“Learning is an experience, everything else is just information.” Albert Einstein
Learning Agile is a complex venture and takes time: it’s a way of viewing challenges. We can significantly reduce the impact or complexity of learning by breaking concepts and processes into manageable chunks.
People (and organizations) are prone to reactive, rather than proactive behavior, and we’re inclined to panic and reach for the fastest available solution.
Temporary solutions and a lack of long-term vision quickly become barriers to learning in the workplace. If a team works together to support and train each other, everyone wins. Barriers to organizational learning often is derived from a blame-focused approach. “Succeed as a team, fail as a team.”
Every organization can absorb different amounts of change due to many factors: culture, trust, management style, workload, etc. The culture of an organization sets the stage for how it responds to change and how people view learning.
With a changing world, we need to learn how to juggle multiple things and get them done faster. As we are all managing transformation, most feel overwhelmed and left with little capacity for learning.
A culture for learning and growing starts from the top, and is encouraged by leaders. Having talented and inquisitive people in our teams fosters growth. Applying an appreciative inquiry towards problems or a person’s expressed thoughts can open up pathways to learning a deeper understanding to an issue and spark a more collaborative transaction.
Some of the things that can get in the way of learning and prevent teams from opening themselves to new thinking are:
judgement – people are less likely to talk,
unwelcomed competition – can cause anxiety and stress, diminishing collaborative thinking,
negative criticism – suggests disapproval, or disagreement of something, lessens creative input,
dismissiveness – showing that something is unworthy of consideration, disengages people,
authority – the power to influence or command thought and enforce obedience, stifles openness,
isolation – feeling alone, or separated from others, breaks down cohesiveness of teams.
Make an effort to know the members of a team, and contribute to them knowing each other. Encourage people to take responsibility for their own learning by giving them choices. Respect the fact people are investing energy in learning and recognize their efforts. Be supportive, positive, and reassuring, confident teams embrace change.
Adapting to business challenges requires creative abilities, finding better ways of doing things. Inspired people transfer their passion to others, who then feed of that and build upon ideas; and this is learning in action.