An alternative charter for learning

I really struggled with what to call this post. It was first called the commandments of learning, then it was the disruptors rules for learning in the modern age. But none of those felt right.

Even the title you have now read, still doesn’t quite feel right.

The whole purpose of this short post is for me to share the philosophy or you could say my approach to learning in the workplace, that I try to instil within the environments I have inhabited.

For those who have worked with me and those who are with me right now, you’ll probably have heard these too many times. Anyway, the point of this piece is to give you some insight into what I share with fellow peers, friends and the organisations I work with when it comes to what I do in workplace learning.

This list is in some way what I stand for/strive to enable through the way I work and the philosophies I live by.

So, without further ado…

Training is a dirty word.

Learning is an everyday behaviour, not a task.

We don’t tick boxes (especially for the sake of ticking boxes).

We help people get shit done that will actually help them.

We create value add human experiences that make people feel something. We don’t have a bums on seats and we’ll talk at you for 2 days approach.

If you build it they won’t come – go out there and tell people about it.

Break the silos, talk to people to find out what the real challenges are – never assume you know.

Get data, get the facts!

Build partnerships, don’t settle for providers.

Learning is co-owned, we are in it together.

You don’t need permission to learn!

Enable, share, connect and grow together.

Create moments that matter, not ones to look like we are doing stuff.

Learning takes place in many ways, the classroom is but one of them.

Be the difference, enable positive change and help people be better than they were yesterday.

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And finally, a little quote to bring it all together

“Absorb what is useful, discard what is not and add what is uniquely your own”

Bruce Lee

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