Cambridge Business Association
Hyper-Learning
Book

Hyper-Learning

How to Adapt to the Speed of Change

Edward D. Hess
Berrett-Koehler, 2020
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9

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Quickening disruption is inevitable as AI and machines invade work that people once routinely performed, writes business professor Edward D. Hess. To help workers deal with this development, Hess prescribes lifelong learning, unlearning and relearning focused on creativity, collaboration and critical thinking – which people still do better than machines. His approach to learning is holistic, marrying mind, body and spirit – and it’s based on hundreds of journal articles, books and 17 years of teaching experience. Hess also offers numerous thought experiments, assessments and journaling exercises.

Summary

Hyper-learning demands continual learning, unlearning and relearning.

To remain essential, workers must focus on the skills and abilities that machines perform poorly. These include soft skills such as critical thinking, improvisation, creativity, problem-solving, empathy and collaboration. As machines grow increasingly more capable, workers must stay a step ahead through continuous, focused learning and unlearning: “hyper-learning.”

At present, humans outperform technologies in tasks requiring creativity, imagination, critical thinking and decision-making in conditions of ambiguity. Building these skills requires a mind and body approach combining physical, emotional, spiritual, psychological and social health.

Humans evolved to connect, cooperate and learn throughout their lives.

You must change and reinvent yourself at an unprecedented pace today, and do so many times in your lifetime. Dispense with the notion that you learn for the first one-third of your life and can forget about learning thereafter. Beware complacency. Continually question what you think you know, and connect with others to gain different ...

About the Author

Edward D. Hess is Professor Emeritus of Business Administration, Darden School of Business, University of Virginia. He is the author of 13 books, including Humility Is the New Smart, Learn or Die and Smart Growth.

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