The 'SB'

Resumes and CVs are sort of silly, aren't they?

Everyone Googles the same thing to find out how to write them, format them, etc. So they end up all looking the same, and not really saying anything of interest.

Hence, I propose the SB. (Should Be.)

I picture an Excel spreadsheet with the following headings:

WHAT I DID

WHAT I LEARNED

HOW IT APPLIES

HOW IT DOESN'T APPLY

Let me provide an example. Suppose a real estate agent applies to a human resources position. 

WHAT I DID: Negotiated real estate deals. Worked with many different people.

WHAT I LEARNED: Communication, collaboration, and how to see the goals of others.

HOW IT APPLIES: I worked with many types of people and forged compromise between them. 

HOW IT DOESN'T APPLY: I will need to learn the specific HR policies and procedures. 

Isn't this what all resumes and CVs try to convey, anyways? Why not just get straight to it. It would save everyone time, and let folks get back to work. 

Just a thought.

Powering & Puzzling

Policy learning–when governments learn from policy experiences elsewhere–is an example of both self- and collaborative learning. 

Except the stakes are far greater. 

Policy learning changes public policy, and thus directly affects people in all aspects of their lives. 

My favorite definition of policy learning:  

“Politics finds its sources not only in power but also in uncertainty–men collectively wondering what to do… Governments not only ‘power’… they also puzzle. Policy making is a form of collective puzzlement on society's behalf; it entails both deciding and knowing… Much political interaction has constituted a process of social learning expressed through policy.” –Hugh Heclo

The first concept taught in political science is power. This is understandable since politics and policymaking are often contests for power. And I would not argue policy always results from careful dissection and analysis of policy experiments elsewhere. 

But sometimes it does! ‘Puzzling’ deserves more attention.

As I have mentioned elsewhere, policy learning is really easy to do poorly, and really hard to do well. 

Policy learning is particularly difficult when problems–and possible solutions–are so novel and complex that there are often few, if any models to learn from. And because the sample size is small, it is difficult to compare results and draw lessons. 

Imagine if policymakers became really skilled at drawing lessons?

Maybe we could actually become laboratories of democracy?

Idealistic? Yes. Worth striving for? Definitely. 

Collaborative Learning

Self-learning is improved when you learn alongside others.

But isn't this paradoxical? If others are present, isn't that the antithesis of self-learning?

No.

Here's why:

By sharing questions and answers with each other, we learn from each other, see how others think, and how they learn. This sharpens our sense of self, and improves individual learning processes. It's also more fun. 

Of course, all learning is in some sense self- and in some sense collaborative. It is individuals who learn, but learning comes by way of other people. Either in person, or through books, etc.