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Chief Learning Officer [CLO] Media recently printed an online feature titled “Transform Corporate Learning with a User Network.”  In it the authors begin by talking about how different learning styles affect the absorption rate of different learners and then move into some suggestions on how to address these different styles given the constraints of working in any given organization.

Essentially where they land is telling organizations to put the power of learning into the hands of the users and then they will ensure that any learning created will be customized to the learning style of that person.  I agree with them in principle - in practice I would not like to be the one to roll-out this program.

I feel this way because I’ve tried similar approaches with clients and while people agree that they want to learn more just-in-time and informally from their peers they struggle to find the time to add another task item to their already busy day.  To many people, simply saying the word ‘wiki’ will make them cringe.  The thought of having to learn the new technologies of wikis, blogs, rapid elearning, etc. can put the brakes on the momentum of the best intentions.

As we forge forward into our knowledge-based economy it’s my belief that additional resources will need to be deployed [or current ones redeployed] to work alongside people and capture the knowledge artifacts that are produced throughout a routine day.  It is then this person’s job to take these knowledge artifacts and edit/assemble them into a format that is meaningful to the originator as well as any seeker that may come along in the future.

The collective intelligence of an organizational network is a powerful force and thus it is time to start dedicating resources to this force rather than requesting that the people contributing to the knowledge are also the ones that need to manage it.  By dedicating resources to knowledge workers an organization can begin to harness the collaboration and innovation that is occurring in pockets around the organization - making this part of a learning strategy frees up the knowledge workers to work at their day jobs while still addressing their learning needs as the authors rightly suggest.

Communities of practice [CoPs] certainly are a great step in this direction - and they often have a ‘cybrarian’ to manage the knowledge artifacts that are uncovered.  Having the cybrarian, or an equivalent position, be responsible for turning these artifacts into learning modules is a natural extension of this role and one that is well received by the members that don’t have to interupt their normal workflow to do it.

I was having a conversation with someone yesterday afternoon about how the number of software vendors offering wikis, blogs, discussions boards, rapid elearning, etc. was enormous and that there would certainly come a time when things would begin to consolidate and major players would begin to emerge.  This will prevent organizations from having to cobble together these elements and the pain and inefficiencies associated with cobbling.

An ‘ERP of Learning’ is sure to be on the horizon was the synopsis of our talk - then I saw a press release from OutStart today [note - this is not my prediction that this is the 'Learning ERP'...just an indication that it's a comin'] detailing the merger of OutStart and Eedo.

As Chief Learning Officers become more prevalent and powerful and as the trends in learning continue to incorporate elements of informal learning (i.e. communities of practice) and others suitable for knowledge workers it will be an exciting time to watch as the various software offerings in the learning space make moves to secure their future or their fate - there are certainly demands in the market for this functionality and a sole source vendor to provide it doesn’t exist yet.

CLO Media posted a recent executive briefing where they provide four things that CEOs and Chief Learning Officers [CLOs] should be considering when operating their business.  I agree with the categories listed in the article but they are quite high level (it is a ‘briefing’ for a reason I suppose) and allow the reader to determine how each would be executed.

For a CEO or CLO that is planning to ramp up efforts in these areas it provides an opportunity to do things a bit more progressively in implementation - examples provided as they relate to the four CLO suggestions…

1. Develop strategically with purpose: one of the snippets from this section is “have a clear definition of a desired future” - in today’s rapidly changing world it’s difficult to have a static vision of a future that will be the basis for processes and decisions implemented now; utilizing the process of scenario planning is a way to identify multiple futures (scenarios) and then determine the common denominators threaded throughout.  These common elements can then be used by the CLO to begin looking at high-level competencies that would be valuable regardless of which future the organization ends up living.
2. Focus on core competencies first: I would describe core competencies as those that will not be changing in the foreseeable future.  Competency development initiatives are often centered around the current state of the organization, market, product portfolio, etc.  All of those factors (plus many others) can change quickly and having competencies that will prevail through all conditions are what I would truly consider ‘core.’  Referring back to #1, scenario planning is a great way to plan for the competencies that will be crucial in many different settings.
3. Target opportunities intentionally instead of reacting to problems: reacting to problems often results in Band-Aid solutions that may mask symptoms for a few days, weeks or even years before they come back to haunt the original target or manifest themselves in a new way in a different part of the organization.  [A classic example is a company with lagging sales that launches a large price cut promotion and due to the diminished revenue from the price cut is unable to meet the demand generated by the promotion and now faces quality and customer service issues.]  An effective and progressive way of addressing this is by viewing the organization as a system - an interdependent collection of pieces where action in one area will result in consequences [good or bad] in another.  This approach is known as systems thinking and has yielded impressive results for organizations around the world - utilizing it provides a way to identify opportunities to tweak operations and model potential outcomes that would otherwise be left to chance.
4. Embrace change: harnessing incremental change and having a progressive approach to change management are certainly crucial but often challenging.  People are often creatures of habit and start to like that with which they become familiar.  So changing that can be difficult.  Utilizing a social network analysis is a powerful tool that provides an organizational x-ray showing how information is transferred around the network that comprises an organization.  Information from a network analysis can be used to identify people in the organization that are sought out most often - the influencers.  Utilizing these individuals in change management results in a much more targeted effort to managing change than the traditional shotgun approach.

As I mentioned above, the tenets offered in the original briefing by CLO Media are valid ones and their high-level descriptions leave the interpretation of implementation to the reader.  Each of the topics listed offers an opportunity to do something a little more progressive and effective than the norm, to embrace our transition to a knowledge society teeming with fluid, dynamic learning organizations in which tools and tactics from yesteryear will be rendered obsolete.

It’s our combined thoughts that bring us great things.

What a great quote, eh?

This came straight from my wife after a couple years of explaining to her what I do for a living.  After all the talk of wikis, social networking, collective intelligence, blogs, knowledge management, Web 2.0, etc. it was her that boiled it down to that statement.

Being so mired in the world of next-generation learning and development I am accustomed to, and comfortable with, the buzzwords of the trade but it’s sometimes difficult to translate the purpose and benefit of all of these funny sounding things to someone that has little insight into this world.

And her statement summed up quite a bit of it.  So much so that when she said it I sat up straight and wrote it down on a bar napkin [a relic of pre-Web 2.0 for any Gen Nexters that may be reading].

The more I thought about it this really encompasses the theory driving this revolution in how people learn, collaborate, innovate, communicate, etc. and the buzzwords are really just the ‘how.’  Communities of practice, social network analysis, rapid elearning, knowledge management and many others are just methods to accomplish the purpose of my wife’s synopsis - harnessing the power of people connected.

As with many other examples, it takes an outsider’s lens to shed a light of clarity on a topic that can become quite complex when left to the experts.

My Dad grew up in a rural part of Kentucky in the late 30’s and early 40’s. The automobile certainly wasn’t ubiquitous during that period and many of my Dad’s encounters with cars involved some sort of trouble. If they were able to get the engine to start it usually didn’t take long before one of the tires was flat.

Fast forward to 1995 and my first exposure to the Internet. I feel like I’ll be regaling my own children someday about the trials and tribulations from the early days of the Information Superhighway. I’m preparing my stories now…

“Back in my day we used dial-up to connect only after a few minutes of the most unusual noises you can imagine. Then came wireless and we used to have to unlpug and restart our routers daily to keep connected…you kids don’t know how good you have it.”

It doesn’t have quite the same impact as walking to school in the snow with cardboard shoes uphill both ways but, hey, it’s what I know.

Due to our heavy travel schedules my wife and I work from home quite a bit.  Our internet service went out yesterday and this is just the latest in a long line of events that seem to want to keep us disconnected. I know that children being born today will not have these issues to contend with as we’re still in the infancy stage of the World Wide Web and things will only get more seamless.

When I check into a hotel or log onto a remote network there is always a slight sense of relief when I see my home page load.  This is a feeling that my yet-to-be-born children will likely never know.  Being connected to the Internet to them will worry them as much as starting my car worries me today - and that’s not much.

It’s exciting to be part of the beginning of the Internet revolution that has catapulted us into a knowledge society - using Web 2.0 technology I can now compile all of the stories needed to assure children and grandchildren that the Internet as they know it is a blessing for which they should rejoice…if only I can stay connected long enough to post this… 

In case you haven’t heard Apple is releasing the second version of its mega-popular iPhone tomorrow.  People have been lined up for days to get their hands on this device.

Beyond the slick exterior and sexy buttons of the phone, though, I think the main attraction to this engineering marvel is the ease and speed at which it allows users to find the information they need.

As we move further and further through our transition to a knowledge society it’s my belief that learning solutions will need to focus more on allowing people to find what they need quickly and less on providing content.  The iPhone looks like a device well positioned to do that for personal use and no doubt for corporate learning initiatives.

I’m purchasing one over the weekend or soon after to complement my growing Mac suite of devices that all incorporate this notion of quickly and easily being able to find what you need.  

I’ll let you know how iLike it…