On Culture: The Deeper Work of Learning
- Myste Wylde
- 3 hours ago
- 6 min read
“In times of change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.” - Eric Hoffer
We tend to think of learning as accumulation: more knowledge, more tools, and more credentials. Its deeper work is really revision, the willingness to let new evidence and experience reshape what we believe we know. That keeps our understanding aligned with a changing reality, but it requires time and friction. And in our age of instant answers, we need to protect the space between question and conclusion long enough for that to occur.
Success can actually make this harder. A long track record can become a runway or a rut. Experience sharpens pattern recognition, but it can also make a familiar pattern feel like proof. Staying teachable means testing what experience has taught us against the conditions in front of us. Neuroscience helps explain how high performers learn through active effort: recalling ideas without notes, returning to them over time, applying them in new settings, and examining where their reasoning failed. With 70% of U.S. workers feeling unprepared for today’s workforce, more content alone will solve little. AI can challenge an argument, rehearse a difficult conversation, or accelerate feedback, but the learner still has to think, adjust, and try again.
As AI enters more workflows, it's important that we preserve the work involved in forming a point of view. When ChatGPT or Claude supplies an answer first, we lose a chance to test assumptions and discover what we understand for ourselves. Teams can protect this by thinking through possible answers before prompting, comparing human and machine conclusions, and reserving parts of strategy for independent analysis. Organizations must also rebuild the pathways through which expertise is formed. Routine assignments once brought early-career employees close to decisions and experienced judgment. As AI absorbs more of that work, employees can still learn by attempting a task first, comparing it with AI output, and using the difference for coaching. Managers become teachers of reasoning, making their own thought process visible so learning remains embedded in the work.
Learning strategy has therefore become a workforce-readiness issue. SHRM found that 72% of HR leaders focus development on skills employees will need within 2 years, while only 4% prioritize longer-term capabilities. Immediate gaps demand attention, but strategy also requires investing beyond the next technology cycle. Judgment, adaptability, emotional intelligence, and influence take time to build because they grow through examining experience.
One of the most compelling approaches to continued learning I've encountered is Abilitie’s 12-Week MBA, designed for rising leaders and experienced executives alike. Developed in partnership with TED and validated by St. Edward’s University, the program combines live instruction, peer learning, and business simulations that allow participants to test strategy, navigate tradeoffs, and strengthen their judgment through practice. Our community can learn more by contacting admissions@12weekmba.com.
Lifelong learning has always been important to me, and I'm starting to feel genuinely excited about whatever comes next—what I will learn, how it will reshape what I know, and where the work might lead. For anyone who missed last week’s note, Culturati: Summit is on pause for 2027, and Eugene and I are stepping away from our full-time roles while continuing to support Culturati as volunteers. LIVE, pop-ups, On Culture, and the annual poker tournament will continue in evolving forms, (though next week will be my final regular edition of OC).
I know many of you are navigating your own version of this tension: expected to lead with confidence while the conditions beneath your decisions keep changing. You have earned your expertise, often through years of difficult choices. Staying teachable does not diminish that experience. I believe it keeps it useful. My hope is that you protect the time and friction learning requires, both for yourself and for the people whose judgment you are helping form.
To staying teachable,
Myste Wylde
The 12-Week MBA is a global part-time mini-MBA created by Abilitie in partnership with TED and St. Edward's University. Through immersive business simulations, executive-level faculty, and collaborative learning, participants build the business judgment and leadership skills needed to make navigate complexity and create value in an AI-enabled world.
Unlike traditional online courses built around recorded lectures, the 12-Week MBA is an immersive learning experience. Participants engage in live faculty-led discussions, tackle realistic business simulations, explore TED-curated leadership insights, and collaborate with accomplished professionals from around the world. Every session is designed to move beyond theory, giving participants repeated opportunities to practice making decisions when the answers aren't obvious.
Over 12 weeks, participants develop a practical understanding of finance, strategy, marketing, operations, and leadership while learning to connect these disciplines to make better business decisions. The result is greater business fluency, stronger judgment, and the ability to create value in organizations where AI can inform decisions - but people must ultimately make them. Contact: admissions@12weekmba.com.
Why Experience Alone Is No Longer Enough To Stay Competitive At Work
Forbes By Dr. Diane Hamilton
Summary: Experience creates lasting value when leaders keep building on it. As information becomes instantly accessible and expertise loses relevance faster, curiosity, adaptability, and an inquiring mindset become critical to staying competitive. Past success can sharpen judgment, yet it can also reinforce outdated assumptions and obscure new possibilities. The strongest leaders use experience as a starting point, seek feedback, challenge familiar approaches, and continue learning faster than traditional training can keep pace. |
Three Learning Habits Backed By Neuroscience
Fast Company By Melissa Loble
Summary: With 70% of U.S. workers feeling unprepared for today’s workforce, learning agility has become a performance imperative. Three habits make it practical: close the notes and recall key ideas from memory, revisit them over time, and apply them in a new context; use AI as a coach to challenge an argument, simulate a difficult conversation, or provide immediate feedback; then reflect on where your reasoning broke down, which assumptions shaped the outcome, and what you would change next time. Traditional lectures lose attention after roughly 20 minutes, while repeated practice, reflection, and low-stakes experimentation build stronger retention, judgment, and adaptability. |
Design AI Systems That Actually Strengthen Human Reasoning
Harvard Business Review By Melchior Tamisier-Fayard, Theodoros Evgeniou and Anne-Laure Fayard
Summary: As AI becomes part of everyday work, leaders need to protect the skills people use to think, judge, and solve problems. Research suggests that relying too heavily on generated answers can weaken expertise and narrow the range of ideas people consider. Practical safeguards include forming a view before using AI, comparing human and AI conclusions, setting aside some AI-free time for strategy, and reviewing more than one possible answer. These habits keep people engaged in the thinking process and help organizations build stronger judgment, better ideas, and greater adaptability. |
Building Expertise in the Age of AI: Who Trains the Next Generation?
McKinsey & Company By Bryan Hancock & Charlotte Seiler
Summary: As AI reshapes entry-level work, organizations need to deliberately rebuild the pathways through which people develop expertise. The strongest approach connects knowledge management, role design, learning in the flow of work, and manager coaching. An “attempt-then-check” model asks employees to form an independent view, compare it with AI-generated work, and use the gap for feedback and reflection. Done well, AI can accelerate learning while preserving the context, judgment, and human skills future leaders need. |
How L&D and Workforce Readiness are Connected
HR Dive By Caroline Colvin
Summary: Learning strategy is becoming a workforce-readiness issue. SHRM found that 72% of HR leaders design development around skills needed within two years, while just 4% focus on longer-term capabilities. Organizations that align learning with business priorities and make it relevant and accessible report stronger engagement and readiness, especially as AI raises demand for strategic thinking, emotional intelligence, people leadership, and tenacity alongside technical fluency. |
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