Too often, adults equate learning with classrooms, degrees, or something to revisit only when time allows. But learning today isn’t optional. In an age where AI can offer answers in seconds, your edge is no longer what you know—it’s how you learn. It’s the difference between surviving and thriving—between becoming obsolete or staying future-fit.

Sometimes, nature offers the clearest example of how we adapt not just to survive—but to shape what comes next.

Adaptors and Disruptors: Learning from the Beaver

Most mammals rely on adaptation to survive. Beavers go one step further—they engineer their surroundings to protect themselves, feed their families, and shape their environment before it shapes them. They are nature’s adaptor and disruptor.

As nature’s engineers, beavers build dams not only to survive but to transform their environment. They survey rivers for flow, materials, and safety. Then, they construct lodges and dams that protect them from predators, store food for winter, and stabilize their ecosystem. In the same way, humans can use learning not just to react to workplace shifts—but to anticipate, influence, and co-create what's next.

From Hunting & Gathering to Meaning-Making

AI accelerates access to content. But access isn't understanding. I find myself, like many others, falling into the trap of hunting and gathering in Darwin’s digital jungle: pulling content, saving articles, generating responses—without slowing down to reflect, connect, or act.

Real learning requires more than consumption. It requires synthesis. Application. Reflection. And sometimes, uncomfortable unlearning. In a world of instant information, learning becomes less about answers and more about the questions we ask, the connections we make, and the courage to keep evolving.

One way to deepen that evolution is by understanding how you naturally engage with learning—what drives you, how you process new ideas, and how you take action.

Introducing the Four Learning Identities

One of the more common ways to understand learning preferences is the VARK model—Visual, Auditory, Reading/Writing, and Kinesthetic. These focus on how people take in information.

But I’ve observed a blended sets of learning identities on how people engage with learning in the workplace that I’ve named:  Explorer, Thinker, Scientist, and Activator. These aren't fixed categories, but rather adaptive mindsets that shape how people approach learning, growth, and change.

Each identity brings unique strengths, needs, and patterns. Most people have a dominant identity, but shift among them depending on their season of life or reason for learning. These learning identities offer a more dynamic way to understand how we engage with knowledge and action—especially in a time of rapid transformation.

The Explorer: Learning Your Way Out

Explorers are driven by immersion, curiosity, and shared experience. They don’t wait for perfect conditions; they dive in, learn by doing, and find their way through engagement. Explorers prefer autonomy in their approach.

Think of the beaver, scouting a new stretch of river, feeling the current, experimenting with structure. Like the beaver, Explorers thrive when they can experience, adapt, and co-create. They enjoy collaborative learning and are energized by open-ended challenges.

• AI as a tool: Explorers can use AI to brainstorm, simulate scenarios, and prototype ideas. These tools support fast iteration and hands-on engagement.
• Caution: Their curiosity can become a distraction. Without a clear purpose, learning may become scattered and unanchored.

The Thinker: Learning Your Way Through

Thinkers approach learning with reflection and intentionality. They process internally, connect ideas across contexts, and often synthesize complex information into deeper insights.

Imagine the octopus, quietly observing, analyzing patterns, and strategizing a way through a maze. Like the octopus, Thinkers thrive when given time to ponder and space to question.

• AI as a tool: Thinkers benefit from AI as a thought partner—surfacing diverse perspectives, organizing information, and providing prompts for deeper analysis.
• Caution: Reflection can become rumination. There’s always more to explore, which can delay action or clarity.

The Scientist: Learning Your Way In

Scientists value structure, data, and validation. They organize learning into processes, create plans, and test outcomes. Scientists enjoy peeling back layers until they reach insight.

Consider the elephant: methodical, intelligent, and structured in memory and movement. Like elephants, Scientists are grounded in systems and long-term knowledge.

• AI as a tool: AI can help Scientists build structured learning paths, create assessments, and automate research tasks.
• Caution: A need for order may lead to perfectionism or rigidity in plan. Real learning is messy but messy usually opens more shelves for learning.   

The Activator: Learning for Purpose

Activators are driven by urgency, relevance, and application. They learn in order to do. They often blend elements of other identities but are defined by a bias toward action.

Picture the border collie: focused, fast, and attuned to the task at hand. Activators thrive when learning is tied to real-world results.

• AI as a tool: Activators use AI to target skills, solve problems, and apply learning directly to performance or role expectations.
• Caution: Learning purely for utility can limit deeper insight. Some of the richest learning is serendipitous and slow to reveal its value.

Learning Identities Shift with Season and Purpose

Your dominant identity may change depending on where you are in life and what you need. In burnout, a Thinker may turn to Activator mode just to move forward. In a creative stretch, a Scientist may lean into the wonder of the Explorer.

Learning is responsive. These identities help you recognize your own patterns and expand your range.

Which learning identity resonates most with you today—and which one are you being called to grow into?

Pairing Learning Identities with AI

No matter the identity, modern learners need four core traits:

Closing Reflection: Make Meaning, Not Just Content

In a world full of content, what meaning are you choosing to make?

AI is a powerful tool—but you are still the learner. Your identity shapes the questions you ask, the risks you take, and the growth you pursue.

So pause. Ask yourself:

• What is the real purpose behind your learning?
• Are you gathering more, or growing more?
• Who are you becoming in the process?

Learning isn’t just about survival. It’s how we shape the future.