Why will people deliberately not use the best way to learn something?
We'd go further if we didn't think we'd be better off walking alone.
One of the most inspiring stories I’ve come across recently is the story of “The Golden Thirteen”. I learned about them from Adam Grant’s “Hidden Potential” book last week, and then went into a little bit of an Internet rabbit hole learning more about them.
It’s a truly inspirational story about how 16 African-American men were selected to try to get through exams that would make them the first commissioned African-American officers in the Navy. Not only did they all pass, despite the odds being stacked against them for so many reasons, they got the highest score recorded at that point. I strongly suggest reading the book or using your favorite Search Engine to learn more because I won’t do it justice.
However, the relevant point here is how they did that. There were a couple of things they did
they operated as a group - particularly hard in an environment where there is a natural competition between candidates. This helped each of them with motivation as well as morale. They were able to tutor each other in what each of them was good at.
the act of teaching someone something, or even learning it to teach, helps you learn things better.
It took me back to business school for a bit, where I remember how a set of friends - many, many friends - would often help each other prep for interviews - even when they were competing against each other for some jobs. It’s much more rare for people do this outside of school environments, even though we often know the benefits.
There’s a lot I need to learn this year - and this was a great reminder that learning with others (i.e. a community that is doing something similar) and teaching what you’re learning to others is a great way to re-enforce your learning.
In a way, this write up reenforced that concept I learned. :-)