Let’s be honest, we can all learn all sorts of stuff now, can’t we?  From the wonders of a google search to our personal learning networks, there’s so much free stuff out there that it’s a wonder anyone buys training at all anymore.

Look at your own learning interventions and programmes.  How much of the content is unique to you and your organisation?  70%, 20%, 10%? For most organisations – especially in disciplines like leadership, sales, customer service, and project management, the industrial knowledge which surrounds us is available to anyone – or at least anyone with the budget to gain access to it.

But on its own, a well-trained workforce, versed in industrial stalwarts like Six Sigma, or Action Centred Leadership or Coaching for Performance,  provides no real advantage.  These models, skill sets and behavioural interventions are only effective if they can be differentiated.  Via the internet, we all have access to a library of incalculable size and complexity.  We can access all sorts of information.  But then, so can everyone else.  What will make a difference to 21st century organisational performance is not what you know but what you do differently with what you know.

discussionOne year ago, during a panel discussion at the World of Learning Conference in 2015, Kris Swanson of JPMorgan explained that his biggest L&D challenge was combining the industrial knowledge – the know how common to every organisation working in financial services – with the accumulated, collective intelligence of his own institution.  The memory, know-how and cultural difference his enterprise provided would be the difference – perhaps the only difference – in a highly competitive environment.

This started a thought process in my mind about whether this was any different for other sectors and other organisations.  I don’t think it is.  This idea holds true whether you are engaged in beating the competition or providing the very best services to your patients, students, residents or customers.

The secret of great performance is not knowing the same things that everyone else knows. That is a given.  It is knowing how to use that knowledge in ways which are unique to your organisation. Whether your L&D activity involves buying courses from external vendors, using a library of generic e-learning resources, L&D teams designing tailor made interventions, subscribing to publications or even sending individuals to conferences, the route to differentiated and better performance will be in applying those lessons within the unique environment in which you and your colleagues work.

But how does that happen?  It’s a nice idea and pretty much common sense.  I don’t think many would argue that we want people to add value to what they learn though synthesising this knowledge and these skills with the organisation’s memory banks and collective capability.  But doing this is more complex and trickier than saying it.

Maybe mentoring provides an opportunity – although the time and effort that these relationships take can be in short supply.

Maybe coaching is the answer – but it is often spoken about and rarely undertaken – one is constantly surprised not that it is done well, but that it is done at all.

Maybe social sharing is the answer – although forums and networks often become lonely places inhabited by the committed, the wannabes or the egotists and ignored by the majority.

Maybe collaborative working is the answer – if the desire for instant results can make way for the opportunity to learn from mistakes.

I’m really excited that I’ll be joined in a panel discussion on Thursday 20th October by a group of innovators who wrestle with these issues on a daily basis. Collectively and individually they have plenty of experience in helping teams move towards the happy marriage of general know-how and skills specific to the organisation.
So, book 1.20pm on Thursday 20th October at the World of Learning Conference into your diary and come along to hear Michelle Parry-Slater of Kairos, Sukhvinder Pabial of One Housing and Lisa Minogue-White of Willow DNA discuss issues of reinforcement, implementation, consolidation and application with me throwing in the occasional question and trying to make sure it all makes sense in 45 minutes.

I think it’ll be a stimulating session.

Robin Hoyle is senior consultant with Learnworks Ltd and author of two books – Complete Training: from recruitment to retirement and Informal Learning in Organizations: how to create a continuous learning culture – both published by Kogan Page. He is also Learning and Technology Consultant for leading research and sales consultancy organisation, Huthwaite International.

You can see panel member Lisa Minogue-White’s response to this blog post by Robin, here: http://bit.ly/2dKHzgc