Learning Day

OpenAI, the research company in San Francisco, California that is working on furthering development around artificial general intelligence, created a concept called “Learning Day“. Essentially employees here have an entire day of the work week dedicated to studying up on skills that will make them better at their job. This concept, developed by Wojciech Zaremba who is the head of Robotics at OpenAI, allows people at work to build up their gaps in knowledge and become more cross-functional as a team.

This idea is something I haven’t seen before. However, I am a huge fan of this; any opportunity for someone to level up their education and skills should be taken seriously. For the average person, their assumption that education stops after putting on a gown and waving their cap in the air is one of the gravest mistakes that can be made. You should always be trying to learn something new, no matter how significant. I think of learning like compound interest – a small amount invested daily adds up to a significant amount of wealth in attained knowledge over time. The idea of taking an entire day and dedicating it to this mission is definitely something to consider.

OpenAI bases Learning Day around AI-related learning material and encourages employees to share what they’re learning. They’ve found that although there may be a short-term stoppage in progress, the long-term effects are profound. Teams can actually collaborate with one another on a whole new level. You can have someone who isn’t a developer by trade and speak to a group of software engineers about machine learning principles and engineering best practices. This kind of cross-collaboration actually allows for more rapid progress and a stronger, more cohesive working environment. This result, although limited to a sample size of one, should be tested across different environments and industries, though unfortunately that seems unlikely.

An argument could be made here on the tradeoff of lost productivity. At first glance, it would make sense to be concerned about losing 20% of dedicated time to learning rather than contributing. This model may not work across different sectors and industries. Those with the drive and ambition could probably take time outside of work do the same things. However, just like the concept of artificial general intelligence, the cons in the short-term (lost productivity, high risk) can be more than offset by the pros of the long-term results (substantial progress, cross-collaboration).

I strongly believe that people should carve out time to work on improving themselves, whether it be physically, mentally, intellectually, etc. By dedicating a block of time to improving your skill set, you improve not only your career trajectory, but also your personal self. This can be as simple as reading a book (or joining a book club like Bill Gates’s) or taking up a MOOC on Coursera. In order for individuals to truly make a difference in their careers, relationships, communities, and pursuit of personal fulfillment, the act of attaining and applying knowledge must be at the heart of it all.