Revolutionalize Learning & Development

Work is learning and learning is the work, says Clark Quinn. I agree.

Clark gives a clear path forward for today’s learning and development profession on the cusp of revolution or extinction in his latest book. Revolutionize Learning & Development is required reading for anyone involved in training, instruction, or corporate education. I have known Clark for many years and in this book he makes the case for change very clear. He maps the path to align learning with work. If learning is the solution to the business situation, then this book will explain how to make it so.

With new social media, we have a variety of ways  for people to communicate, and we enrich the opportunities for individuals to contribute.

Increasingly we are recognizing that communications includes “working out loud”. I have long advocated “learning out loud” and, when redefining learning in the broad sense, this also includes working out loud.

Work is learning and learning is the work.

One major change is that, “The focus of managers and executives will shift to leadership and support, rather than managing”, so that, “L&D’s role will shift to facilitation and curation, with a much diminished role of creation and presentation”. Are learning professionals preparing for this change? If not, they should start by reading this book.

The book covers a broad spectrum of learning and development with insights from Charles Jennings, Allison Rossett, Marc Rosenberg and many others. Clark’s main point is to focus on performance, not learning. He also discusses the importance of social learning in the workplace.

Social should become the default solution for meeting learning and development needs. With vibrant communities of practice and work teams, connected to each other and the broader Internet, solutions should exist for self-help via the network. As things move faster, the likelihood of having time to codify a solution or chances that the situation won’t be unique have decreased. As a consequence, individuals will either be uncovering existing answers, collaboratively solving problems, or accessing experts, then creating their own answers. The approach will be facilitating the process, rather than owning the solution.