Learning vs. Doing

I’ve always been pretty studious.  I love to learn, love to read, love to go to classes, etc.  Oftentimes I find that I am slow to act because I need to feel confident that I know exactly how to do something before I actually do it.

Learning vs. Doing is a constant tension that I wrestle with as a leader.

As a leader, you constantly find yourself facing new challenges.  In order to grow with your growing organization, you may have to:

  • Be willing to jump into projects that you’ve never done before
  • Take leadership of a department that you’ve never worked in
  • Navigate relationship circles that you’ve never been exposed to
  • Solve problems you’ve never experienced

In each of these situations, you will find yourself wrestling with the need to learn how to do it and the need to move quickly.  Some of us are prone to get bogged down in study and analysis and don’t act quickly enough.  Others of us are too quick to react and don’t analyze the situation enough first.

Where do you typically land?  Are you slow to study or quick to act?

What new tension are you facing right now as a leader?  How could you more adequately balance ‘learning vs. doing’?

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