Are we over-complicating Learning?

Here’s a question for all the L&D professionals out there: Are we in danger of over-complicating things?

A recent post by Julie Begbie bought me that moment of clarity. In her post, she said that the single most important thing that any manager (or organisation) can do to maximise the value from her training courses is to talk to participants before and after. And she’s right.

Let’s face it, humans have been learning since the dawn of time. It’s something we’re naturally good at. All we need is the motivation, the opportunity, the means and the reward (outcome). And throughout time, our most commonly used methods of learning have been observation, discussion and having a go.

True, that as society has become more complex, the link between behaviour and result has become indirect and lengthy. Maybe we have lost the clear line of sight between motivation and reward, and that’s perhaps why people like me exist – to clear the way and make the journey easier.

But fundamentally, that is still how we learn. In the olden days, people used to learn by ‘sitting next to Nellie’ which allowed them to watch, discuss and practice and learn quickly (assuming Nellie was a good role model of course). These days, we may observe via video, discuss via social media and have a go via VR, but we are still relying on our core learning skills.

And understanding the link between behaviour and end result is one of those fundamental things too, and it isn’t always obvious. How does the way I speak to my colleague impact the customer experience and so our company’s profit? That’s why those conversations with managers matter.

As does having good role models to learn from, encouraging learning through discussion – giving feedback and allowing people the freedom to discover things, and providing opportunities for people to have a go without pressure and fear of failure.

It doesn’t matter if we are high tech or strictly old school: If we do these fundamental things right, we will help people to learn.