Does your company have an internal education system? You probably go there once a year or quarter for the compliance training, and not much else.

It probably has some nice introductory music, cute little branded cartoons, and has scored quizzes at the end to certify your progress. The LMS (learning management system) is also very corporate-friendly, breaking things down into neat 10 minute, 30 minute or one hour blocks.

Tidy, boring, and almost useless when it comes to true education.

Learning doesn’t fit into neat blocks of time, followed up by quick quizzes. We all learn differently. Some of us are best listening to lectures. Others do well in peer-led discussions. Others read voraciously. Or use varying methods, depending on what we’re trying to learn.

If we’re all life-long learners–and we should be–we must use our curiosity to help us seek out new knowledge. My advice isn’t to go to your corporate LMS to learn unless, of course, it works for you. Instead, go out to the world to find information that fits your learning style. And be sure to look for information that contradicts what you’re trying to figure out. As Richard Feynman said “you are the easiest person to fool.”

Seeking knowledge takes more time. But anything worth learning is worth the time to teach it to yourself.

Here’s a good example of some messy, real-world learning that works for my learning style, on the topic of blockchain for digital advertising.