Why am I passionate about Learning Transfer? – Lessons from an African safari.

Emma Weber

I was on a conference call with the US last week speaking to a Learning and Development professional that had held senior L & D positions at Disney amongst other places. He had seen my profile on Linked In and reached out to discuss Learning Transfer. Within minutes he asked me ‘How come you are so passionate about Learning Transfer?’ I was stumped? Why wouldn’t anyone not be passionate about Learning transfer. It’s my reason for being J

Can I put a finger on it? Probably not. Could it be that it is solving such a problem of wastage within organisations? That it inspires people to think differently about learning? That it creates a difference to business? That it creates a difference in the lives of individuals? Could it be because I’m good at it?

I’m not sure I’ll ever know the real answer but I do know that being passionate about what you do is in my mind essential to success.

I’m writing this article while on safari in Africa. I’m sat on my verandah overlooking a waterhole. Yesterday lunchtime 30 elephants strolled by with babies in tow. It was amazing. Animals aren’t really my thing although it has truly already been a trip of a lifetime. Observing African wildlife in their natural habitat, I feel very privileged. We have had 3 different guides for our game drives – on this morning’s drive we technically saw the least but we enjoyed it the most – including observing baby warthogs with their mum, and seeing one of the smallest tortoises around. Why was it so great? Because the guide was absolutely passionate about animals. And it was infectious – for this morning, animals were my thing!

 

When you are embarking on your Learning Transfer journey – talk to me, talk to one of my team. We’re happy to share our enthusiasm, our learnings, our insights and our passion. Don’t tackle this journey without passion – you’re own or shared. It will impact your results and experience.

PS – A herd of wildebeest are passing as I type – shame they aren’t stopping for a chat on Learning Transfer 🙂

Photo by Elaine Price – travel companion extraordinaire

Emma Weber is a recognized authority on the transfer of learning. As CEO of Lever–Transfer of Learning, she has helped companies such as Telstra, Oracle and BMW deliver and measure tangible business results from learning. She has also been a guest speaker at learning effectiveness conferences worldwide and authored the hugely successful book “Turning Learning into Action“. Much more detail around the issues and solutions examined in this article are available in the book – please feel free to download a free chapter. Emma and her team also developed Coach M, a coaching chatbot that delivers fully scaleable learning transfer. She is also a co-author of the books Making Change Work, and Designing Virtual Learning for Application and Impact. Her work and approach is also featured in Data and Analytics for Instructional Designers by Megan Torrance (Author), Foundations of People Metrics and Analytics – by Renjini Joseph and an ATD 10-minute case study series – Chatbot Coaching for Learning Transfer.