Just in case vs Just in time
Avthar's Weekly Wisdom #59 (08/22/2021)
Welcome to edition #59 of Avthar's Weekly Wisdom!
🔥 I’m Avthar, a South African technology entrepreneur and learning enthusiast based in New York City. This digital letter is where I share practical wisdom about self-mastery, entrepreneurship, health and happiness, all to help you live better.
My guarantee is that you’ll discover one thing that will help you change your life in every edition. As a reminder, you can find all previous editions of this newsletter in the archive. And you can find more of my writings at avthar.com.
Just in case vs Just in time
Here’s a cool framework I picked up as a learning coach at Princeton University that I want to share with you today: it’s called “just in case” vs “just in time” learning.
Most things we learned in school are “just in case”. Things like facts, figures and dates -- they often leave us wondering, “Why am I learning this? When is this ever going to be useful?”.
In the real world, most learning is done “just in time”. It’s when you learn something that helps solve a problem you know you have. Or when you deepen your knowledge about a topic you’re curious about.
Now, “just in time” knowledge is not objectively better than “just in case” knowledge. Both are useful in the right situation. “Just in case” knowledge helps to avoid disaster and mitigate the downsides in situations where failure is deadly. A pilot’s emergency protocol or a country’s laws for businesses are good examples.
“Just in time” knowledge is most useful in endeavours where iteration is possible, like mastering a new skill, building a business or learning a new subject in school. In these situations, one mistake won’t derail you. You can get stuck and find ways to keep going over and over again until you achieve your aim.
While “just in case” learning is important to avoid ruin, adopting “just in time” learning as your default learning mode can help you better navigate the uncertainty of modern life, achieve your goals and better master yourself.
Asking questions
Ancient Greek philosophers like Socrates and his student Plato believed that all knowledge is answers to questions. By asking the right questions, we can gain the knowledge we desire.
Too often, “Just in case” learning is like learning the answers to a test you don’t know the questions for.
“Just in time” learning on the other hand, is like an open-book test, where you know the questions, and just need to find the right information in order to answer the questions on it.
Just in time learning and entrepreneurship
As an entrepreneur, “just in time” learning was my best friend. I had to do many things for the first time and ran into many obstacles while trying to build a product that people wanted.
Understanding the difference between “just in time” and “just in case” learning helped me be at peace with not already knowing the solutions to my problems and embrace the growth mindset that my team and I could learn the skills we needed to overcome the obstacles in front of us and achieve our goals. It also helped me avoid the all too common trap that many smart people fall into: reading, researching and planning, but never taking action because they need to learn more just in case.
Thanks to “just in time” learning, I learned how to do things like build and publish iPhone apps, how to get feedback from customers and how to raise money from investors -- all because these gave me solutions to clear problems I faced and needed to solve to keep going.
Try and get stuck
Entrepreneur and investor Sahil Lavingia recently encapsulated a protocol for “just in time” learning in a single tweet: “Before asking for help, try and get stuck.”
By trying first and getting stuck, you create a clear motive for learning (i.e. helping you get unstuck). Once the motive for learning has been established, you can then look for solutions. And while you may get stuck again after solving your initial problem, you can repeat the process again until you reach your goal.
Using “just in time” learning is like trying to find your way while driving at night. You can only see as far as the headlights illuminate, but as long as you keep moving, that will be far enough to get you to your destination.
Learning in the Internet Age
Thanks to Google, you can now find the answer to just about any question you have.
The internet age enables “just in time” learning like never before: where curiosity and exploration can guide your learning, rather than an outdated syllabus or curriculum. You can learn the exact thing you need to solve your particular problem and create your own unique learning path to master any subject you choose.
All the information we need is out there, all we need is motivation to find it and apply it. As the ever-quotable entrepreneur Naval Ravikant said, “The means of learning are abundant. It’s the desire to learn that’s scarce.”
“Just in time” vs “Just in case” learning is a powerful concept that you can add to your learning toolkit.
I hope it helps you better navigate the abundance of the internet age and become a better learner and doer!
Tweet of the week
This was a reminder to myself about the need to take ownership over your life.
Video I found fascinating
How Virtual Restaurants Could Become a $1 Trillion Industry: I knew a bit about “virtual restaurants” before watching this, but this 10 minute documentary helped me better understand the state of the industry right now and also the massive opportunity in it.
🙏 Thank you again for reading and for your support! I wish you a week of happiness, success and peace!
With gratitude,
Avthar