In a recent “fly on the wall” series with Nick Shackleton-Jones and Roger Schank the two openly discussed the problem with education. When Roger addressed the issue, he said in a word, “classrooms”. Classrooms were the problem.
For me, I took Dr. Schank’s response as speaking of the passivity that dominates schooling as the problem; it’s the control issue and the false notion of the importance of individuals learning in isolation, achieving “knowledge” independent of others or authentic contexts. Unfortunately much of this belief became the foundation of organizational learning as the problem here too is the classroom but I’d venture to say it’s more the “desks” for organizations. All organizations have really done has been a shell game; Moving from training rooms with lots of desks to elearning courses at one’s own desk and then put the same pedagogical approach on mobile devices, asking mobile people to stand still and consume content.
Learning at work moves in and through one doing work and yet companies continue to try making our active contributors into merely passive consumers! To remove passivity and isolation in learning we need to put more attention on the learning that is gained at the point of work. Work is action-oriented and no businesses want it slowed any more than a worker wants it to be slowed. Desk-centic learning is a drag on business. Slow business is a dead business and a dead business means no job. Lose-lose.
In Work, we use content to solve real problems
In Work, we lean on others to create the new and the better
In Work, WE pick and choose the tools that work for us
In Work we measure success through real results
Learning at work is not about pushing content and instruction into the job, because that just creates more work of a less productive type. Rather, we need to support work by first providing better channels for sources of data, information and knowledge to move into and out of people’s work flows. These channels are technical, they’re also built on new mindsets which spur new behaviors to encourage openness and connection. Channels are the antithesis of classrooms and desks. It’s what’s needed in schools and at work as it’s how the real world operates.
