9.1. Alternative Learning

There is another way to learn (rather than making mistakes), and that is through learning from other people. In order to do that effectively, you need two skills that most people lack: how to read between the lines how to take advice. A famous technical editor said, "People don't read," meaning that it's very rare to find someone who's really done his/her homework, reading technical publications and so forth. It is equally true that people don't listen to advice. Including you. Us, too. We all have to try harder to do these basics more effectively. They seem really simple, but most people don't acquire these basic skills in much depth, and therefore waste a great deal of time and energy by not benefiting from the knowledge of others.

The phrase "reading between the lines" is only a figure of speech. You don't literally read anything between lines of text. What you do is analyze what the author is saying at a level of detail somewhat beyond the surface discussion. To do this you need to use your knowledge, experience, and imagination.

Suppose you are reading a story about human experiences. Try to imagine how those people were feeling and acting that motivated what they did. Were they lazy, angry, ignorant, misinformed, or biased? Now read an article by a vendor or consultant. Is the writer competent to speak and act on this subject? Does he have an agenda, perhaps product or standards centric, and is he trying too hard to persuade you? How does what he is saying compare to your own experience and knowledge? Is he right or wrong or somewhere in between? When did he write this, and what was the historical context of these comments?

These are impressions that you should be able to pick up naturally while you read. Reading between the lines gives you the ability to discriminate what you will add to your knowledge, and what you will reject. Every piece has some good and some bad information. To win the psychological war, you need to know the difference, almost instinctively.