How to Learn New Information Faster at Work

I've coached executives across five continents, and here's the brutal truth: The professionals getting promoted aren't necessarily the smartest—they're the fastest learners. While everyone else is consuming content passively, top performers have cracked the code on accelerated learning. They don't just read about strategy—they can teach it back to you in 60 seconds. ✅ The Harvard Business Review's latest research confirms what I see daily: Professionals who can learn and apply new concepts 10x faster than their peers become indispensable in half the time. Here's the framework that separates rapid learners from information collectors: • Explain like you're 5 → Simplify complex concepts into basic terms • Visualize the process → Create mental maps of how things work • Break it into chunks → Divide big concepts into 3-5 digestible parts • Find the patterns → Extract rules and formulas you can apply elsewhere • Relate to real life → Connect every concept to situations you encounter daily • Use analogies → Compare new ideas to familiar concepts you already know • Break the myths → Identify 3 misconceptions and learn the truth behind them • Ask the critical "why" → Understand impacts & consequences, not just facts • Teach it back → Explain the concept to someone who knows nothing about it • Challenge it → Question common assumptions and identify potential mistakes • Simulate practice → Create scenarios to apply the knowledge immediately • Turn it into stories → Transform concepts into brain-friendly narratives While your peers are still highlighting PDF articles and saving LinkedIn posts they'll never revisit, you could be mastering new skills, solving complex problems, and positioning yourself as the go-to expert in your field. The professionals who master rapid learning don't just advance faster—they become irreplaceable. Coaching can help; let's chat. #coachingtips #careeradvice #professionaldevelopment

How to learn something fast when nobody else around you has the full context or the time to guide you? I face this challenge every time I start a new project. Navigating ambiguity and gaining historical context in a short period of time can be challenging, but are often required for product managers. Here are 5️⃣ strategies I’ve tried and worked: [1] Seek knowledge from multiple sources Reach out to different team members, stakeholders, and SME to gather their perspectives and insights. Each individual may hold a piece of the historical context, and by triangulating information from various sources, you can start forming a more complete picture. [2] Find the experts to do a “knowledge dump” & focus on building relationships Identify key team members who have the most historical context. Schedule a knowledge-sharing session with them and be a sponge. Establish mentorship or buddy relationships with these experts. Encourage open dialogue to uncover crucial information and gain a shared understanding. This is seriously the best 80/20 way to learn. [3] Conduct thorough document reviews Go through any available documentation, including research plans, reports, meeting minutes, and previous strategy docs. These documents can provide valuable insights into the project's evolution, decisions made, and key milestones. Look for patterns and recurring themes to identify critical aspects. Crunch on time? Turn on accessibility mode and let the documents “speak” to you during commute or ask in-house AI tools (security and privacy granted) to summarize them for you. [4] Be curious, ask questions, and take notes This sounds basic, but it’s actually very effective. The most basic questions are sometimes the most important ones and worth documenting to help create leverage for your new project or product area. These unfamiliar terms, acronyms, or concepts? Make an organized FAQ. Create a centralized repository where you record key research insights, milestones, important decisions, and other contextual information. This will serve as a reference point for you and others in the future and your eagerness to learn will help you shine and build credibility with the new team. [5] Embrace a learning mindset. Prioritize and adapt. Approach the ambiguity with a learning mindset, recognizing that you won't have all the answers immediately. Embrace chaos as an opportunity to learn and be open to adjusting your understanding as you gain more context. Seek feedback and validation from others to ensure accuracy. Identify the most critical areas where historical context is essential, such as understanding dependencies, risks, or ongoing challenges. Prioritize your efforts accordingly to address those areas first, while being adaptable and open to refining your understanding as new information emerges. #ProductManagement #Careers #Leadership

How to read technical documents effectively and quickly. (No, I didn’t say “easily.”) I read a lot of work-related non-fiction. Think contracts, tech manuals, the US Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), IETF RFCs, and so forth. Over the weekend I read a couple hundred pages of stuff from NIST. Specifically, NIST SP 800-171 and NIST SP 800-171A. I have a system developed over time, and it occurred to me that others might benefit from learning about it. The steps below are directly related to the format of the NIST documents I read this weekend, but they apply in general to a lot of other material as well. 1. Download the PDF. It’s much more versatile to have a local copy. You can search it, expand/collapse the table of contents (ToC), etc. Don’t read the HTML online. Download it. 2. Open the ToC. Read all the chapter headings. Collapse the subheadings; just focus on the chapters. 3. If it has an acronym list near the end, open and read the entire acronym list. 4. If it has a glossary list near the end, open and scan the glossary list. You may not want to read all the definitions at this time (I don’t), but when you come across the word or phrase in the document later, if it’s not self-explanatory, you’ll remember it was in the glossary and you can go check it out for more information. 5. Now go back to the ToC and expand the subheadings for chapter 1. Read the subheadings so you get the idea of the flow of the chapter. 6. Read chapter 1. 7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 for each chapter. I should also mention that I’ve taken a speed reading course. Speed reading is real, and it works. You can take a course at some community colleges, or you can buy a book or get info online and do self-paced learning. But definitely become familiar with the techniques of speed reading. By using steps 1-7, you’ll be able to skim a lot of the material without reading it too deeply, because you’ll have a mental framework on which to hang the information as you read it. But remember, your goal is not speed, your goal is effective learning. Slow down wherever you need to, and be comfortable with your own pace. I hope this helps someone.