Learn by Doing

If you believe you do not know the answer to a challenging problem, do not immediately Google the problem. Instead, attempt to work out the answer using your own knowledge, experience and assumptions. Then Google. By so doing, you are more likely to learn the correct solution to the problem. Moreover, the process of correcting yourself is likely to be enlightening as well.
– Jeffrey Baumgartner

What do you do when you have a problem to solve? Do you ask the person standing next to you for a quick answer? Do you Google? What is this quote saying? Don’t Google? Don’t help your friends and neighbors with their problems? No.

He’s saying, first, learn by doing. Go ahead and try. Make mistakes. Learn from your mistakes. Embrace mistakes as a source of learning and invention. We actually learn better when we are put in situations that increase the likelihood that we will make errors. Only then will your brain be sufficiently stimulated, you’ll enhance your knowledge by working through the problem, and you’ll be better able to handle a similar situation in the future. And you may surprise yourself with a new creative solution that you innovated.

I believe a huge part of the basis of our website on simplifying your life stems from making those attempts, seeing what works and doesn’t, learning from those mistakes, and freeing ourselves from thinking that life and our surroundings have to be “perfect”.

Sure, I’m nervous when I attempt something new. I have to admit, I’m a big Googler when I don’t know quite how to do something. But I’m always willing to try. For example, my first tiling project wasn’t perfect; my last tiling project wasn’t perfect either! In fact, years from now when someone rips out my last tiling project, they’ll find a large, gaping hole in the drywall. I covered it up with my new tile in a way that would make most professionals cringe. But I was creative in my approach, figured it out for myself, and no one but you and me is the wiser. From the outside, it looks beautiful.

So go ahead, try, fail, try again, think, learn…then ask for help. You may very well surprise yourself. (And be sure to share your experiences with us.)