Over the past few years, I've engaged in discussions with friends immersed deeply in the tech sector. These aren't just any friends: they are accomplished professionals, sought-after independent consultants, solopreneurs with a clientele patiently waiting months (sometimes even years) to avail their expertise, and dynamic members of leadership teams at burgeoning startups. These individuals have not only learned to navigate the tech waters but also to sail and thrive in them masterfully.
A recurring theme in our conversations is the undeniable importance of perpetual learning, driven by both new challenges and opportunities. Just as stagnation can signal the twilight of a tech career, continuous development heralds its renaissance.
Drawing from these insights, the path to staying relevant and dynamic in the perpetually shifting tech landscape becomes clear: embrace a foundational principle. And in tech, as in many domains, there's no need to start from scratch. Often, we can achieve more by leveraging the insights and wisdom of those who came before us. In this context, the US Marine Corps provides a prime example with "MCDP7 Learning," a field manual that offers valuable strategies on how to learn and the mindset essential for it.
Can you define “learning”?
For example, Learning is not a word that we often define, yet the MCDP7 provides such a rich definition that it must be considered for adoption as
Learning is much more than gathering information or reciting facts; it includes cognitive, physical, social, emotional, ethical, and cultural components. Learning occurs in formal settings (e.g., a schoolhouse or training exercise) and informal settings, such as social, experiential, self-directed, and other ways outside of the classroom.
In the next paragraph, it continues:
Learning encompasses both training and education, which are equally important and complementary.
If that part doesn’t ring true to someone who has been in tech for more than a few weeks, I don’t know what will. Tech is a field where both the training & education components are equally important. I have worked with those who favored one over the other (college grads with zero experience and the field-masters with little formal education) - finding excellence for both types is much more difficult than the individual who split time evenly between education and training.
The MCDP7’s simplicity
These simple directives should provide guidance in all stages of your career.
- Know yourself and seek improvement
- Be ready & willing to learn
- Understand why you are learning
- Provide and receive constructive feedback
- Learning is purpose-driven to develop professional competence
Applying the MCPD7 to YOU!
The first step is to "know yourself and seek improvement." Take an honest inventory of your current skills, knowledge gaps, and areas for growth. Where do you excel, and where do you struggle? What new technologies or methodologies are becoming important in your field? Actively seek feedback from colleagues, mentors, and performance reviews. Develop a continuous improvement plan to address your weaknesses and growth areas through learning goals.
Next, you must "be ready and willing to learn." Adopt a growth mindset that embraces learning as a constant necessity rather than something to check off and be done with. Be curious, ask questions, and remain humble about what you don't yet know. Allocate dedicated time for learning, whether it's online courses, reading books/blogs, attending conferences, or participating in a study group. Treat this as a key part of your job, not just an optional activity.
"Understanding why you are learning" provides motivation and focus. Don't just learn aimlessly - have clear objectives tied to your development plan. Is it to master a new programming language for an upcoming project? To become certified in cloud technologies and advance your career? When you link learning directly to driving professional competence in specific domains, it's easier to sustain and apply the learnings.
Be proactive about "providing and receiving constructive feedback." Share what you're learning with teammates and ask for their perspectives. When receiving feedback, be open-minded rather than defensive. Failed experiments or underperforming projects provide rich opportunities to analyze what went wrong and extract lessons. An ongoing feedback loop accelerates learning cycles.
Finally, reinforce that "learning is purpose-driven to develop professional competence." Don't just consume information passively - apply it through practice, create resources to share your knowledge, and find opportunities to guide mentees. True competence only comes through deliberate learning combined with hands-on experience over time. Keep returning to your "why" for continual inner motivation.