To Inquire, To Discover – Let’s talk Apprenticeships — Lionesses of Africa

by Lionesses of Africa Operations Department

We recently saw a wonderful video of the famous Noam Chomsky, a retired professor from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). To simply say he is a ‘retired professor’ is to utterly understate his impact on the globe, as he is one of the most cited scholars alive, so people really do go quiet and listen when he starts to speak. You can see him here.

In this he answers what (to him) it truly means to be educated and he starts by quoting Wilhelm von Humboldt a leading humanist and Prussian Philosopher (1767-1835), who said that “The core principle and requirement of a fulfilled human being is the ability to inquire and create constructively independently without external controls.”

We love that – “to inquire”.

Prof. Chomsky then relates the story of one of his colleagues at MIT who would “…tell his classes it’s not important what we cover in the class, it’s important what you discover.”

That is a wonderful statement.

“It’s not important what we cover in the class, It’s important what you discover.”

Think back to our own education, the Teachers we really remember were the ones who inspired us, let us dream (so long it was about their subject!) and let us discover.

The great Professor continues:

“To be truly educated from this point of view means to be in a position to inquire and to create on the basis of the resources available to you which you’ve come to appreciate and comprehend. 

To know where to look, to know how to formulate serious questions,…to find your own way, to shape the questions that are worth pursuing, and to develop the path to pursue them. That means knowing, understanding many things but also, much more important than what you have stored in your mind, to know – where to look, how to look, how to question, how to challenge, how to proceed independently, to deal with the challenges that the world presents to you and that you develop in the course of your self education and inquiry and investigations, in cooperation and solidarity with others.”

Such education cannot be learned through just sitting in a class and being told what to remember for the exam, nor through reading a self help book, but actually by getting your hands dirty, by becoming involved, by having a guide who will fine-tune your direction whilst allowing you to make your own mistakes, and through this, learn, grow and understand.

Children should have scrapes on their knees and mud on their shoes, because if nothing else, it shows that they have not been wrapped in cotton wool, that they have raced around the playground. But more importantly this teaches them that if they run too fast around the climbing frame, they will slip and scrape themselves. It is a lesson well learnt and deeply remembered!

The same is true of learning later in life at companies – all organisations have a responsibility to develop their employees, to allow them to discover though learning but also discover through mistakes, the best way forward, both for the good of the employee, but also for the company.

There is why the saying: “Theory and Practice are the same….except in practice!”, is so important for all to remember – this learning in the real world outside of the classroom is essential.

Let us return to Prof.Chomsky – 

“to be in a position to inquire and to create on the basis of the resources available to you which you’ve come to appreciate and comprehend.”…and most importantly to “…proceed independently.”

We begin to recognise that this is the foundation not just to a good workforce, but to a great workforce, and why micro-managing is so insulting and degrading. “I can do it on my own, without you hanging over me, thank you very much!!” is always the frustrated thought from the poor employee.

But how to do this when there is such pressure to generate results and yet no time? This “tension between a manager’s dual obligations to deliver results and develop people” as McKinsey write here, is a constant push and pull on Managers’ time and strength (of purpose). As they say: “In the end, we often prioritize completing the task and cast aside the learning opportunity. However, these lost opportunities pile up, exacting a cost on individuals, professional development, and overall organizational health and cohesion.”

This pressure on the managers is then felt by the employees who then feel there is little or no time to develop themselves – that RESULTS are all that matter. As the World Economic Forum’s ‘The Future of Jobs Report 2020’ shows: “only 42 percent of employees are taking up employer-supported reskilling and upskilling opportunities in their organizations.” (here)

Sadly the report also shows that when workers are Retained, Recalled, Transitioned or Displaced, the gender gap widens: