I’m writing this the day after Learning Tech and, like many of you, trying to coax my happy yet weary brain into a productive Friday.
There were an overwhelming number of talks to attend, friends to catch up with and treats to consume, so we can be forgiven for feeling a little saturated.
You’ll be reading this summary of my talk with iAM Learning’s Nik Brown, on self-led learning, in the much more doable realm of the following week. Or, if you weren’t able to attend the event, can enjoy the key insights without leaving your chair.
Either way, let’s keep things nice and digestible.
Once upon a time...
After a super-short intro, I shared a personal story on my first foray into self-led learning. That is, the first time I remember pulling on learning at work, rather than passively accepting what was pushed.
I was in my early twenties starting at PwC and working through the classic ‘click-next’ training on my laptop, in an open plan office. At some point in the day, I was prompted to watch one of three TedTalks. I couldn’t tell you what (compliance or otherwise) topic they were related to, only that I’d never even heard of TedTalks and expected equally dry but essential training.
I don’t remember the details. I remember how I felt after that first video. Inspired. Engaged. Curious. Energised. I had to watch another one. I looked around the room feeling self-conscious and put my headphones back in. After the second, I hit the third one. Two things strike me now.
- I thought workplace learning had to be, and would always be, boring and mandatory
- The idea of seeking out learning myself felt wrong and like I'd get in trouble.
Isn’t that drilled into most of us through education? I don’t recall a lot of freedom, of exploration or autonomy. I remember memorising and regurgitating, as instructed. It’s something we have to unlearn.
Anyway, this story carried us to the first of three crucial pillars of self-led learning...
Explicit permission
The obvious moves here are protected time for learning and a thumbs up from your manager, ‘Yes, I want you to drive your own learning’. But I believe there’s much more possibility here, like follow-up. Not just, ‘go learn’, but, ‘what did you learn? How has it impacted you?’ and better still, ‘I love this, how do we share it?’
And beyond:
- Instilling the value of learning early doors, in induction and onboarding. Not gatekeeping curiosity with rigid guardrails. Instead, building in time and opportunity to jump down rabbit holes, ask questions and wander.
- Engagement surveys which seek to understand how learning is happening throughout the business, what’s working and what’s getting in the way. Is permission in your policies and your performance reviews, or is it encouraged so quietly, no one thinks they’re allowed?
- Accepting that learning often happens outside the classroom, or the assigned eLearning. Maybe it’s a podcast, or a YouTube video, an impromptu conversation or attending an event in a different industry. We can be so focused on teaching people the same steps, we snuff out their enjoyment for dancing. We won’t capture the off-road stuff if we shame it and drive it underground.
Remove Friction
Many things can get in the way of an individual seeking out their own learning, but here are a few of the big ones to interrogate:
- Too many hoops (a.k.a Hoops Law). If we make it difficult for people to access the thing they need, they’ll probably give up. We do it all the time in our personal lives, with frustrating apps, long wait times and buggy sites. Work is no different. Chart the user experience, the journey and clear the path.
- Too many homes. If things live everywhere and/or don’t integrate you can end up with people wandering aimlessly, wasting precious time and finding (eventually) multiple versions of the truth. We also need nudges, over-communication and simplification. There’s a lot of emphasis on more at the moment: bigger, shinier, louder. Stripping this back to what’s important and easy, rather than adding to the noise, will be well received.
- Less is more. A huge content library can, on the surface of it, feel like you’re giving people choice and variety. More often than not, it’s a case of quantity over quality which overwhelms. The trick to self-lead learning isn’t providing a wealth of materials and options then leaving people to it, it’s giving people the relevant, timely, impactful information, which offers real value. You’re better off with a small, intentional offering which meets immediate needs. Take the time to find out what that looks like and to curate what you offer rather than jumping straight to something all-singing.
- Thoughtful AI can help. Harnessed well, it can enable personalised learning, tailored to a range of needs: skill gaps, interests, progression. Don’t use it just because it’s there, use it because it furthers your mission, because it elevates your L&D efforts. Learn Amp spotlights the coaches and mentors in your business for given topics, so it’s easy to connect with subject matter experts, share knowledge and get support. This is the best side of AI, where it fuels human connection and development.
Showcase what’s possible
Real people from diverse backgrounds, teams, seniority and experience, sharing success stories on self-led learning. It’s always going to be more powerful than L&D banging the drum:
- Influence not hierarchy. It might be that the most ‘powerful’ people in your business sit at the top, but that’s not always the case. You want cheerleaders with sway. Who do people look to? Who do people follow? The ideal is buy-in from this type of person, who everyone already wants to emanate and follow. Better yet – they're happy to broadcast their experience directly or at least work with you to get it out there.
- Find your pockets of interest and engagement and understand what’s causing them, in order to amplify. Why is learning a priority in one department and not another? Why is one team meeting monthly to share their reflections and lessons learned, even though their manager isn’t onboard? Take an interest and hunt root causes. You’ll learn things beyond your assumptions.
- Demonstrate results with data. Don’t launch an initiative or change without setting outcomes and key performance indicators. What do you expect to see and how will it show up? If your data doesn’t deliver what you were hoping, it’s time to go back to the drawing board. If it does, use that to encourage more engagement, support and investment for self-led learning. It has to have impact. It can’t be for the sake of it, or a tick-box. Start with what matters most and the best route to getting to it (that might not be self-led learning).
A small elephant in the room
I talked about my favourite elephant at Learning Tech. And probably for too long, because it’s something I get really worked up about. I’ll reduce the size here. Suffice to say, if you’ve tried everything you can to champion a learning culture, and you’re at the point where you’re tired, noticing your passion for your work diminish and you know bone-deep, that the leaders will just never get it, consider that it might be time to walk away.
It’s not always about changing ourselves. Sometimes it’s about changing our environment. And as wonderful as it feels to turn around a challenging situation, it feels even better to start somewhere which values learning and what you have to offer, from the get-go.