Learning the hard way?

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been using the “brute force” learning method: you try over and over until you get it.

Sure, this way of learning can be a bit overwhelming at times but by trying many things, one after the other, you get results. 

This leads me to talk about mentoring: I believe people have a very specific view of what a mentor should and shouldn’t do or be. 

To some it might be that she/he needs to give all those advices and hold the hand of the pupil while others may see them more as references or navigators: they know the map and can point you in the direction without necessarily following you closely on your journey. I prefer the latter. 

It is more work for the one doing the training but I strongly believe it helps way more in the long run to try our best and fail but learn instead of following a step-by-step guide or how-to. 

Although it is not always fun to face failure when we do something but don’t see results fast enough (in our mind at least it’s never fast enough), you tend to remember the lessons more about what to do or not do in any given situation you were facing. At least, I believe so. What do you think? 

Agree/disagree? Please add a comment below.

Sometimes, not having all the answers given to you right away may help you find new ways of doing something that was never done or tested before. I see this as a great way to innovate (or at least trying very hard to do so).