In one of my earliest posts, I mentioned how web 2.0 was enabling a “pull” approach to learning, as opposed to the traditional “push” (from expert or trainer to the end-user). As far as I know, the concepts of pull and push in the learning world are relatively new. But they have been used in Lean manufacturing environments systems for much longer. Though hugely different worlds, the concepts are really similar in both arenas. And I think worth exploring a bit.
In the manufacturing enviornment, instead of one work cell creating a part and pushing it down the line, where it stacks up the next work cell to use as needed, the workers only make what is needed by those downstream, at the time it is needed. So when a part is about to be needed, communcation is sent upstream that effectively says “we are about to need more parts”, and the upstream cell responds accordingly. The pull approach reduces inventory and other forms of waste.
Much like the lean manufacturing facility, workplace learning is evolving to a pull model, at least in part. Instead of relying on formal training that is “pushed” to us whether we need it or not, we are learning to “pull” what we need at the time we need it.
In the old model, you had a learner (the end user or customer) at the end of the process, taking whatever course or material that was sent his way by an expert or leadership.
In the new model, the learner is at the center, informally learning with other learners most of the time. When the learner has a specific learning need, she does her own research on the company intranet or the Web. Or she reaches out directly to other folks, which could be face-to-face with colleagues at the office, or online via various forms of social media.
I’m not the first to say this, but companies need to get a grip on that now. Despite the lip service given to “social learning” and media trends, most learning professionals and managers in most organizations are still attached to the “we know what learners need and when they need it”‘ mentality. And heck, that’s not even getting into nutty concepts like learners/employees creating their own content.
Companies need to create the conditions that empower informal learning. And, to borrow from a Lean manufacturing concept, a feedback system (kanban) needs to be created that tells the learning mangers that a formal course is needed. On the Lean shop floor, when something has gone wrong and the immediate workers can’t solve the problem, there are clever ways to alert managers, who respond with problem-solving help.
In the training/learning world, if informal learning or rapid course development can’t give what is needed, then something more formal can be created. This is true ‘just in time’ learning. Because it is delivered in response to user demand, managers can be more confident that it is actually going to useful.
