Learn to Earn or Learn to Relearn

 

Learn till you earn or learn to relearn

All our life our learning cycle is focused on results or benefits we can draw out of it. The inherited culture of learning till we get some earning is ingrained in our minds.

With the ever changing organization it has become imperative for today's leadership to focus on how the organization adapts to the constant shift in doing business. So for any organization which wants to develop a learning organization it's important to understand the key aspects which trigger the learning culture in an organization. 

Learning is a property no one can take.

Some of the key factors against a learning organization

It's believed that in today's competitive world when every organization is fighting the battle of every inch of space in a planogram of a retail shelf, the only way of getting a competitive advantage is in the form of learning. An organization which adapts faster to an ever changing environment is bound to succeed. Some key factors which impact a learning mindset are :-

Lack of Experimentation 

Bias towards trying out new things & not looking for what's in for me. 

Awareness of Capability Gap 

Resistance is trying to acquire a new set of capabilities & being aware of the capability gap. We can't improve on something which we don't know or realize the need of improvement. This seems to be a major concern in front of all the leaders which needs to be dealt with.

Willingness  to learn something new 

Willingness  to learn something new or challenging while work is getting done the old way. Usually one finds excuses among employees that let's do things the old way as time is less, let's not try something fancy here, it has worked in the past , it should work in future etc. All these create a negative learning mindset culture in the organization & stops creativity.

Key for Developing a learning organization 

Organization learning is nothing unless each one of the employees adapts to the key attributes of forming a learning mindset. A learning mindset depend upon some of the key characteristics:-

Aspiration

Being aspired to learn new things comes sometimes naturally to someone or it doesn't. But to develop a learning mindset one of the key areas of work is to break the chain of negative thoughts which comes to our mind while we are entrusted with a new challenge or change around us.  The only way to tackle this is to list down the possible benefits it would bring to the table for the individual as well as the organization or in simple sense is to dream how the future is.  During our school /college days one would get inspired by different professions and that becomes a trigger for many of us to start the journey of earning. That eagerness to learn is always there only, but one needs to motivate the team in terms of the bigger picture or show them how your next dream can come true by following the journey of learning.

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Awareness about gaps

The most difficult area on setting up an organization on a learning mindset journey is to help people realize their own areas of gap and there is no better person on earth than themselves to identify it.  Usually leaders have feedback loops in the organizations where as part of KRA planning improvement areas are noted & communicated to the employees. But one of the major challenges is to actually take feedback positively and decode the areas of gaps which get totally missed on the employees end. 

A self aware employee would ensure learning and work towards the goal as his own. Thus leaders of today should ensure breaking of the improvement plan with a step by step approach & ensuring regular review with the key aim of increasing employee productivity rather than another KRA on the block.

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Inquisitiveness

A curious mind like a child is what we need to develop a learning organization. It's easier said than done as the organization needs to develop  an open culture of feedback or improvement areas with no concern on the questions being asked. Many organizations become big due to the single most important attribute of listening.

So keep listening and keep asking questions on why, how, and finding a better or a quicker way to do the same problem.  

Old ways die hard and new people can bring the change if they are heard and inspired to look from a different lens. That's the reason many new startups are becoming unicorns as they are fighting the battle of asking questions & answering the consumer segments which many big organizations have missed.

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My experience of working for many big fortune 500 companies, one thing I can deduce is that all the big professional organizations had made learning as one of the key pillars of organizational long term growth. Some companies like PepsiCo had an exclusive learning budget for every level of employees per year and were part of KRA's too with review mechanisms in place at periodic intervals. Like Mondelez had special focused learning interventions based on need gaps throughout the year.

Mistakes are best shocks to start the journey of learning

Organizations worldwide spend millions of dollars on training employees, building learning central resource centers, cross functional projects, mentor based on boarding, gamification, rewards & many more. But the only recommendation to ensure a learning or relearning mindset in an organization is to work on the key attributes mentioned above while designing the learning initiatives for the employees & with the employees with the key aim of working on improvement areas by developing an overall learning culture.

Keep Learning. Keep Growing

Unleash the power of Learning Unbounded

©Sandeep Sethi