The Big Question

Tony Karrer is moderating "The Big Question" on the Learning Circuits blog. The question for December is "What did you learn about learning in 2007?"

Obviously, there were many things I learned in 2007 (I think most people can say this or else there are some serious issues). I've learned just how small the training community is and how if you know a few key people, you can pretty much cover the community (I've appreciated getting to know Tony, Mark, Karl, etc. more). I've also learned that I do not like the dissertation process very much (it's done, so I will never be doing that again).

But I think the biggest thing I learned about learning is the importance of informal learning on performance improvement. In 2007, I've been more convinced that the field of performance improvement is the backbone of everything related. To say you "are in the field of training" is to limit you to a very small niche". To say you "are in the field of performance improvement" covers many domains and ultimately is the basis for what we are trying to impact as professionals. When there is a performance problem, we do a great injustice if we automatically pick up our tools for training. Rather, the performance problem could very well be solved by numerous interventions. We cannot discount the importance of informal learning. Take for example games...no one tells you the rules in advance and most people never bother to read the instruction manual before playing the game (at I/ITSEC, I was in a session with Mark Oehlert where they asked the question, "Who reads the instruction manual before playing a game", and one person (out of ~100) actually raised his hand...Mark and I both were shocked that even one person raised their hand). Another good example is using Google, Wikipedia, etc. To my recollection, I have not had one day (while in the office) where I have not searched the Internet for some piece of information.