Can you remember the first program you ever wrote? I'll bet you've learned a lot since then! When change is the only constant, learning is the only truly future-proof skill. But deadlines, rules and the pressure to ship working code can stop us from learning effectively. To do that we need to give ourselves permission to try new things, to have fun and to indulge our curiosity. If you’ve carved out time for learning, *you* can be the person to advise whether it's right for your team to adopt GraalVM, or Kotlin, or anything else. In this talk, using examples from industry, programming communities and his own career in software and education, Matthew will show some techniques for effective learning, and convince you (and your boss) that making space for the habit of learning will set you up for success.