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Keeping Up With the Pace of ChangeInformal learning will help employees survive in the future workplace. | BY JAY CROSS

T

hree out of four business leaders I talk withconfide that they dont believe their current

approach to training will enable their workers tobe prepared for the future workplace. They areso busy chopping down trees that they donttake the time to sharpen their axes.

In these volatile, accelerating times, theorganization that fails to do a great job of helpingits people keep up with the pace of change willnot survive the decade.

Increasing the training budget is not going toincrease the odds of survival or help the bottomline. What will is collaboration and self-directed

learning. Its about making communicationsimple, and partnering with customers andsuppliers. Generally, its all about getting out ofpeoples way so they can learn what they need toknow to excel in their work.

Enough long sentences. Take a look at theseindustrial-age problems. Check those that apply.

SUBSTANDARD REVENUE

Sales declining, customerspostponing buying decisions

Salesforce cannot expressbenefits of new products

Sellers unaware of industryconditions and competition

Friction in relationships withdistributors

Our partners are not wellinformed

Sales and marketing ondifferent planets

Arms-length relationshipswith customers

DEFICIENT SERVICE

Response time to customers issubstandard

After-sales inquiries arebogging down our call centers

800 numbers and phone treesare driving customers away

Service is inconvenient forcustomers, not 24/7

We dont learn from ourcustomers

We are not building customerloyalty

Customer and prospects areconfused, frustrated

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INEFFICIENCY AND BUREAUCRACY

Deluged by internal email

Cant find the right person in ahurry

People dont know who knowswhat

Cant touch the rightinformation when you need it

Project coordination is tediousand things fall through thecracks

Re-invention of the samedocuments and processes overand over

Departments squabble more

often than they collaborate Dont learn from the people

who join us from competitors

Execs cant get a read ofprogress or lack thereof

Documentation is dated,versions confuse

UNENTHUSIASTIC,

SLUGGISH STAFF

Recruiting is harder than ever Some people do the minimum

to get by

People are not innovators anddont keep up

Know-how is walking out thedoor due to retirement andturnover

People are glum because of theeconomy, an industry slump,whatever

Turnover is too high

When good people leave, wenever see or hear from themagain

No time for experimentation orprototyping

UNDERDEVELOPED ORGANIZATION

Difficult to collaborate inside thecorporate firewall

Difficult to collaborate outsidethe corporate firewall

People prefer to work solorather than on teams

New hires take too long tobecome productive

Analysis paralysis

Wait and see attitude equalsmissed opportunities

Culture clash, as if we are twoorganizations with differentpriorities

SUBOPTIMAL EXECUTION

Not everyone is on the samepage

Our people dont know ourhistory, values, and culture

We are set in our ways,reluctant to change

Not moving fast enough to stayahead of competitors

Functional silos thwart processimprovement

Still acting like two separateorganizations long after amerger

Hard to determine where we areas an organization

Teams dont talk about trendsand forces that drive ourbusiness

Dont reflect on the lessons ofour successes and failures

Dont take advantage of ourcollective intelligence

NOT LEARNING

We are falling behind

Not prepared for onslaught ofdigital natives

Training cant keep pace withthe business

Learning systems areoutgrowth of classroom

Training administration, creation,and delivery cost too much

Managers hoard information

How many of these describe yourorganization?

Jay Cross is a champion of informal learning, web 2.0, and systemsthinking. His calling is to change the world by helping peopleimprove their performance on the job and satisfaction in life, or sosays his website. Visit Jay at jaycross.com

SOLUTIONS FROM WITHIN AND OUTSIDE

Many companies have recognized some of theseproblems in their organizations and found solutions tothese age-old issues.

At Intel, a technology enthusiast thought it would be coolto have an in-house Wikipedia. He downloaded free wikisoftware and put it on the company intranet last year.Now Intelpedia has 5,000 pages of content, has rackedup 13.5 million page-views, and is the go-to spot forinformation once stashed in five corporate silos.

Using blogs and wikis, T. Rowe Price captured answers toquestions asked of 1,500 temporary workers during taxseason. This improved the quality of subsequent answersand shaved two minutes off the average customer phonecall, which resulted in a savings of more than $10 million.

Investment bank Kleinwort Dresdner eliminated half ofits internal email by replacing multiple messages about atopic with a single, shared copy.

Companies have found ways to use informal learningsolutions to solve these industrial-age problems. How willyou solve them?