your portfolio.
! Block out time each week to devote to your investment.
! Set up reminders to reevaluate your portfolio on a regular,
periodic basis. What changed, and what didn’t work out?
What will you do now?
6.4 Use Your Primary Learning Mode
Now that you have a plan in place, we’ll start talking about how
to implement your deliberate learning. Because everyone is wired
differently, some ways of learning will be more effective for you than
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others, so you need to figure out the most efficient way for you to
assimilate new information.
Historically, many educators have differentiated three main types
of learners: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic.
• Visual learners need to see the material—and the instructor.
Pictures and graphs all work well for visual learners, and
they will be sensitive to body language and facial expressions
as well.
• Auditory learners have to hear the material. Lectures, semi-
nars, and podcasts work for these folks. Tone of voice, speed,
and other nuances can make a difference.
• Kinesthetic learners learn by moving and touching; they
need to physically experience the material. This is especially
appropriate for sports or arts and crafts, where you really
need to do it to learn it.
These three modalities are very general, and as you can see, differ-
ent modes may be more suitable for different activities. But it’s a
good starting point to consider how you may learn best.
Do you prefer reading to seminars or podcasts? Do podcasts annoy
you because you can’t see the presenter? Do you play instructional
videos but not actually watch the talking head?
Take a look at Figure 6.3, on the next page. Each list of words
is associated with one of the major learning modes.6 How do you
describe a learning problem? Are you “in the dark,” or do you say it
“looks hazy”? That might indicate you have a predominantly visual
approach. if you’re trying to “find the angle” and don’t know how
you’ll “carry it forward,” perhaps you have a kinesthetic approach.
Listen as other folks use these words; it’s a strong indication of
their preferred learning style.
Multiple Intelligences
As you can see with these different learning modes, not every-
one can learn best in the same manner; we are all wired a little
6.
Thanks to Bobby G. Bodenhamer, at http://www.neurosemantics.com, for permission to reproduce this table.
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>
Figure 6.3: Representative system predicates
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USE YOUR PRIMARY LEARNING MODE
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differently. That doesn’t mean that a visual learner is smarter than
an auditory learner, or vice versa.
In fact, the very notion of what constitutes intelligence has long
been a matter of hot debate. Some researchers thought intelli-
gence was a single, measurable thing. Others vehemently dis-
agreed, pointing out that a single metric of intelligence may vary
from culture to culture and that conventional testing doesn’t pre-
dict performance very well. It seems that once again, context mat-
ters. Out of this debate, two theories based on cognitive context
emerged: Robert Sternberg’s triarchic theory and Howard Gardner’s
theory of multiple intelligences.
Sternberg sees a three-part mind, composed of a meta-level compo-
nent that manages thought processes overall; performance-based
components that do tasks, make associations, and so on; and,
finally, knowledge-acquisition components that handle assimilat-
ing new information. Each part has its place, and each part is
independent—one cannot be described in terms of the others.
Sternberg made the point that standard IQ tests don’t necessar-
ily measure the sum total of your intelligence. He cites subjects
that do very well at test taking but aren’t as adept at problem solv-
ing in the real world and, conversely, folks who are great problem
solvers but poor test takers.
Gardner also proposed that intelligence has many different facets
and that a single measurement was insufficient. He saw intel-
ligence as a combination of different abilities and skills and so
defined seven facets of intelligence, with different talents related
to each:7
Kinesthetic
Sports, dancing, do-it-yourself projects, woodworking, crafts,
cooking
Linguistic
Verbal arguments, storytelling, reading, and writing
Logical/Mathematical
Math, numbers, sciences, taxonomies, geometry
7.
Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences [Gar93].
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Visual/Spatial
Using diagrams/plans, sketching, painting, manipulating
images
Musical
Playing music, recognizing sounds, rhythms, patterns,
remembering slogans and verses
Interpersonal
Empathic; senses feelings, intentions, and motivations of
others
Intrapersonal
Self-reflective; works from an understanding of inner feelings,
dreams, and relations with others
Other researchers proposed additional intelligences as time went
on, but even with this original set you can begin to appreciate some
interesting abilities. For instance, as part of musical intelligence,
there is not only the obvious musical talent but also skills such as
recognizing songs and efficient recall of lyrics, slogans, verses, and
other similar material.
Everyone has combinations of these different intelligences in vary-
ing amounts. Also notice that some of these abilities are geared
more to L-mode or R-mode processing.
But don’t use Gardner’s categories as an excuse. It’s easy to say “I
don’t have much interpersonal intelligence” or use the widespread
“I’m not good at math” as an excuse to do poorly at these tasks. All
this means is that those activities won’t come as easily to you and
will require greater effort than those that come more naturally.
Categorizations such as Gardner’s are
How do you learn best?
helpful to point out all the different
aspects of intelligence—you may recognize
aspects of yourself that you hadn’t thought about before. The
important thing to recognize is that these differences mean that
some ways of learning are more effective for you, and others less so.
And these differences aren’t necessarily cast in stone; for instance,
you may find that practicing the techniques in this book changes
the effectiveness of different ways of learning for you.
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Personality Types
If you google around, you’ll find various online surveys and quizzes
that will help you identify what sort of learner you are (or at least,
where your tendencies lie). You can find out whether you’re an
active learner or a reflective learner, visual or verbal, and so on.
In fact, some methods of determining your learning style tie in to
your personality, using the dimensions of personality popularized
by Carl Jung and later enshrined in the Myers Briggs Type Indica-
tor (as we saw in Section 5.3, Codifying Your Personality Tenden-
cies, on page 144).
Your personality can contribute to your learning style as well. An
introvert probably will be less comfortable giving an impromptu
talk at a conference. An extravert might want to talk things through
with a group when learning a new skill.
Beyond the Defaults
Remember that these categorizations of
intelligence and personality are tenden- Type is not destiny.
cies—not hard and fast rules or judg-
ments. Your MBTI category, if you will, represents the default set-
tings for you. You can always choose to act differently. But these
are your default behaviors when no one is watching (especially
when you’re not watching.)
TIP 27
Discover how you learn best.
Experiment with different learning modes. To help learn a new
topic, try a couple of different approaches. If you don’t usually lis-
ten to podcasts or seminars, give that a shot, in addition to your
usual reading or experimenting.
Next Actions
! Think about the intelligences you’re strongest at: Which ones
do you use most on the job? Are your strongest intelligences
a good match for your job? Or not?
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WORK TOGETHER, STUDY TOGETHER
174
! And which ones do you use for any hobbies? Do you have any
strong intelligence that isn’t being used well? Can you find a
way to apply it?
! If there’s a mismatch, what can you do to make up for it? If
you’re a visual learner, can you start creating visuals aids for
your work? If kinesthetic, would props help?
6.5 Work Together, Study Together
Studies have shown that peer study groups are very much “the real
thing.” The topics are chosen by the participants and so are directly
relevant to your daily work. Sessions can be arranged to fit in with
your schedule flexibly and conveniently; there’s no expensive travel
or materials required.8 A study group is a great alternative to the
alien, toxic, sheep dip experience.
Ever since The Pragmatic Programmer was
Reading groups are
published, we’ve heard from folks using
nontoxic.
it for their own, in-company reading and
study groups. It’s a great book to get
started with, because it’s not tied to any particular technology, lan-
guage, or methodology. You can start with a general book or pick
something very specific and targeted to your team and your project.
You have several choices in setting up a study group, ranging from
the informal to the formal. On the informal side, you can just all
agree to read through a book. Maybe take turns and have team
members sum up chapters on a wiki or on a mailing list or get
together for lunch and discuss it.
On the more formal side, you want to take a couple of deliberate
steps:9
Ask for proposals
See what’s on everyone’s mind. Get a pile of proposals, with a
Pragmatic Thinking and Learning Page 21