One time I was asked to take a junior tester under my wing and show him the ropes. One day he says to me “It must be hard for you to learn new things at your age”. He wasn’t being funny or anything. He genuinely believed that the older you get the harder it is for you to learn new things. I corrected him on that.
This thinking is supported in our culture. We’ve all heard people say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, or that it’s better to learn a new language at a young age. I’ve thought about this a lot and my thinking is this: that you can learn something new at any age, but as you get older you become more stubborn and resistant to learning something unless you absolutely need to know it or you find it interesting.
As I write this and look over at my bookshelf I see books on finance and investing that I’ve been reading recently as I’ve been fascinated by how the world of money works. And because I’m interested in this subject I’ve been devouring books and other media on the subject and I now know a lot more on the subject than I did a few months earlier.
You will also find that on occasion a client will ask you to learn or master a new tool or technique in order to be able to complete the work for them. Not learning in this scenario can cost you both money and reputation. I’ve met people who will say things like “I’m a tester I don’t write code”. What they really mean is that they are afraid to try. Don’t be afraid to leave your comfort zone but do manage the risks!
Never stop learning. Whether it’s new tools and techniques being developed for your profession or subjects you are interested in like finance, business, the economy, coaching or consulting. We should all never stop learning.
A good tip I’ve learned is to never be the smartest person in a room or on a team. It might boost your ego but that’s the only thing that will grow. Everyone else will have you to learn from but you won’t have anyone. I like to work with smart people so I learn something from them.
So remember:
You can teach an old dog new tricks!
Don’t be the smartest person in the room, understand your client’s business, and learn from other people’s mistakes (it’s cheaper).