---
title: "Learn as you go"
description: "Dyson's principle for building a curriculum and a company at the same time."
canonical: https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/invention/learn-as-you-go/
updated: 2026-11-03
---

# Learn as you go

> Dyson's principle for building a curriculum and a company at the same time.

James Dyson's framework, from Invention, pp. 368 to 372.

Framework 4 of 4 from [Invention](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/invention/index.md) by James Dyson. Category: Life and thinking.

## The steps

1. **Start with ideas.** Begin with an idea instead of a finished plan.
2. **Understand things.** Work out how the thing actually works by doing it.
3. **Learn and improve.** Improve it through live research and manufacturing projects, as the Dyson Institute does.

## Where it comes from

From chapter: Postscript: Jake Dyson, pp. 368–372

Jake Dyson describes his father from the inside: different from other fathers, working at home so the family was part of the business, making everything himself, reading every word of the Amway legal papers and travelling constantly to sell. He says the lesson passed on is I can do that, a no-fear culture, and learn as you go. He argues that Dyson should stay a start-up in spirit, with as little management as possible, and plough profits back so the family can take long-term risks. He says the products should be made because the family believes in them and not because the market expects it.

## The animation

24 seconds, 4:5, no sound.

- MP4: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/invention/learn-as-you-go.mp4
- MP4, dark: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/invention/learn-as-you-go-dark.mp4
- Still: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/invention/learn-as-you-go.png
- Still, dark: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/invention/learn-as-you-go-dark.png