Training Industry Magazine - November/December 2017 - 11

SCIENCE OF LEARNING
SRINI PILLAY, M.D.

THE BUSINESS OF LEARNING:

PERSPECTIVES FROM
BRAIN SCIENCE
In order to thrive as a learning provider,
it is crucial to understand the business
of learning. On the one hand, you want
to keep abreast of current trends. On the
other hand, you also want to distinguish
yourself as a learning provider to maintain
your integrity and set new trends.
Learning starts in the brain. Understanding
how the brain works could revolutionize
your learning business. Consider the
following principles to accentuate your
business approach to learning.
MATCH THE STRATEGIES YOU SELL TO
HOW THE BRAIN WORKS
Up to 98 percent of mental activity
is outside of conscious awareness.
Hence, most learning is unconscious.
That is why learning programs should
aim to develop the unconscious brain.
And learning budgets should be
apportioned accordingly.
How to do this: Educate companies that
buy learning from you that their money
is best spent on targeting the majority
of mental activity, which is unconscious.
Exercises that stimulate memories,
automatic reactions and reflection are
useful ways to stimulate the unconscious.
While you can never know what is going
on in the unconscious, learning needs
to take care of the unconscious so that
conscious strategies can be embedded in
a healthy unconscious brain.
ADDRESS ALL PHASES OF LEARNING
In the brain, learning involves multiple
steps such as attending to new
information, storing this information
in short-term memory, transferring
information to long-term memory, and
then retrieving information when it is

necessary. As a result, any information
delivered should be engaging and easily
stored and retrieved.
How to do this: Invest in learning that is
shared in a way that is easy to remember
and retrieve. Powerful videos and visually
compelling content that is digestible will
likely distinguish the learning and make
it worth buying. Also, follow-up modules
for online learning will enhance the
investment that companies make in the
initial learning.
CONSIDER TECHNOLOGY
Simply having great content is not
enough. In all cases, you want to consider
whether the learning can be leveraged
with modern technology.
How to do this: Ask yourself, "Is the
learning you are providing mobile
friendly?" Can the learning be enhanced in
online community portals? Would gaming
enhance the quality of learning? And can
augmented or virtual reality enhance
the content? Remember, multimodal
learning (e.g., learning delivered in image
and sound) can increase the brain's ability
to change.
Technology also helps to scale learning
as individual workshops are often too
expensive. This will make the learning
more affordable.
USE BRAIN-BASED METHODOLOGIES
When Gartner examined whether
brain-based methods would be part of
learning in the future, they reported an
exponential rise. In 2011, the adoption of
neurobusiness techniques was 1 percent.
This increased to 10 percent in 2016,
and the prediction is that by 2021, the

adoption rate will be 25 percent. With this
meteoric rise in brain-based methods,
learning providers should include this
content in their product offerings.
How to do this: Hire qualified people to use
brain-based methods to help buyers learn
research-based mindset changes that
they can institute. You can hire research
psychologists, psychiatrists and brainresearchers, and also help them partner
with professional writers to help make the
information consumable.

LEARNING SHOULD
NOT BE STAGNANT.
TINKER DABBLE DOODLE TRY
Learning should not be stagnant. Part of
your own approach should also involve
innovation. Allocate part of your budget to
create novel ways to learn. Some element
of novelty will keep your brain and the
brains of buyers engaged.
How to do this: Try out innovative
formats for learning. Debates, integrated
technologies, artistic vehicles such
as music and acting can all help
communicate a message. To stay ahead of
the competition, we need to practice what
we preach and stay innovative.
Understanding how the brain works gives
you a chance to improve your learning
business both directly and indirectly.
Dr. Srini Pillay is the CEO of NeuroBusiness
Group. He is also assistant professor (part-time)
at Harvard Medical School and teaches in the
executive education programs at Harvard
Business School and Duke CE. Email Srini.

T R A I N I N G I N DUSTR Y MA GAZ INE - BUSINESS OF LEARNING 20 1 7 I WWW. T RAI NINGINDU S T RY . C OM/ MAGAZ I NE

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