I just finished listening to British inventor and entrepreneur, James Dyson’s book on Audible. James Dyson is the guy out in the garage testing prototype after prototype. He spent 5 years perfecting his design, a process that resulted in 5,127 different prototypes to invent the world’s first bagless vacuum cleaner. Dyson is the man who keeps going and never quits. This is the man with the persistence to overcome failure and keep going against the odds. A man who puts everything on the line including his family home.
Learn by doing
What struck me is Dyson’s down to earth learn by doing approach. In 1978 Dyson became frustrated by his vacuum cleaner’s diminishing performance. What did he do? He took it apart and figured out that the bag was clogging with dust which reduced suction. As a result of what he learned he then set out to develop a better vacuum cleaner. How many of us would take a vacuum cleaner apart to see why it was not working well?
Dyson and education
Consider Dyson’s foray into the education sector through the Dyson Institute of Engineering and Technology. The institute teaches a degree in engineering. Two days a week are dedicated to teaching, revision, academic projects and self-study. Three days a week are spent working alongside Dyson engineers on live Dyson projects. In addition, students are also Dyson employees and get paid as they work/study. You can imagine at the end of the four years that students really know their stuff in a very practical, real-world way.
Changes for 2022
For 2022 I will take a learn by doing approach in everything that I am involved in. I want to learn from practical experience and making lots of mistakes just like Dyson. I will root my knowledge firmly in what I have experienced myself. In other words this is getting back to the PLAN, ACT, REFLECT cycle that I have written about before on this website.
One practical consequence for me of listening to the book is that I went out and bought a Season’s Greetings
Finally, I just want to take this opportunity to wish you, dear reader, a very happy Christmas and new year season. Best wishes, Tom Carroll, PhD