Teaching yourself
Teaching yourself how to be a better construction business owner is part of your job description. Besides, if you don’t do it, who will?
You know if you stand in a garage it doesn’t make you into a car. Did you also know if you sit in a classroom it doesn’t make you into a learner?
While there’s a snowball’s chance in hell you’ll ever become a car, there is a very good chance you are already a learner – classroom or not. You wouldn’t have gotten this far if you weren’t.
Why bother teaching yourself?
In the most practical sense, learning offers options. You’re capable of generating better ideas. And, your ability to solve problems escalates.
There is more to it. Learning enriches your life’s experiences. It allows you to better understand yourself, those around you, and the world at large.
Your mind grows with each new piece of information.
Warren Buffett said reading 500 pages a day was the key to success. His reason? “That’s how knowledge works. It builds up, like compound interest.”
Whether through reading or other means, cultivating a passion for learning has the power to move you from Average Joe Contractor to a highly regarded construction contractor.
There is one caveat to the learning process. It has to do with the Dunning-Kruger Effect. And, if you don’t know about the Dunning-Kruger Effect, it is high time you learn. Check it out. You’ll be glad you did.
Assuming you’re not in the first phase of the Dunning-Kruger Effect, the more you know, the more you realize just how ignorant you are (in any given subject area) and the more you want to correct that.
What to learn
It doesn’t matter if you’re trying to improve yourself, your business acumen, or your ability to have fun, there are three basic areas to be improved through learning. They are:
Skills
Knowledge
Awareness or Attitude
Skills and Knowledge, you get. It’s where the most focus takes place in classroom settings and less formal learning spaces. They’re easy to measure. Can you do it? Are you able to understand it?
But your awareness? Your attitude? Who measures those? And how?
Here are three examples of things you might want to learn more about and improve in your awareness and attitude sphere.
Show more appreciation for the contributions of others
Place a higher value on client relations
Be better motivated to work harder
How to learn it
There are three methods of learning. It is probable one suits you best, yet you’re capable of learning by using all three methods.
Formal
It could mean a college degree or could be more along the lines of taking classes which have information you want and need. You can find them everywhere. Colleges, vendors, construction associations, general contractors, and skill-specific teachers all come to mind.
Usually, formal training or classes are designed to get you to the next level.
Again, be careful. Studying only to get a grade can undermine the process of real learning. Don’t let grades get in the way of getting the most knowledge and enjoyment out of your courses.
Instead, look at formal learning occasions as ways to increase your ability to think and analyze, thereby giving you better ways to integrate new ideas and information.
Informal
In the informal learning arena, no classrooms are involved. Your goals are specific. You want to learn something well enough to understand or participate. Often (though not always) you learn at your own pace and in your own time.
Here are some of the ways you can informally learn:
Watching others perform
Asking questions
By taking something apart
Reading
Viewing videos
Casual
Casual learning is the least structured of the three methods yet offers just as much as the other two if you take advantage of it. Here is where the power of curiosity shines.
From the simple “google it” question to the trip you take with the family to the history museum, there are things to learn. Casual learning isn’t geared to the success ladder nor the party trick format. But, you can find ideas, thoughts, and actions to pertain to either.
This article from DailyInfographic has some interesting information about learning something new every day as well as reasons for doing so.
Lastly, I’ll remind you to focus on the kinds of study that enhance the quality, not the quantity of your learning experiences.
We desire to familiarize you with business concepts which will make it easier for you to be a better commercial construction business owner through our blog posts. Some will be new ways of looking at things, and others will be refreshers.
Schulte and Schulte Provides Accounting, Contract Document Management, and Advisory Board Level counsel for small to medium commercial construction subcontractors.
So you can Run With the Big Dogs! Call us 866-629-7735