Knowledge is great. It gives you the power to make decisions and even keeps you from making the wrong ones. However, if you get to the point where you believe you know everything, that is going to hurt your ability to make those decisions. At that point, you will lose trust in your abilities.
You are one smart cookie. Perhaps you went to a great college which landed you a great job after graduation. Once you start working, however, you get fixated that you know everything there is to know. That is when you are in danger of losing your edge. You will start to make bad decisions which could end up costing you a job or two.
It is important to trust yourself with the knowledge you have learned. However, times and technologies change, and you need to be ready for those changes. Too many people get left behind by getting comfortable in their current positions.
Companies have been trying to help by offering training or tuition reimbursement. While this is a step in the right direction, if companies or colleges are not offering the appropriate training, this becomes a waste of money.
Another danger with companies offering internal training is they blame employees when those employees don’t learn from the offerings. Even if employees do learn, applying the knowledge may not increase the companies’ bottom lines. These companies don’t evaluate the effectiveness of their programs. Worse, they make broad claims that they are leading-edge companies because they offer training to employees.
There are some great training programs online from websites such as Udemy.com, SkillShare.com, and others. However, anyone is permitted to submit training modules and makes selecting these modules hit or miss. There are good offerings with these programs. But, you must rely on feedback from others.
No matter where you find training, modules can be well-presented but may still contain out-of-date material. People could give high ratings based on the fact that they are well-presented. That gives you a false sense of security that you are receiving proper training.
You must be quite selective when choosing training for the current work environment. Be overly critical, but don’t let it stop you from seeking training. Good training exists. Ask people you know for suggestions.
You should always stay in learning mode, no matter where you went to school or how much knowledge you think you have. In a constantly changing world, you’ll be way ahead of others, and it will give you the tools you need to trust your decisions.
