I’ve always believed that everyone can learn anything. This thinking made me really patient with people with less to no experience in whatever it is that we need to do. I tried my best to teach them what I know.
Until one day, a previous employer of mine stepped in and told me we have to let this person go. It’s been a month and she was showing little improvement. He said, it was a waste of my time, his time and resources. Sometimes, you just have to accept that people can’t learn.
As Alla and I have had our ups and downs with hiring, this interaction re-surfaced in my memory. I finally understand what he meant by a waste of time and resources.
When you run a business, every single second and every single penny matters. You have to make sure they are both well spent.
However, I couldn’t accept the fact that “some people cannot learn” because this means there’s nothing more, that there’s no room to grow or that there’s no possibility of growth.
It bothered me a lot.
My mind and my body rejected that a person can just have no possibility of learning and growing.
I now know why I was rejecting this thought. It’s because it’s not true.
When someone seems unteachable or when someone seems like they can’t learn or grow, it’s not because they “cannot learn”, it’s because they refuse to.
Whether they realize it or not, the reason why they can’t seem to “get it” is because they do not want to. Reasons may vary - it could be because this is not really interesting for them, they’re not committed to it 100%, or maybe they’re afraid to change.
Think about a time when you think you just can’t possibly learn a skill, is it really because it’s not possible? Or is it because there’s a resistance within you?
Everyone can learn and grow. It’s just a matter of wanting it bad enough.
