Four cups of coffee

Review of Informal Learning in this month’s T+D magazine. (pdf)

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As someone who makes a living out of designing formal learning systems for large corporations, I was an unlikely candidate to buy into Jay Cross’s theory that formal learning is largely ineffective. But my curiosity got the better of me, and I found myself totally engrossed in his out-of-the-ordinary thinking on learning.

As its title indicates, Informal Learning hinges on the premise that most learning on the job-about 80 percent-occurs informally. Ironically, however, most corporations overspend on formal training and ignore the simpler and more natural ways in which employees learn. The book is about leveraging this type of relaxed, impromptu learning instead of emphasizing the formal strategies that most corporations propagate.

The first chapter discusses our dramatically different and rapidly changing workplace. (In fact, Cross declares the book itself as the beta edition and actually suggests checking his website and blog for updates.) Cross writes that the value of time has changed: Not only is more activity packed into each minute, but the rate of change itself is increasing. He defines this acceleration as the hyperinflation of time-much more happens in a minute today than one hundred years ago. He also explains how the vast array of digital learning tools that workers are now accessing via computers, personal digital assistants, and cell phones plays into the rapid workplace culture. Against this backdrop, he makes a case for knowledge workers to forget the traditional mindsets about learning.

In the subsequent chapters, Cross demonstrates that informal learning is indeed a more natural way of acquiring knowledge in today’s networked communities. He defines learning as “that which enables you to participate successfully in life, at work, and in the groups that matter to you,” and makes an important distinction between mandatory training and learning by choice. “Training is something that is pushed on you,” he writes. “Learning is something you choose to do, whether you’re being trained or not.”

In discussing meta-learning, which treats learning as a process, Cross distinguishes between three types of learners who possess three different styles of learning. Novice workers benefit from a directed method of learning; mature workers are self-directed; and senior workers learn by helping others. From a meta-learning standpoint, organizations gain when they serve mature workers-the often ignored segment-by investing more heavily in self-directed, informal learning. More specifically, Cross says that designers should focus on making it as easy as possible for these workers to “link with others, make discoveries, locate experts, and so forth.”

The second half of the book contains specific suggestions for learning professionals who are interested in expanding informal learning opportunities in their organizations. He suggests a variety of ways to support the process, such as providing time for informal learning on the job, creating places for workers to congregate and learn, and using technology to make collaboration and networking easier. Well-known software companies serve as his examples of progressive organizations that have successfully tapped into their employees’ informal learning habits in the workplace.

Cross also suggests that corporate culture plays a role in the learning process, Executives want execution and performance, but most of them couldn’t care less about the learning process of their employees. Yet, Cross says that informal learning can be a profit strategy they support because it promotes innovation, develops the working process, increases professionalism and morale, and drives other factors that enhance the bottom line. Remember, regardless of how great your training program is, knowledge transfer that results in enhanced performance on the job is what ultimately matters.

Informal Learning is a highly engaging must-read whose main ideas are juxtaposed with clever visuals to enhance reader comprehension. It also is loaded with resources, including three appendices, a glossary of terms, and a list of additional resources.

If you are still skeptical about the value of informal learning, I strongly recommend that you read it. Cross may just change your thinking on learning in the corporate context, like he did mine. I give the book four full cups of coffee.

by Suneeta Mishra, a learning specialist with the Home Depot Store Support Center in Atlanta.