When I graduated from high school in 2009, I did so with a very surface level understanding of most of the subjects I had studied.

Like most kids, I had optimized for short bursts of necessary recall (exams) by cramming as much information as possible into my brain through brute force and rote memorization.

The result was entirely predictable: If you had asked me a question about any of those subjects one month after I graduated, you would have received a blank stare.

It was only once I got to college—in particular the latter years of college, when I was in full control of my course selection and schedule—that I adapted a learning model that had real substance and allowed me to retain and build upon knowledge to create a growing web of insights and perspectives.

In today's piece, I'd like to share the basis of that learning model and provide a framework for you to implement it in your own lifelong learning journey.

The Learning Pyramid

In the 1960s, the National Training Laboratories Institute developed a pyramid model to represent the retention rate of information from various activities.

Since it was first proposed, the so-called "Learning Pyramid" has been a hot topic of debate. A variety of papers and outlets have criticized the specific percentages as unsubstantiated, but the general ordering of the activities is rarely called into question.

When I first saw this model, I had two takeaways:

1. Lecture and reading are not enough.
2. Teaching is the most powerful form of learning.

With those in mind, I sought to adapt an iterative learning model that prioritized a rapid move down this pyramid.

It was here that I "met" a new friend: Nobel laureate Richard Feynman.

Feynman's Secret

Richard Feynman was an American theoretical physicist born in 1918 in New York City.

Feynman was a very late talker—he didn’t utter a word until he was three—but it was clear from a young age that he was extremely observant and intelligent.

Feynman taught himself advanced mathematics in his teens and earned a B.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a PhD from Princeton University. He became famous for his work in quantum electrodynamics and received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965 for his contributions to the field.

So yes, you could say that Richard Feynman was intelligent...

But there are a lot of intelligent people in the world. Feynman's genius was in his ability to convey extremely complex ideas in simple, elegant, digestible ways—to abstract complexity and deliver simplicity.

What was Richard Feynman’s secret?

He had developed a learning framework—intentionally or not—that forced a deep, elegant understanding of a topic that most people never achieve.

The two core principles of the learning framework:

1. Teaching: Teaching the newly learned material, with a specific focus on simple language.
2. Iteration: Using the teaching process to expose gaps in knowledge and then iterating on the study workflow to fill those gaps.

Feynman's framework is often referred to as the Feynman Technique, though there is no clear record of his own discussion of it.

Its underlying principles became the basis for my adapted model: the Three-Step Learning Model.

The Three-Step Learning Model

My three-step learning model is as follows:

1. Read & Research
2. Teach
3. Assess & Iterate

Let's walk through each step, including notes on how I personally implement each one in my own learning processes.

Step 1: Read & Research

What’s the topic you want to learn?

Starting with a blank page, write the topic at the top and jot down anything you already know about it. This gives you a very quick baseline of your starting knowledge.

The most effective strategy I have found for reading and research: Start horizontal, then go vertical.

• Horizontal = Breadth
• Vertical = Depth

Here’s a simple visualization of how I think about this process:

Horizontal Research (“HR”): Lays the foundation for your learning. When you start horizontal, you gather information across the full breadth of the topic area. This gives you the capacity to "see the entire field”—it draws a surface-level map of the topic. With horizontal research, it’s perfectly acceptable to keep it simple: Google and Wikipedia—sorry to all of my high school teachers!—are both great tools.

Vertical Research (“VR”): Historically much more challenging—it typically required hours of finding and reading long, dense books on a topic. But in the Digital Age, we have a diverse array of tools that provide much higher time leverage. These tools include (but are not limited to): Reddit, Twitter, newsletters, podcasts, expert networks, and books. With these tools, you’ll be able to go vertical—quickly and effectively—on any topic.

Take notes, cite sources, and track gaps as you go. This step is where you start to build out your knowledge base on a topic.

Sahil Note: I like to use Notion (no affiliation) for tracking and managing my various learning efforts. It’s just a personal preference, so you can identify what works for you. I keep a “Knowledge Neural Net” board and for each new topic, I create a new page. I can then go back and connect ideas and topics as I see fit. I really try to take my time in this phase. True depth of understanding requires significant time. I find it helpful to conduct this research in sprints—short bursts of high intensity research—rather than in jogs. Try to analogize and create mental maps that connect together pieces of information as you go—it will help cement new learnings.

Step 2: Teach

Attempt to teach the newly learned material to someone. To reference our Learning Pyramid, if Step 1 was at the top, Step 2 is where we drive down to the base.

There are hundreds of ways to go about this, but here are a few ideas:

• Form a "learning group": This is a group of friends that all have a shared interest in learning and growth. You can have a regular cadence of meetings or impromptu discussions where people share new learnings on a topic of choice.
• Phone a friend: Call a friend and talk their ear off about what you've learned. In an ideal world, they aren't an expert on the topic, forcing you to use simple words and abstract complexity.
• Dinner conversation: Talk about the new learnings over a dinner conversation with family or friends.
• Learn in public: Share what you're learning in an online forum, blog, or on social media.

The main point here is that the teaching does not have to feel formal—in fact, it should feel fun!

The teaching should force you to distill and synthesize your learnings for someone who is uninitiated on the topic. It also creates a structured feedback loop that we will leverage in Step 3.

Sahil Note: The "learning group" concept has been one of the biggest unlocks in my life. I'll plan to write a full piece on the concept (and how to build yours). Reply "YES" if you'd like to see it.

Step 3: Assess & Iterate

As you teach, take note of what questions and follow ups the "students" ask.

Ask yourself a few questions after the session:

• Were you prepared to respond to the questions?
• Were there specific areas that were exposed as gaps?
• Were there areas of your explanation that felt jargon-heavy? How could you have further simplified the language?
• When did the person appear confused? When did you get frustrated?

Answering these questions puts a spotlight on the gaps in your understanding on the topic.

Sahil Note: I normally try to ask the "students" for feedback. For this reason, having it be someone you’re comfortable with—partner, sibling, roommate, friend—is much easier than if it’s a stranger.

Iterate by moving back to Step 1—focus your reading and research on these spotlighted gaps to fill them in.

Then return to Step 2 and teach again.

How did you do? Did you fill in the gaps from the prior iteration? What new gaps were exposed?

As you iterate, organize your learnings into a clear, compelling story, narrative, or distillation. This helps to cement the final learnings and insights.

Conclusion

The Three-Step Learning Model is a simple, yet powerful framework for learning anything new.

To summarize, the three key steps:

1. Read & Research: Start horizontal for breadth and then go vertical for depth. Take your time in the initial research phase.
2. Teach: Distill the learnings into a teaching session for a group of uninitiated students.
3. Assess & Iterate: Reflect on the questions asked by the students to highlight the gaps in your knowledge. Iterate on the process to close those knowledge gaps.

Give this learning model a shot and let me know what you think.

I'd love to hear from you:

• How have you used teaching to cement new learnings?
• Do you have a learning group that you can grow with? Would you like to learn more about how to build one?

Tweet at me @SahilBloom and I'll do my best to get back to everyone.

As always, until next time...stay curious, friends!

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