Kolb's cycle of experiential learning

David Kolb coined a cycle of learning which most of us will likely already use within our everyday life.

Just like all Circles, a cycle never really has a true start and end point.

free stock image of Kolb's Learning Cycle

For this I will assume and expect that we have all had some experiences in our lives; so we can take the Experience as the starting point. But from the diagram above we have Experience, Reflection, Generalization and Application.

• We first apply the Experience...

This is our doing or having done previously.

• We then Reflect and Observe...

A chance to review and reflect.

• We Generalize...

Providing an abstract conceptualization; a chance to conclude and learn.

• We apply the Knowledge gained...

Active Experimentation, a chance to plan and try out our new concept

The cycle may never stop... We gain knowledge from our experience and then the wisdom to apply it better in the next situation. This is a constant cycle of learning and adapting, changing and growing; how we can be our optimum selves in the environment or matrix that we live.

I will be using this simple principal as much as I can to be the best version of myself; maybe you can give it a go too. This is not only useful in communication but also in design, development and any form of applied learning.