Chief Learning Officer - March 2008 - (Page 23)

learning solutions Strategies to Learning by Example There are two strategies for learning by example: mentoring/apprenticeship and games/simulations. Both can be effective if well thought out. As the stories above illustrate, the first rule of learning by example is to be careful what message people are learning. People observe actions over words, and you need to understand the real lessons they are taking away. When I think about what she would do, it allows me to copy those characteristics that I need to do my job effectively.” Informal Mentoring or Apprenticeship In the story above, the learner emulated the behavior of someone she respected. It did not matter that she had never met Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. She recognized that, in order to be successful in her job, she would need to learn a skill that she did not believe she possessed but that she saw in Jackie O. This is a good example of informal mentoring. Informal mentoring can be effective because: • The learner has chosen the teacher and therefore is the one driving the process and engaging in the change. • The learner is highly motivated to apply what he or she has learned. The problem with informal mentoring is that, because it is informal, it cannot be uniformly applied. People also may be selecting the wrong behavior or teacher. Formal mentoring, or apprenticeship, can be a better organizational learning strategy. Mentoring/Apprenticeship We all have people whose qualities we admire and try to emulate. When I was doing work for a very high level U.S. government training institution, I remember talking to the director’s administrative assistant. On her computer was a screensaver that asked: “What if you were Jackie O?” I looked at it for a few moments to make sure I read it correctly and then I asked her to explain what the screensaver meant. “Well,” she quietly told me. “You know what it is like to work with some of the people around here. They are very smart senior people with egos to match. I often feel very intimidated and clumsy around them and then I think to myself, ‘What if I was Jackie O?’ To me, she was so sophisticated and had so much grace, even in dealing with difficult people. Not much has changed today in organizational learning, as we still learn by observing and doing. The only difference is the technology. I www.clomedia.com I Chief Learning Officer 23 March 2008 http://www.clomedia.com

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Chief Learning Officer - March 2008 Editor's Letter Table of Contents Imperatives Selling Up, Selling Down Strategies Take Five Learning Solutions The Treasury Board of Saskatchewan: Training the Trainers With Experiential Learning Clo Profile Environment Xerox: Creating a Learning Masterpiece Tactics Capturing the Knowledge of the Workforce Productivity Succession Planning Tips from the U.S. GAO Human Capital Influencing Competency Management Case Study Case Study Business Intelligence Advertisers' Index Editorial Resources In Conclusion

Chief Learning Officer - March 2008

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