But the term has such negative connotations. I personally think of it as someone who persistently asks "why?" until they deeply, systemically understand why. I particularly like the example of Richard Feynman. He is one of my true heroes, and it was on the basis of his book—Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman—that I chose to major in physics in undergrad.
Here is Bob Sutton's explanation of what a "slow learner" is:
Employing [slow learners] in your organization will create a larger pool of ideas — especially novel ideas — than you can get from hiring and breeding fast learners...
If you want a wide range of perspectives, ideas, and talents in your company, you should find and hire “slow learners”...
Companies and teams that do innovative work need... need newcomers who have new ideas and see things differently than insiders, and especially, who won’t get brainwashed into thinking just like everyone else. They need people who avoid, ignore, or reject “the heat of the herd”, as futurist George Gilder puts it. This is what I mean by a slow learner...
...it is smart to hire slow learners, to tolerate deviants, heretics, eccentrics, crackpots, weirdos, and just plain original thinkers, even though they will come up with many ideas that are strange mutations, dead ends, and utter failures. The cost is worthwhile because they also generate a larger pool of ideas — especially novel ideas — than you can get from just hiring and breeding fast learners.
...three kinds of traits are key:
- those who are “low self-monitors”
- those who avoid contact with co-workers
- those who have very high self-esteem
...“low self-monitors” [are] people who are especially insensitive to subtle, and even not-so-subtle, hints from others about how to act... Their feelings and actions are “controlled by inner attitudes, dispositions, and values, rather than to be moulded and shaped to fit the situation.”...
Richard Feynman, a Nobel Prize winner in physics, was a creative person who had little interest in what others did, expected him to do, or in pleasing others. He refused nearly all honorary degrees, spent years trying to resign from the prestigious National Academy of Science, and refused to participate in the business of his academic department in any way, including hiring and promotion decisions and writing grants. He was driven largely by his inner thoughts and needs.
Some colleagues found him selfish and boorish, but Feynman was proud of his indifference, titling a collection of autobiographical essays “What Do You Care What Other People Think?”...
“Slow learners” are not only low self-monitors; many also prefer to avoid social interaction...
When Nolan Bushnell, the founder and former CEO of the Atari Corporation, remarks that “sometimes the best engineers come in bodies that can’t talk”, he is talking about people who are low self-monitors and who shy away from social interaction...
Finally, slow learners are likely to have high self-esteem. Much research shows that people with high self-esteem (e.g., who have enduring positive evaluations of themselves) lack “plasticity” in their behavior, which means “the extent to which an individual’s actions are susceptible to influence by external and, particularly, social cues”.
Such people have the confidence to do what they think is right, no matter what others ask them, tell them, or expect them to do. This means, among other things, that people with a touch of hubris or arrogance will reject what others think and do, and hold steadfast against it, when they think it is wrong...
