learning from the external world

What are the most valued ways of learning work? Jane Hart has been asking this question since 2010. Over 7,500 people have responded to date. Jane has analyzed these results first from the perspective of how do people with different characteristics diverge from this overall pattern, and second from the perspective of learning from both internal and external work environments. In the second part, Jane makes three key recommendations.

Help employees (particularly the youngest employees) value learning from the external world, and to take some time to do this for themselves, as well as develop the modern learning skills they need to thrive and survive. In Part 1 we saw how the Freelancers’ profile is one many will need to adopt. See particularly sections 3 – The modern worker and 4 – Encourage a daily self-learning habit.

Help line managers understand the importance of continuous (self-)learning outside the organisation, and to provide time for this – see section 2 – The modern manager

Curate resources and other opportunities from the external environment so that they are integrated into the daily work environment – see section 10 – Offer opportunities for continuous learning

Younger employees may be comfortable with consumer social media but they may have not have used digital media for professional development. This is where they can be coached and mentored to find bloggers, communities of practice, and knowledge networks. Perhaps they can even start blogging themselves. Work is becoming more creative and entrepreneurial and a similar mindset toward learning will be an advantage in this economy. The discipline of personal knowledge mastery should start with each knowledge worker.

Line managers have to understand what resources are outside the organization and managers can play a role in making these accessible at work. They can be knowledge catalysts by making time to learn from peers and share what external resources they use.

Those higher up in an organizations can play a significant role in curating both internal and external resources and sources of knowledge. These three key insights show the importance of 1) learning for ourselves, 2) learning as teams, & 3) learning as an organization.