4 Important Aspects of the Definitive Guide to Learning
I love that Josh Bersin’s latest report, The Definitive Guide to Learning: Growth in the Flow of Work*, has shifted from talking about learning in the flow of work to growth in the flow of work. That one-word shift makes the world of difference when we are thinking about our deliverables as learning professionals.
Looking at the summary with my learning transfer focus there are 4 key areas to highlight.
High-performance learning is all about growth
Yes, yes, yes I say! High-performance learning is all about individual growth! Much of learning takes place in a social setting. It is interesting because social learning and learning in groups have long been heralded as the way to learn. One of the things that I always say is that people learn in groups and change individually. Although there’s no doubt that individuals are influenced by groups, at the end of the day, the individuals decide whether or not to change their behaviours and create an impact from learning. One way we tackle this is to get people to commit individually. A rising tide lifts all boats. The benefits of a person’s growth extend beyond the individual to the team and then the organization as a whole.
Growth in the flow of work
We’ve often heard the description of learning in the flow of work as being important. But the focus has now changed according to Bersin, for those looking for growth in the flow of work. What it means to me is ensuring that when people are either learning or growing, it’s in the context of what they are trying to achieve in their role on a regular basis. It’s no longer about being in the classroom or the learning environment – the focus is shifting to the work environment. That doesn’t mean you can have a dedicated learning environment, the key is to ensure that people take what they learn in the learning environment and apply it back into their roles and the flow of their work. The emphasis is now on the context of how learning relates to work. And Peter Cheese, the then CEO of the CIPD in the UK, said back in 2016 that if ‘Content is king then context is kingdom.’ What is the context of this learning in your world, and how will you apply it? What value will bring you and how can you grow from it in your role?
The Relevance of Relevance
This is an extension of the point above but it’s so important I’m saying it again! Content development must first focus on relevance, then in-depth instruction according to Bersin. This is key to getting the learning into the flow of work and what people are learning has to be relevant to them for them to apply it and create business impact from it. For years now, we’ve been talking about context being far more important than content – and to see that focus on relevance for me, is the first step in application and impact from the learning rather than being about content.
Keeping pace with innovations
This is one of the research’s key findings. When we look at what Bersin is recommending for how people can make a real change in the nine major elements and 36 dimensions of their corporate learning framework, one of them is around learning and development capabilities and experimenting with new technologies and approaches. In a recent learning analytics webinar hosted by the Brandon Hall Group with Ben Betts from the Learning Pool, they were sharing how immature we really are in terms of the work that most people are doing in learning around data and analytics. For me, this is because we are not stepping forward enough to experiment. So I really encourage you to experiment and stay abreast of developments in learning and technology and to hone your craft as a learning and development professional.
Both the Bersin study and the Brandon webinar emphasised the importance of experimentation. One of our clients emailed me last week and said ‘Your innovation is a shining light for me’ and this was from one of the most innovative people I know! I feel very lucky to work with clients who are prepared to push the boundaries. If you think the Lever team can help you in terms of experimenting with integrating new approaches within your learning initiatives, feel free to get in touch. Or if you just want to have a chat about your thoughts on this article, we are always interested in conversations that drive behavioural change and better outcomes.