Growth is a big part of our culture, especially through our learning & development department - School of Centric. Our colleagues are continuously challenging themselves to grow both professionally and personally - and share some of their insights about the learning and growth process below.
Centric Interviews -"My passion for technology and getting things done drive my motivation for learning."
Software Architect
Mihai Mircescu
What motivates you to learn?
Well, it’s not easy to pinpoint the exact internal motivation, but I would say that my passion for technology and the energy that I get from getting things done drive my motivation for learning. I see each book, video or presentation as an extra brick added to the “knowledge building”. The problem with this building is that, the more you work on it, the more you realize that it is nowhere near to being finished, so in the end we should see learning as a journey and not as a goal.
How do you make time for learning?
I guess we can all agree that in our days there are many opportunities and many things that can be done, but we always feel that there is never enough time. The first step in making time is acknowledging the fact that our time is limited. Then, we need to evaluate what we do with the 24 hours that we have each day and ask ourselves if this is aligned with our core values and goals. For me, the approach that worked best, was to wake up one hour earlier and use that time for learning new things.
What is the most useful/interesting thing you have learned recently?
One of the things I am constantly interested in is improving my time management and the way I organize. The latest thing that I’ve tried out and it seems like it works really well for me is the GTD framework.
What was your biggest failure and what did you learn from it?
Probably the fact that from time to time I’ve neglected work-life balance. I was lucky enough to enjoy the work that I do, so that offered me the opportunity to be exposed to multiple situations, but the context switching can get to you, so as with everything in life, it is good to create a balance.
Who has been the most inspirational person for your career and why?
I find software craftsmen like Sandro Mancuso and “Uncle Bob” inspiring, but these are just a couple names to mention, since during my career I've been inspired by multiple colleagues and authors.
