Personal Learning and Growth Curve

 

What do people and organizations learning and growing through proficiency have in common with a mild steel bar under tension? A lot, actually! A Learning Curve is the graphical representation of the relationship between how proficient some one is in a particular skill, against their experience over time. The Personal Learning and Growth curve of people and organizations mimics the stress-strain curve of a mild steel bar subjected to a tension test. 

The initial capacity of a steel bar to take on tensile stress (force per unit area) is high and has a steep Modulus of Elasticity, or slope of the curve. The steel is elastic in this initial range, and any tension it takes, and the corresponding strain (change in length per unit length) can be recovered fully once the source of tension is removed. This is similar to how a person or an organization grows very quickly and learns and absorbs new knowledge at a rapid pace in the early stages of life. However, there comes a time where the steel bar attains its Upper Yield Point (or upper yield strength) at which point it goes into a state of free fall with more strain and is left with permanent residual strain. There comes a point in the life of an individual or an organization when they reach a point of saturation and cannot learn or absorb any more knowledge in a linear fashion, a crisis occurs that diminishes their ability to learn or grow, and they are left with permanent scars (residual strain). Once the steel bar stabilizes in the yield zone and reaches the Lower Yield Pont (or lower yield strength) it is again able to take on more stress, however, it is at a much smaller gradient and with residual strain. If the force is removed at any point during this stage, the steel bar will have some permanent elongation left even after all stress is removed. 

Human beings are ductile (with the ability to absorb stresses of life) in a similar fashion, their ability to learn and grow, though seriously diminished after the yield zone or life crisis, still continues to grow till it peaks. At that point, if they do not reinvent themselves and start a new learning and growth curve, they will yield under the strain and break apart without a new force driving them into a new area of growth. The size of the curve decreases with every iteration, however, its shape and impact does not change! Would you like to grow with me?