What I Have Learnt About Learning and the Lesson continues...

Over the past few months I have been going for interviews in a cot of companies in KL. And what I find in a lot of the job applications that there a lot of positions for Learning and Development managers, senior managers, Chief Learning Officers and so I just submitted my applications thinking that it was time to move on to try to gain new experiences and so on. What to my surprise is that a lot of these companies were not looking for Learning and Development managers, they were looking for Training Managers and are very blur about the word Learning.

Now, don't get me wrong- there is still a need for training programs and so on but it seems to me that most of these companies- and mind you I'm not talking about the 500 manpowered companies, I'm talking about staff force of thousands, still have not understood or have clue what Learning means. Learning is about the person not the program. The person can sit through a program but may not have learnt anything. Yes, they can go through the motion of the classroom games and activities but learning does not necessary begin there. Learning begins when you start practicing or applying the knowledge in an uncontrolled environment and without further instruction. Learning also does not necessary means you get it in a classroom from a teacher, lecturer, trainer or facilitator- you can learn from your supervisor by means of observation then practice or from your peers. You could have found an information in the web then applied it. You can learn from someone else's mistake by means of a casual conversation of sharing and so on.

I have learnt from going into interviews what I need to learn is about leadership and business acumen and I will devote sometime weekly to reading from some of the leadership books available in the local bookstore or from Amazon dot com.

The point is that companies spend a lot on training programs but do not look at how they should spend creating corporate intelligence. It's not just about saving money, it's about capturing knowledge with the assistance of technology available today, tag it then distribute it to those who need to learn or are looking for the knowledge. They spend a lot on LMS but not optimizing the potential, adoption and usage of the system. They buy a lot of eLearning off the shelves but not incorporating it into the competencies for recommendation and prays and hopes that people that the courses.

Most companies I went for interview even bans social networking in the company in fear of what might get out. Technology is a tool, how you choose to use it is up to you. Like a hammer can be a tool for building houses for shelter and it can also be an evidence in a courtroom for a murder case. The tool is your hands and you choose how to use it.

Today, I am sharing about what I have learnt so far about learning and I still have a lot ot learn...