exhibited a passion for lifelong learning within their respective fields. These rare employees exhibited what HBS referred to as “the passion of the explorer”—they showed long-term commitment to achieving impact in their fields, excitement about unexpected challenges and the potential they brought for development and, crucially, a desire to continually connect with others to solve problems.
The study demonstrated something most people would agree is at least anecdotally true in the era of Google, and more precipitously, in that of generative AI: While once there was social value on learning for its own sake—geography, history, humanities, even how-to skills—the prevalence of available information through digital sources has seemingly rendered this type of learning obsolete.
Of course, this is misleading: When using GenAI, we’re not seeing a variety of perspectives and thoughts on the topic. Rather, we’re seeing something that's already been amalgamated and summarized, distilled down to the most compact form using the information available. That information’s accuracy or completeness is.
Beyond the scope of GenAI, technology is changing constantly—as are industries, as a result of digital transformation. Companies that stick their heads in the sand and say, “Well, that’s it, we know everything we need to know!” will find themselves rapidly falling behind. The pace of change is accelerating, which means the pace at which enterprises can lose ground is also accelerating; at a standstill, a gap forms faster between a company and its competitors than ever before.
Ongoing learning also has the benefit of keeping you relevant to your company and your industry. Increasingly, companies have recognized the competitive advantage of offering opportunities forto their workers, both to the benefit of the company’s own operations, products and services, and as a mechanism for furthering employee retention.