“Every act of conscious learning requires the willingness to suffer an injury to one’s self-esteem. That is why young children, before they are aware of their own self-importance, learn so easily.” - Thomas Szasz
Sometimes the most one learns on the job is his or her own weaknesses. I suppose those of us that see potential in ourselves take mistakes as a blow to the ego. But, I’ve learned that if one isn’t even a little bit challenged, overwhelmed, at work, then one should’ve left that job some time ago.
While I am learning a lot about Harvard policies and Sponsored Research Administration, I think I’m actually learning more about my own practices, best practices I want to adopt for myself, and interpersonal and relationship skills I want to improve. Working as an SRA at Harvard, one learns how to live in the gray area all the time. You learn to have a bigger appetite for risk and to think outside the box to make things happens.
Here’s my list of to-dos. I figure if I post this, I’ll hold myself to these goals, tangible and intangible.
1. Talk less, listen more.
2. Count to 10 before unleashing the rant. Could I complain to myself and sound a bit more professional?
3. Take a walk, even for just five minutes, every day. A daily departure from the cubicle is imperative.
4. Before submitting items for review, think about what the reviewer wants to see. Similarly, before submitting summaries to superiors, think about questions they might ask and situations that could potentially impact the account.
5. Embrace networking groups. While your peers might not help you get a new job, they can probably help you perform better in your current role
6. Explore the many tools in Adobe Pro and Microsoft Office 2010. From splitting up PDFs to using pivot tables, macros, color coding cell commands, and VLookup, there are many ways to use simple technology to improve efficiency and depend less on manual processes that are subject to human error.
All in all, I want to learn. There are plenty of people that have more experience, patience and knowledge about my environment and field, but most of them have a major disadvantage - they’ve become complacent and comfortable. The difference is I’m willing to make changes and I know how much I don’t know -a LOT! I’m starting to embrace discomfort because it means I’m learning. I see myself as a valuable raw material that will become more valuable once it is molded into a product.
