I just read a post on my LinkedIn Group from Steven Oesterreich, Managing Director Asia Pacific – Ark Group, who is launching a few questions about all types of Learning. His first topic caught my eye [captured below]…and the questions he put forth…and the comments they generated… triggered a thought I felt important enough to share.
Tag: informal learning
Last week [October 25th] I had the distinct privilege of sitting in on the Tin Can API break-out session that was presented by Aaron Silvers of ADL. I’m not sure of his exact title, but his role was in a leadership capacity on the Tin Can API project. His business card says “the Beard”…and while that was accurate, I still don’t know his real title. Given ADL was also the birth mother of SCORM, I walked in and sat down with a preconception or two that this was SCORM in a new dress. Wow, was I wrong!
Every now and then I make it to a Training Industry conference that I can truthfully say was worth the trip. Learning 3.0 in Chicago this past week was one such conference. The title of this post is an example of one of those sound bites you hear and go, “Yeah, I get that!” This represents a very appropriate sound bite that describes Performance Support (PS) from several essential perspectives and the boon of what Tin Can brings to the table. This post hopefully can provide some illustrations to confirm this is something worth giving a rip about.
It has been a long time since I could honestly point to a “training conference” and say, “Now this is one to go to!” The exciting thing is…it’s not a training conference…but anyone “in training” needs to sit up and take this new perspective seriously. Why? Because this is where learning is going at a rapidly increasing pace, and to NOT be a part of the evolution could be career limiting.
Recent posts I have made referenced a concept I support “learning ecosystems”, and why I’m convinced training organizations have a call-to-action to expand their role. To make that case, I put forth a few questions to consider – “How many sales deals do sales reps close in the classroom? How many process decisions preventing creation of material waste do managers make while taking an on-line training course? How many impactful customer complaints are resolved in training role-plays or simulations?” If your answers range from “none” to “nada”, then another question looms – “Why are we pumping up to 80% of our training/learning resources into a learning context where no tangible business value is generated?”
In a recent dialog on the CLO-Network, we discussed why so many LMS owners were not happy with their systems – that there seemed to be a “disconnect” between what they envisioned they would own after GoLive and what they actually wound up owning. Why is there such a love-hate relationship with LMS (and other) technology? Why does it seem that someone else always has the better system? Truth is, “better” is a relative term.
Now that title should generate a ripple or two on the pond, especially when I have been so vocal about the need for just such a shift. So…is this post a confession that I have changed my mind? Not quite. Not even. If anything, I am more passionate than ever, but over the years, I have gotten smarter about moving around obstacles that stifle momentum rather than fight through immovable walls of opposition or resistance. My new approach requires the application of marshal arts – judo – to be more precise. No, not kicking butts, just taking the momentum of my opponents, and leveraging it to my advantage to wrestle them to the mat. Not to pin them in defeat, just hold them down long enough to hear me out – listen to evidence that this “shift” is not a threat.
I realize this may stretch the pretext of a cute catchphrase, but it seems appropriate this afternoon. The future of learning truly is NOT now because we are not ready for it…nor are we at a state of readiness even if it were now. The catalyst for making this statement about the future of learning stems from my good fortune and honor to participate in a virtual discussion yesterday as a panelist in, “The Future of the Business of Learning”, sponsored by Learn Trends, ISA and Training Magazine Network. The program hosted by Tony Karrer with support from Jay Cross, Harold Jarche, and Ray Jimenez, all recognized names in the learning industry, was a successful effort. Over a five-hour period there were as many panels that focused on topics ranging from industry-wide perspective, to internal training organizations, to vendors of training, software, and services. I found it to be an awesome mix of perspectives from an international audience and walked away sensing a common (global) feeling of foreboding for the future.