I Can Only Learn by Doing and Why That’s a Problem
Last week, someone I work with and deeply admire said something that stuck with me:
“The only way I can really learn something is to do it.”
Oof. That’s a tough way to go through the world. That mindset is like saying, “The only way I’ll know fire burns is to touch it.” Painful—and slow.
So why does this matter?
When Doing Becomes a Bottleneck
If you’re in a leadership or collaboration-heavy role, insisting on firsthand experience before taking action introduces unnecessary friction. Here’s why:
- You become a roadblock. You’ll only adopt tools, processes, or insights you understand deeply—slowing down teams who are ready to move.
- You delay progress. If you insist on taking the machine apart to learn how it works, you’re adding 394,841,209,348 steps others don’t need.
- You break alignment. Colleagues can’t count on a shared foundation. There’s no common playbook—only your bespoke journey to understanding.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
“Only” Is a Limiting Belief
The idea that someone only learns by doing isn’t a reflection of their brain, it’s a reflection of the learning tools they’ve been given. Most people haven’t found the right learning environment or format yet. And frankly, in 2025, the glut of AI-generated sludge and jargon-filled documentation doesn’t help.
But learning doesn’t need to be painful.
My Framework for Learning Fast (Without Touching the Fire)
- Find a foundation –> Go to the white papers. In 2025, EVERY technology is going to have white papers/documentation on how to get started. DON’T try to read them end to end from the get go. Get the headlines, overviews in order to understand the art of the possible, then dig in
- Put in in context –> Google! Or DuckDuckGo! Terms like “Reviews on X” are fine. But terms like “X vs Y for [a reason]” or “Best/Worst reason to adopt X” are going to get you past the AI slop.
- Save the Best –> Unless you’re super human, you’re going to forget stuff. Figure out a method of sorting and saving content that works for you. I use OneNote religious with one area dedicated to technology, parent tabs for each, subtabs for concepts, and just willy nilly pasting in URLS and content from there with OneNote serving as a search engine in my now curated space of Lisa validated content.
- Continuous Learning –> The world is changing too fast to not at least some tabs on what’s going on. So I have a list of bloggers/youtubers/people I trust that I curate regularly, but that I trust implicitly. I rely on them to get me interesting content that I prioritize on a weekly basis to read at least the headlines of. Again, the purpose isn’t to dive deep into every topic, but keep a pulse on what is possible so if you’re asked how to solve a problem, you’re ready.
TL;DR
Learning by doing is powerful, but insisting it’s the only way can be dangerous. Leaders and collaborators need broader toolkits. The good news is: There’s a smarter path.
👉 Build a system.
👉 Scan for signals.
👉 Curate your sources.
👉 Learn just enough to stay dangerous.
You don’t have to touch the fire to know it burns.
