OK, it is done. Yesterday I successfully defended my dissertation for my degree. So I am done, right? Well, a favorite saying around one of the universities is, ‘If you graduated yesterday, stop learning today, by tomorrow you will be uneducated.’

A big difference in adult learning is that in our professions, we get very specific in our focus of WHAT we will learn, the EXPECTED OUTCOME of our learning, and somewhere in that mix we decide how much of our resources of time and energy we are going to commit to that learning based upon the return that we expect from involving ourselves in learning – what my friend, George Seybold of Seybold Scientific in Boise, calls ‘Return on Engagement.’

If we want competitive advantage by staying on top of the best practices in our industry, we need to get focused on the ‘what’ we will learn, and the ‘expected outcome.’ If you force yourself to read books or magazines just to be reading, you will lose attention. If you strategically focus on a specific outcome, you will find your searching and reading both rewarding and enjoyable. Get strategically focused!