Why Learning to Learn Matters
Why is learning so important?
We talk about learning a lot on Frontier Technology Livestreaming (FTL). All of the artefacts on our programme, including the sprint plan, embody learning. It forms the centerpiece of many of our coaching conversations with teams. Number of learnings is also how we measure the progress of our pilots (literally: we have a leaderboard).
But why do we think learning is so important?
Put simply:
frontier tech + complex environments = extreme uncertainty.
And in situations of such extreme uncertainty, we believe learning is the single most important return you can generate on a pound of investment. With every learning, things become a little less ambiguous — giving you far more value and a more solid foundation for future investment.
That’s why learning is our unit of progress on this programme.
Everyone knows broadly what learning is. On FTL though, it means something very specific: a learning is anything that meaningfully contributes to the validation, or invalidation, of an assumption.
The three features of great learning
We think you can have high and low quality learning. To make sure it’s the former, ask yourself these three questions before every batch:
- Is there a threshold for success (before you start)?
Your sharpest learning will come from whether a clear, pre-set goal is (or isn’t) achieved. Set a target, hold yourself to it, but reflect afterwards on whether it was the right one.
2. Is your learning linked to your assumptions?
There’s a reason our pilots always begin with a thorough assessment of the key assumptions within a tech use case. As our definition of learning above highlights, it is at its most effective when it has a razor sharp focus on validating or invalidating assumptions.
To make sure you get the most value for your time and investment, it’s critical to start with your riskiest assumption. Think: what would utterly sink this project if it wasn’t true?
3. Will this learning change anything?
High quality, focused learning leads to course corrections or a doubling down of effort and investment. If assumptions are validated, how will you scale up? If assumptions are invalidated, how will you change course? New feature in the tech? New end user? New business model?
Learning doesn’t have to cost the earth
High quality learning doesn’t have to be a huge investment of time or money. When Elon Musk was concocting SpaceX, his first prototype was a spreadsheet. Not because he loved Excel, but because it allowed him to learn lots quickly and eliminate uncertainty without building rockets.
Closer to home, Suzana from FTL spoke to 50 women traders in Mozambique to test whether her idea for a wireless mesh network for market vendors solved a problem, and how it might do so. Something as simple as a series of conversations can often be the quickest, cheapest way to learn in situations of huge uncertainty.
Next time we’ll talk about the Lean Impact way of testing assumptions: the Minimum Viable Product with some examples from our pilots.
