Learn from the experience of others

We are aware that one of the most effective ways to learn is to learn from our experiences. Normally we learn very little when things go well, because when we do not have negative results we cannot correct or review our strategies to improve our ways of projecting ourselves in similar situations. This leads us to think that we need our mistakes to acquire new knowledge, which leads us to discard one of the most useful sources of learning that we can turn to, the experience of others.

Learning from the experience of others is not only feasible, but has practically zero cost, since it does not require us to pay with our own mistakes in order to understand how to improve and do things in a better way. This makes this process even more effective and cost-efficient than learning from our own experience. During the development of this guide we will be addressing some of the basic elements that revolve around this topic, so that we can outline some of the most feasible methods when it comes to acquiring knowledge from others.

Review the route that the other person has taken.

When you are analyzing a particular case, where a third party has not obtained the results you expected through the development of their actions, it will be useful to review the route they have taken to get to the point where they are now. By reviewing the other person's route, you should focus on detecting which are the most evident mistakes and which elements have contributed to the final result not being the best.

Similarly, you can review the third party's route if you want to find some elements that have been effective and that are not involved in the failure of the actions. The positive elements will be useful if you wish to replicate them in your projects, since you will know beforehand how they behave in similar situations.

Contrast your experiences with those of other people.

A very simple way to improve our techniques in a given subject is to contrast our personal experiences with those of other people. By contrasting experiences we learn from the successes and failures that this person has had, in the same way this exchange is positive when it comes to understand more deeply the characteristics of the phenomenon you are facing.

By positioning ourselves in other people's perspectives, we can gain a more comprehensive understanding of the facts, which extends beyond our own way of conceiving the problems and the particular vision we have of them.

Seek out as many sources as possible

The exercise of learning from the experience of third parties does not consist in taking as valid each of the statements made by this person. That is why, in order to build a solid knowledge as close as possible to reality, it is necessary to seek as many sources as possible. If you are looking to acquire experience to face a particular problem, try to have several people who have gone through the same thing before you, this will allow you to build a more comprehensive external experience, which encompasses different points of view and is not biased by the particularities of a particular person.

Keep in mind that the experience of others is a very valuable resource that can be very useful to prepare you for future events, however, as it is not something that you have been able to contrast by yourself, you must be careful to ensure that the information you receive is as accurate as possible.