Learning Agility

13/02/16 16:46
Last week’s topic of #PKMchat was agile learning. This relatively new buzzword has captured L&D professionals’ attention, as learning agility has become increasingly important for the growth and success of organizations. Companies are bound to go through transitions to keep up with this growingly competitive world. So, the need for individuals to alter their mindset is essential; as I believe learning agility is a mindset not a skill. That is why I tend to think it makes it more difficult to make individuals be agile learners. I say this, because I’ve had ample discussions with colleagues who believe as long as they make ends meet and can pay their bills by having a secure job, there is nothing more they should do. Similarly, managers who believe that change can be chaotic and employees might resist, hence this might jeopardize their position. So the question is, “how do we make individuals change their mindset, readily accept change and innovation, and move away from their comfort zone and their routines?” I’ll share my personal views in the end.

Who are agile learners?
These are some common characteristics for an agile learner:

agile

Is learning agility learnable?

In my point of view, learning agility in organizations should start from top to bottom. Leaders should set good examples for their subordinates. A leader should learn how to get to root causes (one of the characteristics of learning agility), and make his/her staff do the same when facing problems at work. A leader should learn to be comfortable with differences of opinion (another characteristic of learning agility) and not impose his/her own opinion on the staff. An agile leader will enjoy helping others succeed, so the staff should do this as well rather than keeping their knowledge to themselves with the fear that others might get better than them.

Following that, incentives (not just a pay raise) should be used. They should create a community of practice within the organization that involves lots of sharing and effective conversations. Lastly, patience and persistence are the key words as this takes time.

With this, I share this great read from Harvard Business Review to end my thought sharing.