Comments on: Social Learning, Strategically

By: Rene Pouteau

Rene Pouteau — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 22:45:21 +0000

In my days, I used to stress that Corporations are not democratic institutions. Opening up the decision making to social media may encourage greater individual participation, but I wonder what the consequences are going to be when all is said and done. I don’t remember who said “A bad decision is better than none”.

By: Ali Shahrazad

Ali Shahrazad — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 23:21:07 +0000

All great points here, thank you for sharing. I think there are 3 real challenges that cause people to behave tactically…

1 – They want it now. Quick delivery (short time frame with deadlines and accountability to an enterprise blue chip being my favorite), major adoption (portals, social media, usage cannot be forced or driven), ROI or results they can measure before their performance reviews.

2 – They want it “their” way. Command & control training with compliance vs viral self-regulated communities of practice, business intelligence vs user experience, just-in-case (the company needs it, training for everything) vs just-in-time (the learner needs it, performance support, etc).

3 – It’s easier. Path of least resistance. Comfort zones.

By: Kelly Meeker

Kelly Meeker — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 21:34:23 +0000

I think you’ve touched on an important thread – so often L&D professionals are caught up addressing short term emergencies, with their pants on fire, that long-term decision-making falls off the top of the to-do list. It can be difficult to refocus on being strategic and proactive when much of the work is problem-solving in nature. That’s obviously a broad point – but your post makes excellent suggestions about reframing decisions with a strategic lens.

By: Dave Ferguson

Dave Ferguson — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 20:00:09 +0000

At first glance, it seems as though most people are not at a level where they can greatly influence the strategy of their organization. (I say this since most people work for others, and most employees work in organizations with hundreds if not thousands of employees.)

This explains the top-down approach, the idea that if you can influence the C-level folks, they’ll say “make it so” and the rest of the gang will eventually fall in line.

I think the tactical things you mention are among the first thing that the non-C-level people try as part of improving the workscape that’s under their immediate control. And because these things can have an immediate effect, they spread pretty rapidly.

So that’s bottom-up.

The real transformation comes when leaders in an organization are able to articulate a vision that the group as a whole understands and values. There’s a little gem of a scene in Saving Private Ryan. The beachhead has been secured, and Captain John Miller (Tom Hanks) is talking to Captain Fred Hamill (Ted Danson). Miller complains that General Montgomery is “takin’ his time movin’ on Caen.”

As the two captains walk along, they articulte the Allied strategy in under 40 words:

Hamill: You gotta take Caen so you can take Saint-LÃ´.
Miller: You gotta take Saint-LÃ´ to take Valognes.
Hamill: Valognes, you got Cherbourg.
Miller: Cherbourg, you got Paris.
Hamill: Paris, you got Berlin.
Miller: And then that big boat home.

Ike would have been proud. Maybe Monty, too, once his ego recovered.

By: Blair Rorani

Blair Rorani — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 18:52:01 +0000

See my comment on Google+ https://plus.google.com/u/0/113173288673338357626/posts/DXDMBDsK2fp