What's Your Learning Profile?

I was back behind the classroom desk this past week as part of an industry certification course.

I “survived” the 04 days, fortunately by the fact that the topic allowed the training to be very hands-on and participative and an enlightened trainer that decided to leverage on that. Versus just the atypical lecture and information dump so typical of many certification-type courses.

If you hadn’t already guessed by my profession and approach & methodology to facilitation and training, I am a very hands-on, participatory type of person. I seem to learn and assimilate best in those sorts of experiential training environments and I have observed that many working adults seem to be that way.

Many would be familiar with the Dunn & Dunn's VAK model, with it’s origins from Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), which asserts that for most circumstances and most people, their mental processing is dominated by three main sensory based modes:

visual (V- learning by seeing)
auditory (A - learning by hearing)
kinesthetic (K- learning by doing)

But I personally prefer Honey & Mumford’s (1982) typology of experiential learning styles.

Activitists (Do)
involve themselves fully in new experiences
enjoy the here and now
open minded, enthusiastic, flexible
act first, consider consequences later
seek to centre activity around themselves
==> Enjoy learning through games, competitive teamwork tasks and role plays.

Reflectors (Review)
prefer to step back and observe
cautious, take a back seat, can be perceived to be indecisive
likes to collect and analyze data about experience and events, slow to reach conclusions
use information from past, present and immediate observations to maintain a big picture perspective.
==> Prefer learning activities based on observation/investigation which gives leeway to ponder upon.

Theorists (Conclude)
Think through problems in a logical step-by-step manner, value rationality and objectivity
can assimilate disparate facts into coherent theories
disciplined, aiming to fit things into rational order
keen on basic assumptions, principles, theories, models and systems thinking
==> Prefers activities that explore the inter-relationship between ideas and principles.

Pragmatists (Plan)
Keen to put ideas, theories and techniques into practice
Search new ideas and experiment
Act quickly and confidently on ideas, gets straight to the point
Are impatient with endless discussion
==> Prefers learning activities that resembles direct work experience.

Knowing your learning style can accelerate your learning as you undertake activities that best fit your preferred style.

Future Now

My wife was invited to SIM’s 2008 Annual Management Lecture last August to hear the keynote address by their distinguished speaker Dr James Canton.

Canton is CEO and Chairman of the Institute for Global Futures, a think tank he founded in 1990 that advises business and government on future trends. He has worked with Fortune 1000 firms like IBM, BP, Intel, Philips, General Electric, Hewlett Packard, Boeing, FedEx, and Proctor & Gamble on trends in innovation, financial services, healthcare, population, life sciences, energy, security, workforce, climate change, and globalization.

I found his book The Extreme Future: The Top Trends that will Shape the World in the Next 20 Years, to be insightful, clear and relevant.

Points raised relating to the workforce for 2009, updated from this book, makes for good reading and I have reproduced it here for sharing:-

Top Ten Workforce Trends for 2009

1. A global war for Smart Talent will be the top driver of competitive advantage, as educated, skilled and experienced employees will be in demand.

2. The aging of the population in America and Europe will have dramatic effect on society and the economy impacting productivity, knowledge and growth.

3. An increase in women in the U.S. workforce will change the policies, power and positioning of organizations. Women will alter the strategies of boardrooms, industries and markets.

4. A diversity savvy workforce will be required to understand and align with the diversity in the global marketplace. Diversity will be a critical competency for leaders and employees.

5. Finding, training and retaining high-tech skilled employees from a global talent pool will be the greatest challenge for every organization.

6. Incorporating innovation into the organizational DNA will be a key driver of future competitive advantage.

7. Building a sustainable, healthy and green workplace will be an essential capability for retaining talent and attracting the future workforce

8. Preparing employees to meet the challenges of a complex and stressful future, where accelerated change and risks can be managed effectively with high performance agility, will be vitally important.

9. An organization that is committed to employee development, continual education and training, will return to the organization new skills and new competencies.

10. Attracting the next workforce, or preparing the current one, will require a new workforce culture to better understand trans-national teams, online collaboration, globalization and business process transformation.

Source: Institute for Global Futures

James Canton, Ph.D is a senior fellow at the Centre for Research in Innovation at the Kellogg School of Management and is also an advisor to our Economic Development Board (EDB).

He is also the author of Technofutures: How Leading-Edge Innovations Will Transform Business in the 21st Century.