If you’re not talking, you’re not learning

If you’re not talking, you’re not learning.

This sounds counterintuitive. We tend to think of learning as something that happens when we’re receiving – reading, listening, watching. And those things matter.

But the kind of learning that sticks – the kind that changes how you think and act – almost always happens in conversation. In the moment of trying to articulate something, you discover what you actually think. In the pushback from someone who disagrees, you refine or abandon ideas.

This is why the comments on this blog matter more to me than the posts. The posts are where I propose. The comments are where I learn.

It’s also why the best conferences are not the ones with the best speakers. They’re the ones with the best conversations.

And it’s why the best organisations are not the ones with the best training programmes. They’re the ones where people are genuinely talking to each other – across functions, across levels, across the boundaries that usually prevent honest exchange.

If you’re not talking, you’re not learning. And if you’re not learning, you’re not leading.