Fix the workplace

Higher value, paid work is increasingly complex and requires greater creativity. This is how the world works today. Competition is global. Everything else is getting automated & outsourced it seems. Even lawyers are not immune to this.

In a workplace requiring creative solutions to complex problems, learning and working must be integrated. We need to actually implement the notion of the often-quoted term “continuous learning” Today, learning really is the work.

This is what separates high value work from the stuff getting automated and outsourced. The ability to figure things out, especially wicked problems, is now a key competency. There is no answer sheet here.

Building better courses or getting a learning management system with more features won’t help either. The solutions will not be found in the training department, but in the workplace.

Learning is a process, not an event. It’s a process that is integral to knowledge work, not separate from it. Creative knowledge workers need time to learn on the job, time to reflect, and time to discuss and get feedback. This is often not possible, given the design of the work environment. Instead, we provide sub-optimal methods of learning that are centred around courses, classrooms and hours or days of training, all separate from the work. No wonder it doesn’t work.

Do you want to fix workplace learning? Fix the workplace.