The Continuous Learning Dilemma
The Continuous Learning Dilemma - A Definition
The name sake of this blog is “The Continuous Learning Dilemma” so it’s time to explain what I mean by this but first a little background to set the scene.
Simpler Days Gone By
For those of us with a history, the tools, technologies and techniques that we use today are vastly different from those that we used in the past. Our ways of working (thankfully?) have changed significantly over time and there’s no way we would contemplate going back to how we once worked.
Permanent Change
Today, nothing is permanent in the IT industry except change. This change is largely driven by continuous innovation in both hardware and software technologies which drive new business opportunities and new ways of working. Changes in legislation also drive change too.
The Accelerating Rate Of Change
The domain in which you work will determine the rate at which things are changing in your workplace and for your customers. Most of us recognise that the rate of change is accelerating.
More Things Commanding Our Attention
Demands for our attention now come from more sources than ever along with the expectation that we’ll respond quicker than ever. The frequency of these demands is increasing too. We’re also told to share more than ever. (I’m personally not a fan of social media but it has it’s place and now I’m part of it.)
So (Too) Many Choices
It’s almost a curse on the IT industry that the choice of tools, technologies and techniques is so vast and ever growing, even to a point of overwhelm. Those crazy not-so-obvious or not-so-memorable names given to open source projects, products and services don’t help much either. (Wikipedia/Google here I come.)
Point Of View
It’s getting harder to find someone who’ll actually commit to saying “you should use x” rather than the usual “you could use x, y or z”. (Customers look to Capgemini to help make those hard choices based on our experience and to obtain a sound rationale from a trusted partner in tune with their business.)
Great Expectations (Demands)
Today’s expectations for a given solution are often far greater than they were in the past. In fact, these are no longer expectations but rather demands and taken for granted. Making something “future-proof” is also an expectation!
Multiple Learning Curves
Embracing any new tool, technology or technique can be a big departure from what we are used to and therefore can impose a significant learning curve. To add to the challenge we are often forced to embrace more than one change at a time.
Embracing change as part of a project can put productivity and quality at risk if insufficient training, coaching or time has been allocated. Project deadlines may also be put in jeopardy.
Continuous Learning - A Must
As a result of permanent change, the accelerating rate of change, more things commanding our attention, so (too) many choices, great expectations (demands) from our customers and growing learning curves there is now a demand on IT people to continuously learn and improve their skills. This means learning must become a part of our daily work commitment rather than an occasional planned activity.
The Personal Learning Dilemma
So here’s the personal learning dilemma that IT people face every day regarding continuous learning:
- What should I learn?
- How can I make time to learn?
- How can I learn quickly, efficiently and effectively?
- How can I stay up-to-date?
- How can I still do the day job?
- How can I have a life?
- Where do I start?!
The Corporate Learning Dilemma
The continuous learning dilemma isn’t limited to just stressing individuals - it’s also a dilemma at corporate level too:
- What do we need our people to learn?
- What do our people already know?
- Where are the gaps in our knowledge?
- How can we make time for people to learn?
- How do we get people to learn?
- How can we achieve just-in-time learning?
- How can we provide career paths for a growing array of industry recognised roles?
- How do we reduce learning curves?
- How do we get people to share knowledge?
- How can we clone our best people?
- How can we measure our progress?
- What about the growing digital skills gap?
- Can an old dog even learn new tricks?
- Where do we start?!
Rising To The Challenge
Sorry if what you just read gave you a headache but others have the same problems too. Future posts will share some of the learning we’ve gained (and experiments we’ve tried along the way) to climb this mountain. At Capgemini, we like a challenge!
Thank you for liking this page.
Tim Simpson
5th April, 2019
#LifeAtCapgemini