What is the main message of Leveraged Learning?

Discover how to learn faster and more effectively, maximizing your time and resources.

How long does it take to read Leveraged Learning?

Reading time for Leveraged Learning varies, but the Blinkist summary can be read in just 15 minutes.

Is Leveraged Learning a good book? Is it worth reading?

Leveraged Learning is definitely worth reading. It provides practical strategies to optimize your learning and achieve more in less time.

Who is the author of Leveraged Learning?

Danny Iny is the author of Leveraged Learning .

Leveraged Learning Summary of Key Ideas and Review

Name: Leveraged Learning
Rating: 4.2 (108 reviews)
Author: Danny Iny

Introduction

What’s in it for me? Learn how to take learning to the next level.

As human beings, we’re all blessed with an innate ability to learn. In theory, education should help us leverage that ability and maximize our chances of success.

But in the real world, things can be very different. Traditional methods of learning often fail to live up to that mission. Four-year universities are a case in point. Many students come out of them woefully unprepared for the “real world.”

The good news? A whole range of innovative methods and technologies have recently entered the educational market. They’re beginning to provide fresh alternatives to traditional – and often inadequate – means of teaching and learning.

But with so many options now available, how do we find or design the most effective courses of formal, informal, or self-directed study? The answer boils down to two words – an approach the author calls leveraged learning.

In these blinks, you’ll learn

why you need more than just knowledge to succeed nowadays;
why fortitude, critical thinking, and creativity are the keys to modern learning; and
what the rapper Pitbull can teach you about gaining insight into hidden opportunities.

Key idea 1 of 8

The content of leveraged learning begins with knowledge – but it doesn’t end there.

What makes food taste good? Much of it comes down to how the chef layers certain fundamental flavors like sweetness, sourness, and saltiness.

Education can be similar. A leveraged learning program consists of six layers of education that a teacher, course, or self-led learner fuses together into an optimal blend.

Let’s start at the bottom. The first layer is the most obvious one: the content of the program. Of course, this will vary greatly depending on the subject matter, students, and program objective. A college-level class on medieval European history will have vastly different content from a web-based guitar class!

But some general lessons do apply to any leveraged learning program.

The key message here is: The content of leveraged learning begins with knowledge – but it doesn’t end there.

Whether you’re a graduate student attending an MBA program or a professional practicing Spanish on the Duolingo language-learning app, ask yourself this: Why are you actually learning? The answer is probably that you want to acquire some sort of knowledge.

The knowledge could involve declarative memory – the ability to memorize information, facts, and vocabulary. For an MBA student, that’s memorizing the meaning of “ROI.” For somebody learning Spanish, it’s the translation of “hola.”

Another type of knowledge is linked to procedural memory – the ability to memorize the steps of carrying out a task, like preparing a budget. Procedural memory normally goes hand-in-hand with declarative; you can’t create a budget if you don’t understand financial terminology.

Either way, some sort of knowledge is fundamental to learning new subjects or skills. Knowledge is, in fact, the foundation of education. But the whole point of learning is to build something on top of that foundation. That usually means being able to do something with your knowledge. And whatever you do, you want to do it well.

That MBA student might be learning about entrepreneurship because she wants to start a successful business. And the Duolingo addict might want to learn Spanish to have fluid conversations with people in Latin America.

Of course, that requires learning a lot of words in Spanish. But it also means being able to use those words – not just with basic fluency, but with a high level of mastery.

Key idea 2 of 8

Critical thinking, creativity, and insightfulness are key to modern-day success.

The idea that knowledge alone isn’t enough might seem obvious. But it does go against the grain of traditional education. After all, if you follow this school of thought, you won’t only be focusing on memorizing facts and procedures.

Traditional educators might balk at this. But their approach harms both learners and employers. In the real world, these people want far more than just knowledge. In the job market, knowledge is no longer as valuable as it used to be. Whole libraries of information can be easily accessed through the internet, and many procedures that once required humans can be performed by technology.

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Key idea 3 of 8

To thrive at learning, students need to develop success behaviors and foster fortitude.

Alright, so now we have a blueprint for assembling a leveraged learning program. We’ve got knowledge, its foundation. And we’ve got the insight-fostering skills of critical thinking and creativity – foundations that modern learners can build on top of.

But all of this educational construction work is easier said than done. It requires putting in considerable time and effort, going outside your comfort zone, and pushing through unexpected challenges and setbacks. As a result, many learners give up. Barely used guitars end up collecting dust, and more than a quarter of college students drop out during their first year.

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Key idea 4 of 8

To efficiently acquire knowledge, stick to the essentials and use learning techniques.

By now, we know what a leveraged learning program needs to put in place: knowledge, insight-building skills, and success behaviors. But how do we actually get there?

That brings us to the third layer of leveraged learning: delivery. This is where we get into the practical details of how to effectively learn – or teach. How do you package the content and success behaviors into a program of study?

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Key idea 5 of 8

Insight-building skills should be taught and learned in a deliberate, structured manner.

With your foundation of knowledge in place, you’re now ready to focus on actually doing something with it. That means applying it to simulated or real-life problems, situations, and goals. This may include creating prototypes, conducting research projects, building portfolios, delivering presentations, or even going on that trip to Latin America.

However, you don’t just want to regurgitate the facts and skills you’ve memorized. Learning has opened up new opportunities for you, so use them to hone your critical thinking skills, creativity, and insight.

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Key idea 6 of 8

Develop success behaviors and fortitude by tapping into your mind’s ability to rewire itself.

There’s another layer of learning we said we’d explore, and it focuses on delivery. To understand it better, we need to look at how to develop success behaviors and fortitude.

Many of us think of these things as fixed character traits. Some people just have more tenacity, grit, or self-control than others. But the truth is that you can learn success behaviors and fortitude. And, what’s more, you can do it at any point in your life.

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Key idea 7 of 8

Leveraged learning programs need to provide a user-tailored experience.

Once upon a time, post-secondary education followed a fairly standard model. If you wanted to learn something, you attended a university course, usually as part of a four-year degree. The course typically consisted of a professor giving multi-hour lectures to a captive audience packed into an auditorium.

But these days, universities provide students with many other ways of engaging with their studies. There are all sorts of new teaching and learning techniques, like massive open online courses, intensive coding bootcamps, and learning apps.

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Key idea 8 of 8

Accountability and support can help us reach the finish line of learning.

Have you ever signed up for a web-based class or downloaded a learning app, only to drop it after a few weeks? If so, you’re not alone. Up to 87 percent of students quit most online courses.

Maybe something in their learning experience frustrates them. Or perhaps they get distracted by one of the million other directions in which life is pulling them. Success behaviors and fortitude can mitigate this problem, but they can only take us so far. We need something else: a technique that will help us build more commitment to learning and get us through all the rough patches.

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