Continual Learning
By Jay Forte, Humanetrics, LLC
Published in Personal Excellence, August 2002
Information plus thought is knowledge; knowledge plus action (the ability to use the knowledge) is wisdom. In order to successfully compete in this new millennial business environment, we need to be wise – to not only have knowledge but be able to determine when and how to use it.
They say success is in our hands, that we have control over our performance in the workplace. It all relates to our focus on learning – our ability to see that our success is directly related to our ability to be continual learners – and to know how to use the knowledge – to be wise.
Studies have shown that most adults use less than half of their mental capabilities. The greatest reason given is that as they grow older, adults believe they are incapable of learning. But we know that our brains have a continual ability to accept and process new information, which means we are capable of constantly learning; our most significant obstacle to learning is our own perspective.
The most significant reasons for success in adult employee learning relates to the manner in which the education is presented and the degree of personal commitment the adult has to education. When presented in a way that the adult can process the information quickly, easily and have the ability to use it, learning happens. When learning starts, adults generally see that they are still capable of learning and their degree of personal commitment improves. Other factors that affect the adult learner’s commitment to learning relate to acquiring skills needed for advancement, new jobs, greater pay, more visibility, etc.
The responsibility for learning rests with the learner. The instructor’s role is to provide an environment where if the adult learner chooses to learn, he will. And the first step to create that learning-encouraging environment is to show the adult learner the reason why the education will have a personal or professional benefit.
As you can imagine, most adults live life at a fast pace and high stress level. New information must compete with all of the other forms of distractions and information sources for attention. Without knowing the specific meaning and therefore benefit of the new information, the adult learners will pass over the information in favor of some other – louder or more meaningful - piece of information. Task-specific or purpose-specific learning will have a higher success rate with an adult. Learning basic information (unless the topic is of interest to the learner) will not compete favorable to task-centered learning. This is attributable to the adult’s perspective that there is only so much available attention span – and learning is frequently challenged simply because it is not presented in a way that encourages the adult learner to see the value in it.
Adults relate all learning to their personal experiences; the experiences give validation or meaning to learning. Think of an adult mind with many experiences as the shelves of books in a library. As new information is received, the adult learner sorts through the shelves of experiences – challenging the new information. As the experiences support the information, the information is accepted. If the experiences are contrary to the new information, the information is challenged and the process starts again. If it can be proven to be meaningful, even though there may be no prior experience with it, it is accepted and loaded onto the shelf – to be accessed later – another volume is created.
If I were to tell you how to do something – make an origami hat from a sheet of paper, you would remember on average 10% of what I said. If I were to show you how to make the origami hat, you would remember nearly 60%. If I were to have you make the origami hat by yourself with my instruction, you would remember nearly 90%. Adults must try things to learn. Continual learners are anxious to try things – to insure that the information (knowledge) that they get, becomes behavior (wisdom). As we saw up above, information plus thought is knowledge; knowledge plus action is wisdom. In order for adults to become wise – they must not only think about new information, but they must determine how to use it; that takes practice with new skills. Much of adult education fails because the adult learner is not allowed the requisite time to put the learning into action. Many adults have knowledge, fewer are wise. The wise adults are skilled at using the information that they possess to effect change, improve results, manage effectively and serve customers well.
The final aspect of what we can do to encourage our employees to be continual learners is to allow the adult learner time to process the information (create the knowledge) – then, still more time to use the information to master the skill (become wise). We know that the average American worker works nearly 46 hours a week. The average vacation time for the same employee is only 2 weeks. With this pace, it is generally unlikely that an employee has the time to think or act on a new skill. Critical in the instruction process is necessary time to process, absorb, think, categorize, and use new information. This includes a requirement of creating an action plan to use the skills learned. To be truly effective, the action plan should be completed on two part paper – one copy kept by the learner, one copy to the learner’s manager. The Manager’s responsibility will be to insure that the learner has the support to complete the action plan, i.e. implement the learning. The learner’s responsibility is to check back to the action plan to be reminded of the commitment to implementing the knowledge learned. When this happens, employees are capable of successfully using new information well for the success of the employee and the organization.
Whether instructing a safety class or working one on one with a new employee, remember the four principles of adult education: make it meaningful, relate it to experiences, allow time to actively practice new skills and finally allow time for the learner to process and think about the information (create an action plan). When information is presented in the way that the adult employee learns, it has a great chance of successfully competing with millennial distractions – technology, information access, pagers, e-mail, voice-mail, etc. If your information is presented without regard to the way that an adult employee processes information, your attempts at modifying behavior will be ineffective. Get their attention and keep it; give them what they need in a way that keeps their interest and shows them the value. When you do, adult learners will get it and use it – and the results will reflect it.
Humanetrics LLC. All rights reserved 2007.