Day 12: The Single Most Important Lesson I’ve Learned Working in Tech Companies for 20 Years

Over the past 20 years working in tech companies such as Apple, Microsoft, Meta, this is the single most important lesson I’ve learned about the ultimate motivator for people in organizations.

People Want to Learn about Themselves

When people get to learn more about themselves — who they are, what they are there for, who they want to become (as managers, leaders, as human), how they want to “grow”, etc. — in their workplaces, they are motivated to do better with their work naturally. When this happens, people get to develop their internal compass, which enables them to work with more autonomy, creativity, and growth mindset. I’ve witnessed this over and over from participants in classes I offered at Meta.

A Learning Organization

This need for self-development & growth is so innate for all of us, because we’re all learners, deep down. No one has to teach babies about how to grow; they are naturally curious, learning how to walk, speak, and interact with others masterfully. The joy from learning how to stand up on their own is so obvious in their faces. The need to feel this joy from self-development is still present in all life stages, no matter how old we are.

Replicating this experience of growth in workplaces is possible with the vision of a “learning organization” by Peter Senge. In <The Fifth Discipline>, he talks about organizations “where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning how to learn together”. This isn’t just a responsibility of Learning & Development teams at workplaces. This has to be the core principle of all teams.