Harold,

Thanks for the blog post. New Seasons' story has generated a lot of positive response, which I believe reflects people's desire for a work environment that supports learning and not just crams information down their throats.

I didn't tell the whole New Seasons' story, of course. Space. Time. And we didn't discuss their hiring in any detail, which clearly is part of their 'secret sauce.' Staffing, actually 'overstaffing', practices are a key to their informal learning model. New employees don't need to perform right away; there are more experienced employees at the ready to do the work and model how things are done correctly.

What are the arguments against informal learning for new hires that you hear?