Get-stuff-done learning
When I was in school, my learning model was significantly different from what I have now. I used to stay with one topic and spend a lot of time until I have fully understood that topic. For instance, when I was learning Fourier Transform in my first year of engineering, I spent 20+ hours in the library reading multiple books starting with our prescribed text book. I also used to review the topic again and again multiple times until I felt a sense of mastery. Thanks to that pattern of learning, I was able to build a strong foundation in various topics.
Contrary to that model, these days I don’t get to stay on a topic for a long period of time. I am happy if I can read about a topic for an hour. I call my learning these days as “get-stuff-done learning”. When I encounter a problem, I search for how to solve that problem in a search engine (DuckDuckGo is what I am using these days). Then I read the first few results. Most of the times it will be an answer in StackOverflow or a page in Wikipedia. After a few minutes of reading, I get a fragmented view of how to solve the problem. Then I just dive right in — start writing code. As I write code, I connect the dots and come up with a working solution. Once I have a satisfactory solution in place, I ship the solution and move on. I rarely go back and review my past solutions.
What I have observed is that the get-stuff-done learning has one important property: I can solve 80% of the problem with very little investment of time. I don’t need to have any mastery in the topic. All I need to do is just to be able to use the right search terms and get answers from the vast knowledge base available on Internet. Solving the remaining 20% of the problem may take a lot of time. But lucky for me, most of the time I don’t have to address the unsolved 20% of the problem. Once the solution ships, that’s it. Onto the next problem, next get-stuff-done learning, and the cycle repeats.
Both kinds of learnings have their rewards. When I stay on a topic and go deep to build mastery, I can talk intelligently about the topic, come up with new innovative ideas, apply my learning. I have the satisfaction of mastery. When I am doing get-stuff-done learning, I solve the problem really quick. This is what is needed in start-up world. I cannot have any engaging conversations about the problem I just solved. Even if I offer any opinions, in my heart I know that they are shallow and based on a few minutes of reading and a fragmented view of the topic. But I have the satisfaction of shipping a product that people use and are happy about.
I think we need to have both models of learning in life. I am still searching to find what is the right balance between the two models.
