If you’re even remotely in the business of helping people learn—whether that’s developing employees, educating customers, informing partners, or upskilling students—you need a learning framework. By that I mean a set of principles that describe your organization’s beliefs about how people learn that can underpin your work. The right framework can have a significant impact on the quality of your products or services, the efficiency of operations, and ultimately, your bottom line.
Learning is Human Nature
The reality is: Almost every company and human out there is in the business of helping people learn. Learning is fundamental to how we all operate in the world—even more so these days, as that world continues to evolve around us at a staggering pace. As employees, we are continuously upskilling and reskilling. As managers and leaders, it's our job to help our teams do just that…and (ideally) we’re also continuously learning to be better ourselves. As product and service providers, we educate our customers about how to leverage our offerings for the best possible outcomes and we help them understand why what we’re selling is the best solution to their problems. Almost any time we communicate, we are helping someone learn.
The science of how people learn is an entire field of study in and of itself. And while these “learning sciences” have only officially been around since the 1990s, they are rooted in fields like psychology and epistemology that go back much longer. As a human race, we’ve long been interested in the nature of knowledge, how people learn, and how to help people learn better. And so, in fact, we have a lot of information to draw on. For example, research shows that our prior knowledge can help or hinder learning and that our motivation impacts what and how we learn. Adult learning theories say that adults learn best when the material is relevant and they have choice in how they learn.
That said, not all the information out there is supported by evidence, some of it is conflicting, and there’s actually so much information that simply adopting the whole canon isn’t a helpful approach. As a business, team, or organization, you’ll want to narrow it down.
Selecting Learning Principles for Quality Outcomes
Your framework should consist of a carefully selected subset of principles that are most relevant and important to your own context and learners. This will help improve the quality of your learning experience and the likelihood of your learners achieving the intended objectives. For example, if your learners are short on time, you’ll want to select principles that promote efficient learning. If what you’re hoping your learners learn isn’t of innate interest to them, you’ll want to select principles that help grab and sustain their attention. Every learner is unique and learns in their own way based on their unique background, culture, experience, and more. However, there are some generalizations that we can draw on to help.
So, the first step in developing your framework is to conduct a detailed analysis of your target audience, the broad objectives, and the learning context. Why are they learning? What motivates them? What are their challenges? What prior knowledge are they coming to the table with? What are their abilities and preferences? What do you want them to walk away with? What do they want to walk away with? Where and when will they be learning?
This information can then be used to select a handful of relevant principles. Every situation is different, but my recommendation would be to keep the list under about 15-20 principles total, and if you end up with more than eight or nine, to create a set of simplifying and organizing categories or dimensions for easier recall.
Crafting a Framework for Alignment and Efficiency
You want to end up with a simple, catchy model that employees can memorize, internalize, and repeat—similar to your business’ vision, mission, and values. At a company I previously worked for, the framework we came up with had 16 principles across three dimensions: Feel, Do, and Think. At Starling, where I am co-founder and Chief Learning Officer, our framework has 12 principles and four dimensions: Flexible, Active, Social, and Transformative (FAST).
The framework you establish needs to be sticky, because these principles ought to help each team member make day-to-day decisions quickly and easily without direct guidance. Decisions that are in line with your philosophies and objectives as a business. As managers and leaders, we can’t provide guidance on every challenge that our teams will encounter—nor do we want to. What we can and do want to do is provide a north star and a set of foundational principles that can act as a compass in any situation. This promotes a level of trust and autonomy that can help your people thrive, and an efficiency that will help your business thrive.
Beyond decision-making, a learning framework is a powerful tool for alignment and communication. When there are cross-functional debates about what path to take on a particular initiative, your principles can light the way. When departments share updates on projects and key decisions, leveraging the language of your framework can help provide clear rationale and get everyone on the same page.
Communicating Your Commitment to the Learner
Most importantly, your principles help put the learner front and center. And when your learners are front and center—whether they are employees, partners, or customers—the impact on your bottom line can be significant. A focus on effective learning and development can improve employee engagement, satisfaction, and retention. Companies with strong learning cultures are more productive and successful. Customers who feel prioritized and who are empowered with knowledge and understanding of your offerings are happier, more engaged, and more likely to keep coming back. Publicly promoting your learning framework can attract and impress partners and clients that share your values and recognize your commitment to offering high quality products and services.
These days a learning framework ought to be as ubiquitous as business vision, mission, and values—we all help people learn and we all ought to have a perspective on how our people learn best. A learning organization operating without a guiding framework is like a business operating without a business plan, a therapist providing counseling without a perspective about how people change, or a consultancy providing advice without a methodology for helping their clients succeed. Learning principles are foundational beliefs that not only help your teams produce high quality work in an efficient manner, but also communicate your ethos and brand to potential clients, employees, and partners, and differentiate you from the crowd.
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