Want to accelerate your pace of learning? Join a community of practice. We learn much more amongst fellow-learners eager to share insights from experiments conducted in radically different contexts.

New domains — whether hobbies or entrepreneurial ventures — are fraught with risk and failure. One way to hack the learning curve is to find fellow learners committed to the craft. Find your people, and you accelerate exponentially.

There’s immense power in the knowledge of a network. We’ve got no excuse: Charles Darwin had to wait months for letters to travel the globe, but we can log in and instantaneously exchange knowledge.

Ben Franklin is one of history’s most prolific innovators, with breakthroughs ranging from literature to science to civics. How’d he do it? A simple but profound weekly ritual to spur fresh thinking.

“I don’t know,” might be three of the hardest words to say, especially for a teacher. The teacher is the one who’s supposed to know. And yet, not knowing creates space for the unexpected to emerge…

It’s a grave mistake to assume that a spectacular outcome started out spectacularly. As Ed Catmull, Founder and CEO of Pixar says, “Our job is to take movies from suck to not suck.”

Gathering likeminded learners (aka lunatics) exponentially reduces the ramp of a new pursuit, normalizing courage in the face of intimidation. YouTube sensation Mr. Beast breaks it down here.

There’s immense power in the knowledge of a network. And while Charles Darwin had to wait months for letters to travel the globe, we can log on and instantaneously exchange knowledge.

Ben Franklin is one of the most prolific innovators in history, with breakthroughs ranging from literature to science to civics. How’d he do it? A simple but profound weekly ritual to spur fresh thinking.

In case you missed the post from Thanksgiving Day (and who can blame you? Certainly not this guy, who allowed a guest post from a science fiction writer who died nearly 30 years ago), I wanted to underline one portion in particular, as it has special bearing upon an idea I mentioned earlier in the week: the rules of engagement that Ben Franklin laid out for his Junto. I’m more and more persuaded that such gatherings are an indispensable tool for individuals seeking to drive fresh thinking in their own unique context…

Fascinating research by Dartmouth’s Kevin Dunbar reveals why gatherings like Franklin’s Junto spark fresh insights and fuel innovation.

Benjamin Franklin is one of history’s most prolific innovators — with breakthroughs ranging from science to civic life. A simple but profound weekly ritual sparked consistent fresh thinking.