The Changing Nature of Business & Its Impact on Learning (#ASTDLN)

These are my live blogged notes from ASTD Learn Now Session with Conrad Gottfredson and Bob Mosher of Ontuitive (formerly LearningGuide Solutions). I am a co-facilitator for this 1.5 day conference, along with Bob, Conrad, and Chad Udell of Float Learning. About 55 learning colleagues gathered here at the lovely Hilton in San Francisco.

• Economic disruption can happen in one part of the world and carries its impact across the world…disrupting our businesses.
• Technological disruption
• Demographic churn
• Political instability (the economic consequences of terrorism and upheaval)

The challenge for organizations: to learn at the speed of change.  We must continuously undergo new skill cycles to prepare for new competitive cycles.  Who hear can really plan for three years from now? Who can say, we’ve got our learning solutions in place? It’s like we’re all trying to change tires on moving trucks.


So what is the new normal? How do we learn at the speed of change?


“The consequences of standing still look worse than the consequences of taking a chance on change.” Denis Pombriant


3 fundamental functions that have to work together within an org to help adapt:

• intelligence function
• strategy function
• learning function (we have to learn from strategy and give it back)

Today we need to be dynamic learners:

• 1957-1981 = Permanent Learning – one-time learning for permanent qualification
• 1981-2004 = Continuous Learning – for ongoing qualification
• 2004-2009 = Dynamic Learning – rapid, unlearning, relearning, collaborative, self-directed learning at the moment of need

The nature of the leader in the new normal….from leader as expert to leader as learner….personal credibility based on personal learning agility…it’s a different set of leadership skills.


If you want to live in LearnNow…you have to live in the world of SUSTAIN. It’s not training anymore. We can’t keep a classroom mentality. We need to live in sustain and transfer. Get out of the brick and mortar or the LMS.


For a new learner, training is still the right starting place. We don’t advocate cutting training. We do advocate changing it A LOT.  Training helps you get to mastery. But mastery does not get you to sustain. Knowing stuff does not mean doing stuff. 


The LMS plays in the red zone = training. 


To get to sustain, we need to embed performance support across this whole spectrum.


In the sustain stage, what if people could keep raising their own bar…innovating, maintaining mastery, continuing to learn while getting better?  LearnNow techs including EPSS (embedded performance support solution – not electronic…, social and mobile help this.