Working with large organizations

Despite what many large organizations say about wanting to create a learning organization, there are challenges that arise because of the organization’s bigger size and also their lower tolerance for risk.

The language used

To successfully engage with many organizations – especially commercial ones – Elliott suggests embracing the language of business over the language of learning. It’s ok and appropriate to talk about the organization’s salespeople as salespeople, rather than as “learners.” It may be better for the learning professional to “speak the language” of the organization rather than foist a new set of terms and constructs onto the organization.

While many organizations embrace the idea of an “academy” or “university,” Elliott cautions on that because it decouples learning from the day-to-day work and future strategic thinking. What benefits an organization more so is to have a learning mindset – top to bottom – in the organization.

The goal

Organizations are more attracted to a business outcome as opposed to a learning outcome. This is especially important to embrace during the early stages of design and development. When the instructional design is aligned to the business goals right up front, the learning strategies and tactics will fall into place within that business outcome focus.

Next topic: Appreciating the roles of compliance and legal when planning learning.