The assumption is that learning things increases your execution time.  In the very short term this is true.  However, if you'd spent all the time learning the things that you wanted to learn, how much more productive would you be?<p>It's like Jeff Bezos said:<p>"I always tell people, if we have a good quarter it's because of the work we did three, four, and five years ago. It's not because we did a good job this quarter."<p>This is a pattern that I've (anecdotally) noticed in successful entrepreneurs and programmers... the ability to focus on the long term at the expense of the short term
(but without sacrificing the short-term).<p>Long story short, if you are in an employment situation where your employer <i>will not</i> let you spend any more time learning new things, you should consider employment elsewhere.