Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - 7

FROM THE PRESIDENT Michael Capaldi

Leap of Faith
Sometimes large gaps in knowledge
provide us the opportunity to take that leap
here is no shortage of what I would call learning “movements.” Informal, social and mobile learning are just a few. Some movements are more developed, while others are still in the theoretical stage. As the leader of a training group, it was my responsibility to keep up with these; reviewing and evaluating the new methodologies, while trying to discern if they could improve current programming. is isn’t always the easiest task, because you already have a well-thought-out approach to learning and resources to support it. In addition, the grind of meeting the needs of the day seldom allows time to step back and think about innovating for the future. Take the example of informal learning. Depending on your de nition, research shows that it accounts for upward of 80 percent to 90 percent of the learning occurring inside organizations today. e challenge, of course, is that most corporate training has been built on a foundation of formal learning and the resourcing is aligned accordingly. So if you desire more informal learning, then you have to rst believe that the research is true, and then be willing to realign many of your existing assets currently tied more to formal learning. is leads to a large barrier you’d have to overcome to take this approach: Your willingness to take a leap of faith. When the stakes are high, it isn’t always easy to take such a risk. Sometimes large gaps in knowledge provide us the opportunity to take that leap. For me, it came with a new assignment at the beginning of this year in a function in which I had limited experience. e position was of the newly created variety so no new-hire training program awaited me. No time to wait for one to be built, so I

began to employ many of the concepts within the aforementioned movements to get myself up to speed. And that’s where my journey began. Without any formal learning program, I began tapping into the informal means of knowledge acquisition. Peer-to-peer inquiry, researching relevant blogs and engaging stakeholders are some of the ways I tried to learn in lieu of a traditional classroom setting. Prior to my move, I had become intrigued with social learning. Now, it was one of my rst means of accessing a broad range of expertise in a timely manner. I used social media channels to follow experts in the eld, which then allowed me to access experts within their networks. is dynamic type of social learning continues to expand my knowledge on a daily basis. Another movement that I was following while still in training was the move to mobile learning. e tools had de nitely progressed in supporting this method. Fortunately, I had a tablet and smartphone, so I was not limited by the technology for accessing information. e 24/7 nature of mobile learning was especially valuable for realtime access of knowledge needed just-in-time. While I’ve passed some major knowledge milestones on my journey, I’m struck with competing re ections of how far I’ve been able to come and how far I still need to go. But as you all know, learning is a journey that never really ends. Maybe you’re exploring a new movement in training? I hope that hearing my story might prompt you to further that exploration even before a big change comes your way. In the meantime, join my social learning journey by following me at Twitter.com/mikecapaldi. I

Michael Capaldi is president of SPBT and associate vice president, institutional affairs at Sano . Email Michael at Michael.Capaldi@sano .com.

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Focus Magazine - Fall 2011

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