If we are made by authority to take a course for the purpose of being duly informed, very little transferable learning occurs. Even less application of the information can be expected. It’s obvious that the event was structured to check a box for everyone and not to learn for improved application. This insults the applied learner.

A highly motivated class or group of people eager to learn requires a sound effort with prescriptive guidance. We’ve all been highly engaged by good teachers, coaches and supervisors who actively set the stage with us for a strong learning environment. There were goals, objectives and improved outcomes pursued from the enhanced knowledge that was shared. The content was absorbed by each individual, discussed for comprehension as a group and applied together for learning experiences to the determined result. All have learned and each carries the value of that learning forward with them.

If there is no stage set for you to learn and apply together, create one for yourself and others. Self-initiated learning is often the most productive and meaningful as you pursue a level of mastery in your craft. Some of the greatest innovators set off on their own self-initiating course for learning with novel business concepts when their organizations failed to set the stage with them. Don’t wait to be informed, learn away.

“What we want to see is the child in pursuit of knowledge, and not knowledge in pursuit of the child.” — George Bernard Shaw —

MITM