectiveness in navigating the sea of infor-

mation is to find what you need. What information do you need and how do you find it? Do

you look for the information in Cosmopolitan? Or in professional trade magazines? Or in

peer reviewed journals? What’s the difference? If the information you need is obscure, do

you know how to dig for it? Do you know who to go to if you can’t find it? Knowing where

to go is the first step in refining the skill of information management.

12

Cognitive load management. This is a term that simply means, “To deal with the ava-

lanche of data.” There is so much information out there, so much data—how do we deal with

it? How do we quickly scan large amounts of data? One of the new terms that has crept into

the language is “infoglut.” As you might expect, infoglut is a description of the huge amount

of information on any given subject—too much to digest. How do we avoid becoming over-

whelmed by infoglut—the sheer amount of information on any given subject? And how do

we sort through the avalanche to find what we really need? Cognitive load management is

the process of dealing with the massive surplus of data.

Evaluating information. It’s not enough just to find information. We need to evaluate it

as well. It’s easy to find a million hits that say NASA didn’t really land on the moon or that

vaccines are bad for you. Some things are easy to disprove: for example, there has never

been any research-based evidence that vaccines cause anything (except a lack of polio,

smallpox, etc.). With other sources, it’s important to watch for suspicious clues. These are

sometimes called “red flags,” and they may be things like conflicts of interest, suspicious

funding, lack of author credentials, etc. Every source has red flags; but if you collect too

many red flags from a source, it’s best to move on to another source.

Information Management. So, after we find it, sor t through it, and then evaluate it, we

need to manage it for the long term. How we store it—either in our heads, on the computer,

in the cloud, or in a file cabinet—impacts how effectively we retrieve it. Research shows that

masters of a discipline have organized their information, not only to effectively retrieve it,

but also have organized it in a way to make new information easily assimilated. In other

words, experts don’t have better memories; they have better ways of organizing information.

For Further Reading Any number of books or articles on the web can explore this topic. Besides the search en-

gines like Google, it would be worth it to explore databases that give full-text articles not

available on Google (unless you pay an exorbitant fee). Databases such as Proquest, EB-

SCO, and Sage provide professional and peer-reviewed research articles. For a more concep-

tual and comprehensive approach to information, see James Gleick’s 2012 book The Infor-

mation. Luciano Floridi also has a book with a more philosophical bent, called Information:

A Very Short Introduction.

13

One of the great medical minds in history was a Hungarian doctor by the name of Ignaz

Semmelweis (1818-1865). He was an obstetrician, at a time before the world knew about

germs, bacteria, or viruses.

In those days, up to 35% of women who gave birth in crowded hospitals often died of a con-

dition called “childbirth fever.” Today, we know childbirth fever was simple infections

caused by the dirty conditions—bed sheets weren’t changed and doctors didn’t wash their

hands between examinations. But back then, the medical establishment didn’t know why

women died at such a high rate, but they simply accepted it as a sad fact. In crowded hospi-

tals, a third of women could die. But when women gave birth with a midwife, the childbirth

fever death rate was as low as 1%.

During an autopsy in 1847, Semmelweis and his friend were talking about the terrible num-

ber of childbirth fever deaths. A student doctor accidently poked the finger of Semmelweis’

friend. The friend died a few days later. Semmelweis realized that his friend had the same

symptoms as childbirth fever.

Semmelweis began to do some experiments, and he found that when doctors washed their

hands in-between examinations, the childbirth fever rate dropped to 1%. The results of his

experiments were staggering, but he didn’t understand the cause. The cause—bacteria trans-

ferred from one patient to another by the doctors—wouldn’t be understood until Louis Pas-

teur and Joseph Lister identified infectious germs in the 1860s and 1870s.

Even though he didn’t understand the mechanism for the drop in childbirth fever, he saw

what was happening. He understood that doctors were spreading the infection. In his hospi-

tal, he instituted mandatory hand washing of doctors and general cleanliness. Childbirth fe-

ver deaths dropped to nearly nothing.

His colleagues across Europe, however, were not so impressed. They were offended by the

thought they were the cause of the infections. They were upset at the idea that they should

wash their hands, especially since he couldn’t explain why it would help. Eventually, Sem-

melweis was put into prison for his strange views (he was also an ornery cuss and no one

liked him). He was imprisoned in 1865, just as Louis Pasteur was proving how germs could

cause infections. Semmelweis died in prison of an infection.

Knowledge Navigation

14

Semmelweis wasn’t satisfied with the medical establishment’s views on childbirth fever

deaths. He wasn’t willing to say that “childbirth fever deaths are sad, but normal.” He ob-

served carefully, and had a commitment and drive to solve the mystery. He did his experi-

ments and followed up with the results. Semmelweis was an exemplar of knowledge naviga-

tion. His colleagues, not so much. They were stuck in an obsolete mental model, and could

not break free of that mental model to see new ideas.

The Skill Information is individual facts. Knowledge is when information coalesces into something

meaningful. Information is to say that Abraham Lincoln was born in 1809. Knowledge is to

understand why Abraham Lincoln was an important part of American history. Information

is to know that Thor was the God of Thunder in Norse Mythology. Knowledge is to under-

stand why mythological stories like Thor were important for a culture’s identity. Infor-

mation was to know that one-third of women died in hospital childbirth in the early 1800s.

Knowledge was to understand how childbirth fever was happening and what to do about it.

Knowledge is expansive and interconnected. Knowledge is a model for how things work.

When we have an indepth understanding of something, we have knowledge. When we know

how to use an insight to improve ourselves or our performance, we have knowledge. When

we can combine a bunch of informational factoids into a way so that we have a way of pre-

dicting and making meaning, we have knowledge. When we use information and apply it to

our lives, recombine it for new insights, and use the information in new contexts, then we

have knowledge.

Like Ignaz Semmelweis, who saw a pattern in childbirth fever, we need to move from infor-

mation to knowledge. Knowledge navigation is the ability to see the patterns in information,

and then turn that information into knowledge. Knowledge navigation is to move from one

kind of knowledge to another, from one discipline to another. We move through various

kinds of knowledge, to use it in different ways and different contexts. To navigate

knowledge is to see and move freely between what we don’t know and what we do know—

and to be able to see the difference.

Knowledge navigation is the ability to see the patterns in information, and then turn that

information into knowledge.

15

Critical Components

Self-Reflectiveness: When we are self-reflective, we know ourselves. We have an honest

assessment of what we can do and what we can’t. To be self-reflective is to understand the

critical areas of growth that we need, and to pursue those areas purposefully and intentional-

ly. When we are self-reflective, we know what we don’t know. If we’re astute enough to

know what we don’t know, we can go out and learn it. On the other hand, some people are

not very self-reflective, and thus don’t have an accurate picture of their own knowledge

gaps. Those people blithely meander through life, not knowing much, but believing they

know more than they do.

Learning Commitment

Knowledge navigation is not just knowing how to go somewhere, it’s actually going there.

This component is a commitment to learning. It’s an emotional and intuitive engagement

with an issue. It is to recognize that the responsibility for learning is one’s own, and getting a

thrill out of that learning. It is to know when you need to know something, and then be fully

committed and engaged in finding the answers. You don’t wait for someone else to tell you

what to learn or how to learn it. You take the bull by the horns and learn what you need in a

way that works for you. Learning commitment is the bull-headedness to go out and learn

whatever it is you need.

Executive Functions: You are reading a book, and you learn an impor tant insight. You

put the book down, and start thinking about the insight. You think about how you might ap-

ply this insight to your work, or combine that insight with a previous insight. You take the

insight and extend it, thinking about how to put it together with other knowledge to inform a

new problem. When we do these things—applying, transferring, extending, synthesizing,

analyzing—these things are called executive functions. That’s a critical component of

knowledge navigation. We don’t just “know” something. We manipulate the knowledge and

make use of it in your life.

These three components provide the base for knowledge navigation. The strategic self-

reflection tells us what to learn. The learning commitment gives us the drive to learn it. The

executive functions give us the ability to use the knowledge. When we have these three com-

ponents, we can easily navigate the dynamic, fluid, and constantly-changing ocean of

knowledge.

For Further Reading Infosense: Turning Information into Knowledge was written by Keith Devlin more than a

decade ago. He’s been studying information since the mid-1980s, and has explored the is-

sues around information and knowledge. Daniel Kahneman, a Nobel Prize winner, wrote

Thinking, Fast and Slow, a best-seller that explains two different kinds of thinking that are

available to us.

16

One of the greatest generals in history was Hannibal, a general from the city of Carthage in

Northern Africa. He took his small, untrained armies and fought the greatest military of his

day, the Romans. And he won every battle.

Hannibal wanted to march on Rome, but knew he couldn’t take the massive Roman military

on head-to-head. He had to take them apart, piece by piece.

In 216 B.C., Hannibal attacked a grain depot near the Italian town of Cannae. Hannibal knew

the Romans would send an army, which is just what he wanted. He intentionally lured the

Roman military to a particular hill. The Romans outnumbered Hannibal’s troops by more

than 2 to 1, but Hannibal had a plan.

The Roman army was always better trained and better equipped than its enemies. So, when

the battles began, the Roman soldiers would charge straight ahead, punching a line in the

enemy positions. The Romans called it “the hammer.” The Roman Hammer worked great

against poorly trained, poorly equipped rag-tag enemies.

Hannibal knew the Hammer would come, and he had given his troops instructions to retreat

quickly. When the Roman Hammer came, Hannibal’s center troops withdrew quickly, up

the hill. But Hannibal’s troops along the sides quickly moved forward.

The Roman soldiers continued to advance, believing they were winning. But they were

charging uphill, straight into the sun. Dust kicked up by Hannibal’s retreat blew in the eyes

of the Roman soldiers. Hannibal’s soldiers had created a “V” shape, with retreating troops in

the center and advancing troops on the side. This forced the Roman soldiers into closer and

closer combat, until they could no longer maneuver with their swords and shields. Blinded

by dust and the sun, exhausted from running uphill, and squeezed into claustrophobic condi-

tions, the Roman soldiers found themselves surrounded by Hannibal’s army. Tens of thou-

sands of superior Roman troops were captured or killed.

Hannibal had studied the Roman army strategies. His curiosity paid off, as he was able to

create a strategy that used their own strength against them. Hannibal imagined and then cre-

ated a place to engage the Romans, and solved multiple problems in one fell swoop. His cre-

ative thinking continued to bring him victories at every battle.

Creative Thinking

17

The Skill Creative thinking is the ability to bring a novel change to the information or knowledge. It is

to think about the knowledge in new and useful ways. It is to bring knowledge from another

discipline and use it in the new problem. It is to bring skills of curiosity and imagination to

bear on a problem and think about the problem in innovative ways. Innovation is almost al-

ways the key to large-scale success in organizations, and innovation begins with a creative

process.

Creative thinking is an innate human quality. Everyone has the capacity for creativity. How-

ever, in our families, schools, and organizations, creativity can be nurtured and cultivated, or

it can be squashed and punished. People manifest different levels of creative thinking based

on their upbringing and the current state of the organizational culture.

Most people will say that creative thinking is important for individuals and organizations.

However, creative thinking is frequently squelched or squandered by poor leadership or anx-

ious organizational cultures. While the rhetoric of organizations extols the need for creativi-

ty, policies and procedures can hinder or punish creativity. External deadlines, microman-

agement, hyperconcern for efficiency and productivity will damp any creativity in the sys-

tem.

Creativity can be enhanced in organizations by allowing people mental space to play with

ideas. It can be enhanced by not keeping people too busy, by not filling every waking mo-

ment with tasks. Creativity can be enhanced by welcoming new ideas, and not punishing a

creative idea that didn’t come to fruition. An organizational culture that is high on trust and

laughter will bring more creative ideas than organizations that are anxious and paranoid.

Critical Components There are several important constructs that make up crea-

tive thinking.

Curiosity: This is the rage to explore, the burning de-

sire to see how things work or what’s around the next

bend. Curiosity is to wonder constantly, and to seek an-

swers to the many questions. Curious people are inquisi-

tive and eager to know more. They are good at making

connections and can easily bring principles and ideas from

other contexts to bear on the current problem. Curiosity is

what gives creativity its driving force.

An organizational culture that is high on

trust and laughter will bring more

creative ideas than organizations that are anxious and paranoid.

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Imagination: This is the capacity to visualize what isn’t yet there. It is to see a mental

model for what it is, and have the ability to step outside one’s own mental model and climb

into a new model. Imaginative people can shift their frame and see things from another point

of view. Imaginative people will ask the question, “Why can’t we do it that way?” Some

scholars have linked imagination to empathy. Without empathy, we can never understand

anyone else.

Problem-Solving: Problem solving and decision making make up the fir st cr itical com-

ponent of creative thinking. Research suggests that most people are poor problem solvers.

Most people simply shave off the symptom of the problem rather than actually solve the

problem. To be a good problem solver is see the difference between the symptom and the

problem, and then actually seek to fix the problem.

Moodling: Moodling is the slow, playing with ideas. It is taking knowledge and mulling

it over, trying it out in new ways and in new contexts. Moodling is a playful and inefficient

act of toying with an idea. Moodling is to take an idea out for a walk, perhaps coming back

with a different idea. Without moodling, there is little room for creative thinking. Moodling

is not well-respected in our culture; in fact, it is usually frowned upon, since it is inefficient

and does not always produce results.

One way of conceiving creativity is the dynamic combination of curiosity, imagination, and

problem-solving, with plenty of time for moodling. With this combination of skills, creativi-

ty emerges in a person. Organizational creativity emerges when several creative people can

work together. However, the organizational culture can encourage creativity or squelch it. If

the organizational culture does not allow for curiosity, imagination, problem solving, and

moodling, then there will be little ambient creativity in the system.

For Further Reading Ken Robinson makes an impassioned call for creative thinking in businesses and schools in

Out of our Minds: Learning to be Creative.

One of the classic books is Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s book Creativity: Flow and the Psy-

chology of Discovery and Invention. Tina Lynn Seelig’s InGenius is another important over-

view in the field. James Kaufman’s book, Creativity 101 is essentially a book-length litera-

ture review, exploring what is known in dozens of topics in the field. Frans Johansson’s im-

portant work takes a look at one particular way of being creative—when insights of different

disciplines intersect. His book is called The Medici Effect.

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In the years of World War I (1914-1918), France suffered catastrophic damage to its cities

and countryside, as well as horrible numbers of lives lost. After the War ended, the French

were determined to protect themselves from another German attack. Some believed that be-

cause of the harsh penalties to which Germany was subjected, it was likely that the Germans

would retaliate and invade France again.

So, in the 1920s, French political and military leaders discussed how to stop another inva-

sion. One school of thought said that the French military should become highly mobile and

mechanized, so that they could quickly move to any area. The other school of thought said

that the French military should design massive defensive fortresses, with guns facing Ger-

many, to protect the French border. It was this second view that won out. The series of bor-

der fortresses became known as the Maginot Line, named after the French Minister of War,

Andre Maginot.

In the 1930s, they built 50 massive fortresses, with smaller fortifications in-between each

larger fortress. The Line was a spectacular feat of engineering. They were built of concrete

and reinforced steel, able to withstand heavy artillery fire. The fortresses could hold hun-

dreds of soldiers. There were underground bunkers, stores, telephone services, even barber

shops. Underground railways connected many of the fortresses. Heavy artillery pointed to-

ward Germany. The French were ready.

In 1940, the Nazis invaded France. They simply avoided the fortresses by flying over them

and by walking around them (through Belgium). France fell, and most of Maginot’s giant

fortresses never got off a shot.

There’s an axiom in military strategy: Generals always fight the previ-

ous war. That axiom was very true in the case of the Maginot Line. The

French generals assumed that the Germans, when they attacked, would

march toward them in straight lines, just like the armies of Napoleon’s

time. French generals dismissed aircraft—which had been used success-

fully in World War I—as being an interesting toy but having no military

value. French generals never imagined how mobile and quick an enemy

army could be. French generals put all their eggs in the basket of the

Maginot Line, and never considered what would happen if the enemy

got behind the fortifications. They were certain about their view of the battlefield. Unfortu-

nately, certainty almost never exists.

Learning Uncertainty

Generals always fight the previous

war.

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After World War I, the French were faced with uncertainty—will Germany invade again and

what is the best way to defend? Unfortunately, they took the uncertainty and developed a

single set of answers, to which they tied themselves: When the Germans attack, they will

march toward us in straight lines. They were so certain about their answer, that they took ten

years building fortifications to address their certainty. Consequently, it took the Germans

only 6 weeks to conquer France.

Instead of holding their ideas tentatively, the French leaders chose to embrace certainty. In-

stead of being skeptical about their own plans, they chose to believe their own hype. Instead

of building back up plans, they became so confident about their fortresses that backup plans

were unnecessary. Instead of observing and understanding that military technology and strat-

egy was changing, they simply put their heads in the sand. Or rather, they put their heads in

the Maginot Line.

The Skill Information changes. Knowledge comes and goes. Some ideas that were once firmly held are

now dead and gone. There is ambiguity that comes with every new idea. Is it true? Is it tran-

sient? Is the idea valid in some contexts but not others? When will the idea grow out of date?

Some people ignore that inherent ambiguity, and instead, simply choose to be certain about

it. Those are the people who grip an idea tightly, holding on for dear life. Those are the peo-

ple who act as if to say, “My mind’s made up, don’t confuse me with the facts.”

Self-directed learners are aware of their mental models, their ways of thinking about things.

They can hold ideas tentatively, and embrace the ambiguity that comes with changing

knowledge. Non-agile learners are fearful of learning uncertainty, and thus they grab hold of

certainty. In the 1930s, the French leaders held with certainty that German soldiers would

attack them by walking in straight lines toward France. Their model was obsolete and worse

than useless.

Prior to Copernicus, everyone thought that the earth was the center of the solar system. They

had built elaborate models for how the sun and planets moved. But as telescopes, advanced

mathematics, and better record-keeping emerged, the model began to be problematic. The

model began to look less and less reliable. Copernicus developed a new model for how the

solar system worked. Learned scholars resisted Copernicus’s new model and kept trying to

hang on to the old model.

When the models lose their predictive power, uncertainty leaks into the model. Those who

can live with the uncertainty can find their way into a new model. Those who are intolerant

of uncertainty will simply grip the old model twice as hard.

21

Critical Components There are several components to learning uncertainty.

Unlearning: Knowledge, by its very nature, eventually expires. Scientists once be-

lieved that the sun moved around the earth. Medical doctors once believed that bleeding

would cure people of their diseases. People with the skill of learning uncertainty are atten-

tive to the changing nature of knowledge. They know when to unlearn old information.

They know when knowledge expires. Every few years we must unlearn what we know

about our business, because our business has changed.

Embracing Uncertainty: There is always an uncer tainty in new knowledge. When we

learn something new, we aren’t sure exactly what should be unlearned, what should be kept,

and what should be re-imagined. People with this skill are happy to embrace the ambiguity

of the unknown. For the people with this skill, there is an excitement and adventure about

the changing nature of knowledge. Knowledge uncertainty isn’t something to be feared, it is

an adventure in which to revel.

Skepticism and Wonder: Car l Sagan said that science classes should teach two ways of

viewing the world: to view it with skepticism and wonder. We should be skeptical of all the

information we come across, because much of the information is wrong. We should be

skeptical of knowledge, because knowledge changes. But simultaneously, we can be thrilled

with the wonder of new information and knowledge. We can be awed by the power of

knowledge and be filled with ideas about where the new knowledge can take us. Skepticism

without wonder makes us bitter and cynical. Wonder without skepticism makes us live in a

fantasy world.

Holding Ideas Tentatively. When we hold ideas tentatively, we can play with the ideas

and use them in multiple contexts, to see if they have value. Most ideas will eventually lose

their value, as we change and our contexts change. Consequently, it is important not to mar-

ry our ideas—but to always hold them tentatively. Self-directed learners are always skepti-

cal of traditional wisdom. They have no need to be permanently certain about ideas. Those

with this skill are comfortable moving between tentative ideas and knowledge that is more

assertive. In fact, Ellen Langer’s research has shown that people who have been taught with

certainty have a more difficult time getting out of that frame of thought. People who have

been taught with the models presented in a tentative way have an easier time with ambigui-

ty.

Every few years we must unlearn what we know about our business, because our business has changed.

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We live in a world that is constantly changing, highly interconnected, and is full of non-

linear interactions. This means that we rarely know what will happen next. We hardly ever

know if the solution will solve the problem, and often we don’t even know exactly how to

define the problem. This leaves us in a constant state of ambiguity. The critical components

listed above can help us to become more tolerant of ambiguity.

Still, some people are intolerant of uncertainty. Once they learn something, they imbue it

with a sacred value—and hold on to that learning no matter what. When we are too certain

about issues, then our mental models become too rigid and thus too fragile. Certainty brings

with it a rejection of conflicting information, and a bias in interpretation of new information.

Certainty breeds error.

On the other hand, when we are tolerant of uncertainty, we can learn and unlearn to fit our

learning needs. Uncertainty helps agile learners to stay current.

For Further Reading Ellen Langer is the pioneer in the field of mindfulness, which can be a driver of uncertainty.

Her books Mindfulness and The Power of Mindful Learning identify how we think—

particularly how we think when we are on automatic pilot vs. when we are aware of our

thoughts. Her insights on certainty are particularly compelling.

From a business perspective, Embracing Uncertainty: The Essence of Leadership by

Clampitt and DeKoch show the remarkable need for leaders to tolerate ambiguity.

F. David Peat tells stories from the history of science to illustrate the importance of tolerat-

ing ambiguity. His book From Certainty to Uncertainty chronicles the path toward a fluid

and chaotic understanding of the sciences.

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Anything that is valuable has forces that work against it. While almost everyone is an agile

learner sometimes, there are a number of forces and influences that can push back and make

us not engage.

Inexperience Many of us have never had to learn to engage in our own learning. We’ve never had to be

an agile learner. We went to elementary school, where teachers told us what to learn. We

went to high school, where teachers told us what to do and what would be on the test. We

went to college, where professors told us which books to read and which assignments to do.

Many of us grew up without ever having to think about our own learning, because it was all

externally controlled. To suddenly have to plan our own goals, our own objectives, our own

process—that’s a completely different experience for most of us.

Time When our schedules are full and rushed, we tend to do the most urgent things. However,

there are things that are important but not urgent, and they can get left by the wayside. Im-

portant things, like learning, are those which give us strength and renewal in the long term.

Urgent things are those which demand our attention right now. So, when we have project

deadlines and people demanding things from us, we do urgent things—the things that are in

our face, and we postpone the important tasks. The problem, of course, is when we are al-

ways rushed, then we constantly put off the important things. Learning becomes one of the

things that gets postponed, week after week, month after month, and year after year.

Overload When we have too much to learn, we can get overwhelmed. We look at the huge learning

projects, the books we should read and absorb, and the massive amount of data we need to

consume, we can end up with that deer-in-the-headlights look. Some of the research on this

topic suggests that when we are overloaded, we shrink back from the learning process. It is

easy to get buried under the avalanche of data. When too much information gets dumped on

us, or we don’t have the opportunity to manage it, we shrink back. A survival skill for over-

load is simply to stop learning. This is not a very helpful survival strategy, but it’s a com-

mon one.

Hindrances to Agile Learning

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Lack of Self-Confidence Sometimes, we are faced with a learning need, and we don’t know if we can do it. We don’t

know if we have the ability, the drive, or the persistence to learn what we need to learn.

Sometimes, we discover a lack of learning self-esteem, and we doubt our ability to learn.

When we lack self-confidence in our learning, we tend to avoid the learning, because we’re

pretty sure we’ll fail. Since we don’t like to fail, we avoid the learning. Or, we begin learn-

ing it, and then we sabotage our own learning to prove to ourselves that we were right—we

can’t learn it.

Fear of Knowing Some people are so certain about their opinions that they don’t want to learn anymore. If

they learn something, they might find out that they are wrong. There is a massive comfort in

certainty, and learning often threatens certainty. That’s why many people with extreme

views only read the periodicals and websites that agree with their preconceived notions.

When we really know a subject well, we often find that the subject is filled with subtle nu-

ances that keep us from seeing things in black-and-white. Certainty provides us with com-

fort; and subtle nuance is the enemy of certainty. It’s an artificial comfort, to be sure, but

some people desperately cling to certainty.

Comfort Perhaps the most subtle factor that keeps some people from agile learning is comfort. Learn-

ing is uncomfortable, and creates a certain amount of tension and anxiety. Learning means to

change our ideas or change our perspectives on the world. It means that we have to work to

incorporate the new ideas into our belief system. Learning can mean that I have to rethink

my prejudices, biases, and mental models.

When we are engaged in learning, there is short-term discomfort, but long-term gains. Peo-

ple who learn are happier and better adjusted than those who shy away from learning

(remember our definition of learning is not the same as going to school). Experiments in

neuroscience have borne this out.

When we continue to learn, unlearn, and relearn, then we

are ready for a tumultuous, chaotic, exciting new world.

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Brain scans have shown that when we are engaged, learning new things, having fun, and

having new experiences, the neurons in our brain spread out and grow. When we have a lot

of neuron connections, this positively affects our state of mind. We are happier, smarter,

more interpersonally active, and more future-focused. When we are bored, not learning, and

repeating routine and old experiences, our neurons pull back and lose connections. This loss

of neuronal connection facilitates depression, fear, and other negative states of mind.

One of the tragic ironies of human nature is that when we are stressed or high in anxiety, we

seek out comfortable experiences—things we know and things that are familiar. This gives

us a short-term comfort. But in the long term, exclusive experiences of comfort create more

anxiety for us. When we only experience comfortable experiences, it can increase the feel-

ings of depression and fear. So, the more we have depression, fear, and anxiety, the more we

seek out comfortable experiences, which can create even more negative states of mind,

which makes us seek out more comfort. It’s a quick and deadly cycle downward.

When we are stressed and high in anxiety, we actually need new experiences and to learn

new things. This goes against our natural inclination is to move to the things that are com-

fortable. When we are stressed, agile learners overcome the natural inclination to seek com-

fort—and pursue activities that can create short-term discomfort, like learning.

Of course, sometimes we need the comfortable. But if we always seek the comfortable, we

sabotage our mental health and our ability to learn. Seeking experiences that engage, stretch,

and challenge us creates a positive sense of mental health. New experiences, such as learn-

ing, give us the resources to engage in even more novel experiences. This leads to an upward

spiral, where our mental health and learning agility continues to improve.

Avoiding the Hindrances Agile learners avoid the drags on their learning with just a few tools. The most important

tool is perspective: Learning is important for the short term and long term, and we must take

responsibility for our own learning. When we keep that notion in front of us, that guides us

through the pulls and stresses of our daily schedule.

Good administration enlivens our mission and passion. When we are organized and have

good goals, we can spend more time on our passions. Agile learners tend to be better orga-

nized and more aware of the desired end state. Being organized means we will to spin our

wheels less. Good administration is a tool to avoid the hindrances of agile learning.

Taking responsibility for our learning is a key to survive and thrive in an ever-changing, cha-

otic world. If we choose to stop learning, we are experts at a world that no longer exists.

When we continue to learn, unlearn, and relearn, then we are ready for a tumultuous, chaotic,

exciting new world.

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Self-directed, agile learning is the answer to our rapidly changing world. We need to re-

think our way of doing business every few years, because the business and its context have

changed. When faced with constantly changing surroundings, our only hope is to learn and

relearn.

Agile learning is to use four skills: Information Navigation, Knowledge Navigation, Crea-

tive Thinking, and Learning Uncertainty. These are learnable skills—and learning them is

critical to survive in the tumultuous, dynamic world in which we live. Constant, lifelong,

aggressive learning is the key to thrive in the ever-changing world.

For Further Reading Becoming an Agile Leader, by Victoria Swisher and the companion volume, Becoming an

Agile Leader: A Guide to Learning from your Experiences by Evelyn Orr discuss agile

learning from a leadership perspective.

For a personal memoir of agile learning, see James Marcus Bach’s book Secrets of a Bucca-

neer-Scholar. Simple and effective, his life shows that school and education are not always

the same.

The International Society of Self-Directed Learning makes pdfs of their journal available

online. To read any of those current or past articles, go to http://www.sdlglobal.com/

journals.php

Summary

27

Information Navigation

Creative Thinking

Knowledge Navigation

Learning Uncertainty

Agile Learning

The Four Skills of Agile Learning

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