On Learn to Grow Shorts, we follow up on the most recent podcast conversation to highlight one topic of particular interest.

I had a great time talking to Ed, and looking back on our conversation, the thing I want to highlight this week is the importance of practically applying what you learn. Loved the examples Ed gives for how learning takes place in his own life and how he uses technology like YouTube and practical application to make progress.

He describes using YouTube to find soccer games, drills and exercises for the U15 team he coaches, then takes puts what he learned into practice that night.

If we think about what’s happening there, it’s the combination of the research and content consumption with the instant practical application that makes the learning successful. He becomes better at his role (coach) and his organization (in this case an U15 soccer team!) benefit directly from what he has learned – everyone wins.

And the cool thing is, as Ed finds content that works for him and applies it in practice, he gets better at finding the right content for his team and his own personal coaching style.

What’s key to remember here, however, is that without the practical application piece, we actually lose much of what we consume in learning content.

And there is actually research to back this up.

For example, there was a fantastic episode of Morning Edition on NPR.

They explored the idea that many people believe they can master something simply by watching instructional videos.

Psychologists Ed O’Brien and Michael Kardas wondered about instructional videos and whether there was a gap between the perception of learning and actual learning.

So they studied it, and the best example is around the moonwalk. It’s objectively hard to do, a challenging skill.

Basically, here’s what they found:

If you show a group of people an instructional video 20 times, then ask them to rate their likely success when they try to perform it, they will way overstate their ability compared to a group who had not watched the instructional videos.

Sometimes viewing content or attending a seminar gives us the perception that we have gained a new skill – but we have to put skill into action as soon as possible to embed skills and capabilities and really grow.

This is why Ed has had such success – he hasn’t just spent hours watching videos, he has gone out and applied them each week with his team.

Thanks for taking the time to listen – Next week I talk to Kris Reynolds from Gitlab.