The world changes faster than any of us can keep up with. The answers that helped us succeed yesterday may not be enough for what comes next.
Still Learning is a book about remaining curious when it is easier to pretend we already know. It explores how we ask better questions, listen more carefully, make sense of different perspectives and stay open to revising what we think.
At its heart is ALIVE: Asking. Listening. Interpreting. Validating. Exploring.
Five overlapping habits or skills that help us think, learn and solve problems on our own and with other people.
Generative AI can produce answers, ideas and finished work in seconds. What it cannot do is meet our need to be heard and taken seriously by another person. Asking a thoughtful question, listening without rushing to respond, noticing what someone means as well as what they say, and staying curious when we disagree are fundamental to how we build resilient and meaningful relationships.
Learning matters for its own sake, too. There is pleasure in discovering something we did not know, changing our mind, becoming absorbed in a new skill or seeing the familiar differently. Curiosity keeps us engaged with the world. It reminds us that we are still capable of surprise.
However capable the technology becomes, curiosity is how we stay open to the world, connected and fully alive.
Still Learning brings together ideas, stories and practical ways to apply greater curiosity to:
conversations and relationships
leadership and management
teaching and learning
creativity and collaboration
uncertainty and change
It is designed to be read as a book, but used as a resource: something to return to before a difficult conversation, while designing a learning experience or when familiar answers are no longer working.
From the book to the room
The thinking behind Still Learning also informs Toffee Hammer’s ALIVE workshops, including:
Each workshop applies the five ALIVE habits to the conversations and challenges people face in their own context.
About the author
Benjamin Verrall is a writer, filmmaker and founder of Toffee Hammer, a creative studio that works with organisations, educators and cultural institutions to make learning human. His work combines storytelling, design and facilitation to create experiences that invite people to think, talk and act differently.
Known for his person-centred approach, Benjamin focuses on curiosity, conversation, and the everyday moments where understanding begins. He has worked with organisations in both the public and private sectors and industries such as healthcare and education, encouraging staff to engage with complex ideas in ways that feel real and relevant.
His work is grounded in the belief that learning is not something that can be delivered, but something we take part in. Still Learning brings together his experiences and reflections on how curiosity can help us navigate an increasingly chaotic world.
