Proactive students find ways to round out their education and develop meaningful relationships, both of which can enhance their education. Words that have the opposite meaning include short-sighted and careless. Moreover, an oracle may be reluctant – it may refuse to answer if it is too uncertain or too busy. It’s sort of like the mistake overweight people make when looking at thin people: The overweight person might remark that the thin person “is lucky because he can eat whatever he wants,” whereas the thin person knows he is thin precisely because he does NOT eat whatever he wants. Another strategy for fostering proactivity is to hold an innovation day on a regular basis. Proactive writing is writing actively, but with the goal of repeatedly refining your work. Learn solid tips on how to be proactive at work to help propel you further in your career. That’s why “proactive learning” is the first key building block for developing critical thinking skills. He is an advisor to business leaders all over the world, the author or coauthor of numerous books, including the classic, “Managing Generation X” (1995); best-seller “It’s Okay to Be the Boss” (2007); “Not Everyone Gets a Trophy’ (2009); “The 27 Challenges Managers Face” (2014); and Bridging the Skills Gap (2015). When teaching most things, there are two non-mutually-exclusive ways of approaching the problem. A sales person should be able to prepare for a sales call and go into that call with the confidence of knowing exactly what he or she will do to satisfy a prospect or client. Before any individual can possibly succeed at “critical thinking,” that person has to know some things. What is “good form”? An example of proactive in a sentence is: He took proactive steps to improve his grades by studying all the math examples the teacher gave him. Excerpt from “Bridging the Skills Gap: Teaching the Missing Basics to Today’s Young Talent” by Bruce Tulgan (Wiley, September 2015). A proactive approach implies an energetic and persistent set of actions such as a student who is interested in a masters program who tries to schedule an appointment with a professor to ask a few questions. You can take this to the bank: She is probably also the most voracious learner you know. Words that have the opposite meaning include short-sighted and careless. Keep learning. Training magazine is the industry standard for professional development and news for training, human resources and business management professionals in all industries. However, the oracle is assumed to be infallible (never wrong), indefatigable (always answers), individual (only one oracle), and insensitive to costs (always free or always charges the same). Then you will have lots of space to store a regular stream of new information, technique, and perspective. Being proactive builds your personal brand and reputation at work. They do not latch on to one solution—they know that most solutions are temporary and improve over time with new data. That means studying information, practicing technique, and contemplating multiple competing perspectives. You probably won’t notice. This very example of proactive learning is why I built the QuickFix solutions element in my On-Demand platforms. Practice technique and you will build your stored skill base. This is the message I recommend managers deliver when they are trying to convince their young employees to really care about developing good proactive-learning habits: “Here’s why you should care of about proactive learning. In fact, changing one habit to another is a form often creates proactive interference. But if you try to stretch too much too fast without good form and good structural support, you are liable to pull a muscle. Never declare victory. Donmez, P., Carbonell, J.G. And unlike the hot technical skills, it will never become obsolete. A true professional anything would never have to “wing it.” Your mind needs regular exercise to stay in shape and get stronger. I’m sure you have a lot of questions, especially after learning about proactive interference. Proactive learning is a generalization of active learning designed to relax unrealistic assumptions and thereby reach practical applications. Contemplate different perspectives and you will build stored wisdom. Or seek out a mentoring relationship with a teacher, academic adviser or other … The biggest mistake that keeps a person from getting smarter is thinking that being smart is a fixed status, rather than a dynamic process. Proactive language, in contrast to reactive language, differs in terms of the locus of control experienced by the speaker. Even if you don’t learn anything, the very act of trying to learn is great exercise for your brain. He can be reached at brucet@rainmakerthinking.com. However, the oracle is assumed to be infallible (never wrong), indefatigable (always … A proactive employee thinks ahead, acts ahead and gets ahead. Excerpt from “Bridging the Skills Gap: Teaching the Missing Basics to Today’s Young Talent” by Bruce Tulgan (Wiley, September 2015). If you’re not in shape, you start by taking walks, not distance runs. When someone has a sense of control over the situation, his speech generally reflects his control or acceptance of responsibility. Since founding management training firm RainmakerThinking in 1993, he has been a sought-after keynote speaker and seminar leader. They carefully weigh the strengths of conflicting views and apply logical reasoning. No matter how smart you are, if you are in the habit of critical proactive learning, you will keep getting smarter. Then you will have lots of space to store a regular stream of new information, technique, and perspective. If you’ve never lifted weights, you have to start off with lighter weights and work yourself up to the heavier lifting. It is almost a hackneyed truth about today’s world that we all have endless amounts of information at our fingertips available instantly all the time. Stored knowledge, skill, and wisdom. That way, he or she will have something—anything really—about which to think critically. For example, form a study group with fellow students to pool resources and ideas and to encourage each other -- something that is particularly helpful if a class proves difficult.