Understanding your learning style and options is good, but it's only part of what you need to do. Effective education requires a plan: not a document fixed on paper and in time, but a process that keeps your learning on track with what you need. To create the plan, you must decide what you must learn and the most effective way of accomplishing it.

Analyze Changes

When conditions change, so must your strategy and tactics. Some adjustments are within the sphere of your knowledge, but not all are. The fundamental nature of the people and entities your team serves, or the nature of your duties and goals, can transform into something different. When that happens, you're in unfamiliar territory and need to learn. But what is the necessary lesson?

You don't want to make guesses. By the time you start the learning process, it could be too late to alter your direction. Apply the approaches to meeting change that are described in Chapter 13. As you examine the change, look at what specific knowledge, experience, or skills you need to address it. If you recognize any areas in which you are lacking, you have identified a need for learning.

Analyze Your Weaknesses

Even when conditions are not changing appreciably, you should undertake periodic reviews of how well you handle your responsibilities. You might have the knowledge and experience and yet find you fall down in what you should be accomplishing. You can further look for areas in which you feel the need for help, even if you haven't asked for it and are afraid to. To find weaknesses requires developing a self-critical attitude. You won't be looking to tear yourself or others apart. Instead, you want to see where a bit of help could go a long way.