This has been a year of re-learning new skills for me. Having last ridden a bicycle in my youth, I decided that it was time to get back on two wheels at the end of summer. I started out using a very heavy, ancient bicycle which was later described as, ‘hard work to cycle downhill’.
In my first month, I fell off a couple of times – making intimate acquaintance with some brambles and decorating my legs with bruises in the process. But, a new bike and regular practice got me to a point where I could start to see some progress. I asked more experienced cyclists about their techniques for doing the tough stuff – hills, for example. And I tried their ways and worked out my own.
I’ve reached the point where I’ve done a day of hills and valleys in the Cotswold, covering 35 miles in the day – and can see that with more of the same I will continue to make progress to the point where I may just contemplate a big hairy audacious cycling goal one day.
It strikes me that aside from having the resilience to get back on the bike, there are some great parallels for helping people develop skills at work:
1. Having the right equipment is critical. I thought I would never make a half-decent cyclist when I was riding something that was ‘hard work going downhill’
2. Constant repetition is the only way to get better. They say it takes 10,000 hours of practice to make a world class artists or musician. Every hour of practice gets you closer to proficiency and then excellence
3. The opportunity to talk to experts is invaluable. Being able to model what they do, and then adapt it if necessary to suit your style, is a fast-track to learning new skills in many cases.
4. Practicing with others inspires and spurs you on. And its much more social which makes it feel less like hard work.
These are just a few – there are bound to be loads more. What are your favourites?
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Photo credit: Futurilla
Article by Vandy Massey
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