Charles Jennings: Exploiting learning in the workplace - DeakinPrime helps change the world of a person, an organisation and its customers by delivering not just a service, but a culture of learning that encourages people to develop and improve
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Charles Jennings discusses how 70:20:10 and a focus on workplace learning can best support people to perform and develop in times of increasing change and complexity.
The piece on leadership development (min 48.13) is interesting as is the section on Adding Learning to Work, Embedding Learning within Workflows and Extracting Learning from Work (min 50.30) - Adding, Embedding, Extracting & Sharing provide great insights into what 70:20 solutions look like and the scope of the opportunity to make workplace learning intentional.
The section on Embedding is especially interesting, as it focuses on the role of Performance Support - solutions that help workers to learn in the moment of apply (i.e. access just-in-time HELP when performing a task or responding to a challenge). Performance Support solutions include checklists, aide memoirs, help guides, help desks, online help, Yammer, SMEs, amongst many, many others and have huge potential to impact performance.
This article has more information on the power of performance support tools and resources and some fantastic examples. It is a long read, but well and truly worth it. It talks a lot about how checklists/aide memoirs support people to work through complexity:
This article includes research demonstrating that a focus on performance support can reduce formal training time by up to 50%, whilst increasing speed to competence and quality outcomes (see the second link). The message is simple. We don't have to try and give people all the answers they need a solid foundation and to know where to go to find help and explore further (i.e. find the answers if/when they need it):
The 5 Moments of Need focuses on peoples needs as they work, in a Performance First approach. Learn how to design 5 Moments of Need solutions here.
Andrew Gerkens's insight:
Performance Support is a key element of the '70' in 70:20:10. The '5 moments of need' model has had a huge impact on my work over the years, helping me develop a performance mindset and to create holistic/practical performance, rather than training solutions.
Bob and Conrad's book, 'Innovative Performance Support', has been a valuable resource over the last ten years. Follow the link to explore the academy and to download a free 100+ page eBook, that explores the 5moments and workflow learning.
Performance Support is learning in the moment of apply. People don't tend to think of it as learning though, as they are simply looking for help to perform a task. The 5 moments of need respond to the very real challenges people face in these situations:
1. Apply - When you need to apply or remember something you previously learned
2. Solve - When something goes wrong, and you need to solve a problem
3. Change - When something changes, and you need to unlearn and relearn
4. New - New knowledge/skills, when you learn something for the first time
5. More - When you want to broaden or specialize and need to learn more
Instructions and variations on the classic team retrospective. Popular with agile developers, but not just for software teams anymore.
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Agile software teams made retrospective meetings popular, but they're great for all teams. Retrospectives are an interactive way to reflect/debrief after an experience or piece or work, as a way to capture insights that will improve future work. This retrospective toolkit is used by Australian company, #Atlassian.
Alternative terms to retrospective include Debrief, Post Implementation Review (PIR) or After Action Review (AAR). They are all examples of using reflective practice (a key element of the 70 in 70:20:10) to improve performance.
The 70-20-10 Framework has been all the rage for the last five or ten years in the workplace learning field. Indeed, I organized a great debate about 70-20-10 through The Debunker Club (you can see…
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Will Thalheimer reviews a (limited) study of the experiences of a group of mid-senior managers from across a number of Australian public sector organisations that have implemented 70:20:10.
Many of the findings relate to implementation and a number of misconceptions, namely the limited definition/scope of experiential and social learning, workplace learning being left to chance rather than actively enabled/supported and the role of line leaders being ill defined.
How might we make workplace learning intentional, rather than ad hoc and left to chance...
An interesting interview about the inspirations that have helped Charles Jennings in his quest to help people get better at their jobs, along with tips for HR in supporting a culture of continuous learning
“A good starting point for embedding reflection into daily workflow is to approach the practice at two levels; individual reflection, and then reflection with colleagues and team members. Reflective practice itself doesn’t ‘just happen’. It is a learned process. It requires some degree of
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A great summary of Charles Jennings' work and the key ways professionals get better at what they do every single day. The four activities are the essence of the 70 & 20 (workplace learning) elements of the 70:20:10. I prefer to talk about these activities from the perspective of performance improvement, rather than learning, to give it a harder edge. I also add sharing to the creative conversations element, to reinforce the importance of working out loud.
Cindy McCauley of CCL shares some of the data that sits behind the 70:20:10 and the research done by CCL and the key questions that drove the results:
When you think about your career as a manager, certain events or episodes probably stand out in your mind—things that led to a lasting change in you as a manager. Identify at least three “key events” in your career: things that made a difference in the way you manage now. What happened? What did you learn from it (for better or worse)?
In 70:20:10 for trainers I advocated the use of the 70:20:10 model by L&D professionals as a lens through which to view their instructional design. The excellent comments on my post, and insightful blog posts by others – notably Mark Britz, Clark Quinn and Arun Pradhan – have prompted me to think deeper about my…
Fantastic article by Mark Britz exploring some of the considerations/challenges/opportunities for 70:20:10. Make sure you read the comments. I particularly like this comment by Clark Quinn, 'The point is not to build the 70:20:10 brand, but instead to get folks to think outside the ‘courses’ model. 70:20:10 has proven to be useful for that purpose. If you have other ways, fine, but we need *something*'.
I agree that 70:20:10 needs to be owned by the organisation, rather than be seen as an L&D initiative. I also believe strongly that 70:20:10 needs to be discussed using the stakeholder's language of work and working and not learners and learning. 70:20:10 is about how we build capability, how we build and share knowledge and how we support people to develop and perform. If we focus on capability and performance as outcomes and position 70:20:10 as a holistic means for getting there, we're in a much better position to get people on board and work together to bring the framework to life.
With this in mind, maybe a simple exercise is to ask your executives to describe how we build and sustain capability, how we build and share knowledge, how we develop and engage talent…..
Maybe then the simplicity of 70:20:10 and its ability to connect a range of strategic challenges will become not only clear, but a burning organisational platform.
Charles Jennings: Exploiting learning in the workplace - DeakinPrime helps change the world of a person, an organisation and its customers by delivering not just a service, but a culture of learning that encourages people to develop and improve
Andrew Gerkens's insight:
Charles Jennings discusses how 70:20:10 and a focus on workplace learning can best support people to perform and develop in times of increasing change and complexity.
The piece on leadership development (min 48.13) is interesting as is the section on Adding Learning to Work, Embedding Learning within Workflows and Extracting Learning from Work (min 50.30) - Adding, Embedding, Extracting & Sharing provide great insights into what 70:20 solutions look like and the scope of the opportunity to make workplace learning intentional.
The section on Embedding is especially interesting, as it focuses on the role of Performance Support - solutions that help workers to learn in the moment of apply (i.e. access just-in-time HELP when performing a task or responding to a challenge). Performance Support solutions include checklists, aide memoirs, help guides, help desks, online help, Yammer, SMEs, amongst many, many others and have huge potential to impact performance.
This article has more information on the power of performance support tools and resources and some fantastic examples. It is a long read, but well and truly worth it. It talks a lot about how checklists/aide memoirs support people to work through complexity:
This article includes research demonstrating that a focus on performance support can reduce formal training time by up to 50%, whilst increasing speed to competence and quality outcomes (see the second link). The message is simple. We don't have to try and give people all the answers they need a solid foundation and to know where to go to find help and explore further (i.e. find the answers if/when they need it):
In the previous blog, “Same Ingredients, Different Recipe: Innovating on Performance Goals, Feedback, and Ratings,” we discussed practical ways to evolve goal setting, feedback, and performance ratings for the new work environment. Now, let’s break down the critical factors needed to drive real and lasting behavior change in the organization.
Andrew Gerkens's insight:
70% of what employees learn comes from experience, yet 73% of the L&D investment is targeted at formal training.
Explores experiential approaches and the role of line leaders and the broader network/PLN. It also discusses the importance of reflection and feedback.
A link to the previous blog, exploring performance goals, feedback and ratings:
In this 30 minute recorded case study, provided as part of the 2020 HR Tech Fest Conference, I share how a performance support philosophy was used to implement the Mind Tools resource in my previous role/organisation.
You can also read a brief written summary of the case study here.
The role of the resource in supporting business performance AND the language used to position Mind Tools have been critical. Instead of learners and learning, the focus was on workers and working. We referred to Mind Tools as a 'toolkit' to reinforce the idea of helping people perform their role/tasks, respond to challenges they face and continuously develop.
The initial focus was to integrate selected Mind Tools content within the company intranet and in support of key business processes. This performance support approach was about helping people refresh, prepare, perform and respond in the context of their work and at the point of need. The approach was also aligned to key business priorities and processes,, so the purpose of the resource and the value it was creating were clearly defined. I think this has much greater impact than trying to sell a huge library of 'self-directed learning', which sounds nice, but is vague and leads to questions about activity/usage...
I hope you find the case study useful. You might use it to trigger a discussion with your HR/L&D team. For example:
What language do we use and does it help or hinder? Are we creating learning or performance solutions? What is the difference? What mindsets, capabilities and guiding principles might we develop to maximise our impact (i.e. performance consulting)?
Are we creating and maintaining content or curating it? How much time do we spend working on content for general capabilities versus business specific/critical capabilities? How might a resource like Mind Tools help to shift this balance? How could we engage L&D, HRBPs and other specialists (i.e. Change Managers, Project Managers) to utilise MindTools resources as part of their role in enabling and developing others?
The idea that Social Learning is somehow separate from other types of learning is a misnomer. For me, it represents simply the ownership of, and engagement, with the learning story. ‘Formal Learning’ is a story written by the organisation, and distributed to people: it’s ideal where you need consistency, conformity, where you are trying to…
Andrew Gerkens's insight:
'‘Formal Learning’ is a story written by the organisation, and distributed to people: it’s ideal where you need consistency, conformity, where you are trying to build a codified strength, but it lack the context of practice, of local understanding, and often has no space for individual interpretation'.
There are two sides of the innovation coin in corporate learning & development: technology and pedagogy. The former is rather obvious and is often conflated with the term innovation. Futuristic hardware and magical software that educates everyone at the press of a button are tempting "solutions". Some folks call this mindset Shiny New Toy Syndrome,…
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Ryan Tracey uses 70:20:10 as a simple, but strategic tool for considering innovation in L&D. He highlights the role of the ESN (which can connect, bridge and enable the 70 & 10 elements), as well as moving away from the need to create (generic) content.
In addition to the performance focus he speaks of, integrating the generic content frees L&D up to play a more active role in supporting the organisation to connect, share, solve and create at speed (work out loud) - the more value added work that equips the organisation to respond to complex problems and build capacity for collaborative growth.
On November 2nd, 2017, the Debunker Club sponsored a one-hour Twitter debate using the hashtag #DebunkDebate. We have a wonderful, cacophonous dialog in typical Twitter-chat fashion. The file below contains all the tweets from the debate. Download Great 70-20-10 Debate Tweet Stream Also, Cara North posted a prettier version here.
Andrew Gerkens's insight:
From this site you can access two summaries of the great 70:20:10 debate, which is a great way to explore the opportunities and considerations for leveraging 70:20:10
One barrier that often presents itself when moving an organization towards a 702010 framework is that the natural interplay between all is overlooked, weakening the whole proposition. Informal, Soc…
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Experiential, social and formal learning are mutually supportive and interconnected. In this brief blog, Mark Britz highlights the interconnections, which are where the real opportunities lie (the sum is greater than the parts).
Learning & Performance Guru Charles Jennings offers practical advice about how we can build continuous learning, via Experience, Exposure and Educatio
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This video for Citi by Charles Jennings shows how 70:20:10 (badged for Citi as 3E - Experience, Exposure and Education) can be used as a way to embrace complexity and respond to an environment of increased speed and rate of change. It explains the process clearly and simply. I also like the way it emphasises the value of networks (connections and relationships) as tools for sensemaking, sharing, solving and creating together.
The 70-20-10 model has been part of the corporate learning and development lexicon for decades. Some people find implementing 70-20-10 brings transformational change to their corporate learning cultures. Others are not quite sure what to make of it or how to leverage the model. A last group discounts it claiming 70-20-10 has no research to back it up and that it provides little value because the numbers are not accurate.
Recently I had a conversation with Bob Eichinger, one of the original thought leaders who created the 70-20-10 model, about its origin, research, and purpose. I found what Bob said to be so compelling that I asked him to write it up. Bob agreed. Here is what he shared:
To Whom It Apparently Concerns,
Yes Virginia, there is research behind 70-20-10!
I am Robert W. Eichinger, PhD. I’m one of the creators, along with the research staff of the Center for Creative Leadership, of the 70-20-10 meme [the dictionary defines a meme as an “idea, behavior, or style that spreads from person to person”]. Note: see The Leadership Machine, Michael M. Lombardo and Robert W. Eichinger, Lominger International, Inc., Third Edition 2007, Chapter 21, Assignmentology: The Art of Assignment Management, pages 314-361.
At the time in the late 1980s, Michael Lombardo and I were teaching a course at the Center called Tools for Developing Effective Executives. The course was basically a summary of the findings of The Lessons of Experience study done over a 13-year period at the Center and published in 1988. My job was to convert the study’s findings into practical practices. Mike represented the CCL research staff and I was a practitioner at PepsiCo, and then at Pillsbury.
We were working on a section of the course on planning for the development of future leaders. One of the study’s objectives was to find out where today’s leaders learned the skills and competencies they were good at when they got into leadership positions.
The study interviewed 191 currently successful executives from multiple organizations. As part of an extensive interview protocol, researchers asked these executives about where they thought they learned things from that led to their success – The Lessons of Success. The interviewers collected 616 key learning events which the research staff coded into 16 categories.
The 16 categories were too complex to use in the course so we in turn re-coded the 16 categories into five to make them easier to communicate.
The five categories were learning from challenging assignments, other people, coursework, adverse situations and personal experiences (outside work). Since we were teaching a course about how to develop effective executives, we could not use the adverse situations (can’t plan for or arrange them for people) and personal experiences outside of work (again, can’t plan for them). Those two categories made up 25% of the original 16 categories. That left us with 75% of the Lessons of Success for the other three categories.
So the final easy-to-communicate meme was: 70% Learning from Challenging Assignments; 20% Learning from Others; and 10% Learning from Coursework. And thus we created the 70-20-10 meme widely quoted still today.
The basic findings of the Lessons of Success study have been duplicated at least nine times that I know of. These include samples in China, India and Singapore and for female leaders, since the original samples of executives in the early 80s were mostly male. The findings are all roughly in line with 70-20-10. They are 70-22-8, 56-38-6 (women), 48-47-5 (middle level), 73-16-11 (global sample), 60-33-7, 69-27-4 (India), 65-33-2 (Singapore) and 68-25-7 (China). A number of companies including 3M have also replicated the study and found roughly the same results.
So some have said that 70-20-10 doesn’t come from any research. It does. Some have said the 70-20-10 is just common sense. It is now. Experience has always been the best teacher. Still is.
I might add that there is a lot of variance between organizations and levels and types of people. These studies were mostly about how to develop people for senior leadership positions in large global companies. The meme for other levels of leadership and different kinds of companies might be different. There might also be other memes for different functional areas.
Sincerely, Bob
From My Perspective
From my perspective, Bob and Mike’s genius was to take the 16 sources of learning present in the 616 key learning events, as recounted by the participants in the Lessons of Success study, drop out the 25% of learning that comes from hardship and beyond work, and turn the remainder into a meme of three sources of learning now known around the world as 70-20-10. As a meme or reference model, it both validates the importance of Formal Courses – the “10” as well as opening up the opportunity of intentionally activating Learning from Challenging Assignments – the “70” and Learning from Others – the “20.”
Implications
1. Bob and Mike’s 70-20-10 meme made visible that learning takes place both in formal settings (the 10) as well as in experience (the 70) and through relationships (the 20). As a model, its value is not in trying to determine with precision the exact numbers to the left or right of a decimal point, but instead to use it to open our eyes to learning that is happening all the time on-the-job, but is largely invisible.
2. When 70-20 learning becomes visible and intentional, the implication is that Learning & Development has the opportunity to harness its potential. The challenge is how can L&D activate and support informal and social learning in an intentional, high impact way that builds a vibrant learning culture? And this learning culture leads to higher performance as employees embrace continuous development on the job. The 70-20 learning of today’s workforce is largely self-directed. Just look at the web searches you have done in the last week. The opportunity for L&D is to add value by making available the resources, people, expertise and digital tools to support and accelerate the 70-20 learning that happens every day and everywhere.
3. It turns out that there is now significant research that supports the reality and value of learning beyond the formal “10.” For example, David Kolb in his Second Edition of Experiential Learning cites nearly 4,000 bibliographic research and application references. The question is how can L&D best take advantage of the great research that has already been done and put it into practice? How can today’s L&D groups be effective at delivering formal learning with support so that it is well applied on the job? What approaches can we take to enable self-directed 70-20 learning that improves capabilities and performance throughout an organization?
This is a very exciting time in our industry and we’re delighted to be part of the conversation and the exploration of new strategies to drive competitive advantage and improved performance through 70-20 learning.
Andrew Gerkens's insight:
Bob Eichinger speaks about the original work that led to the 70:20:10 meme. I love how matter of factly he responds to questions people raise around the lack of research etc.
Laura Overton presented these slides at a workshop facilitated by the Corporate Learning Consortium on 21 April 2016. Towards Maturity have been able to explor…
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A fantastic slideshare capturing evidence from practical application of 70:20:10 within organisations and busting some of the myths around the framework
70:20:10 Forum congratulates Sharon English from the Victorian Building Authority, Australia, as the first practitioner to complete 70:20:10 Practitioner Certification. She shares her experience of the program here.
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Some really interesting insights from Sharon English about how she has implemented 70:20:10 and used 70:20:10 certification as a scaffold to support her to work out loud and achieve her workplace objectives
We learn every day. If we take every opportunity to learn and develop ourselves, we improve not just our own performance, but that of our team and Citi as a ...
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Citibank video explaining their approach to 70:20:10 using the 3E.
I like the video, but I've found myself consciously talking less about learning (and learners) and more about working. Learning often sounds like something extra and something the L&D function is pushing. We need to make the hard connections and link more clearly to performance and the workplace.
I was imagining how this (type of) video would come across if the term learning was not mentioned at all and instead, was replaced with statements like:
'How do we help you perform and develop?'
'How do we support you to get better at what you do every day?'
'How do we enable you to solve problems and respond to challenges you face in your role?'
'How do we build and share knowledge at the speed of business?'
'How do we empower people to perform and develop and respond to the increasing impact of change and complexity?'
It is only a slightly different pitch, but for me, it reinforces the idea that learning is working and not something separate or 'nice' - it also speaks to the needs of the individual worker and more directly to performance outcomes and impact.
People are often seeking the source of the 70:20:10 'numbers', so this blog and link to CCL references is perfect.
The most important part of the post for me are the last few sentences:
70:20:10 -if nothing else- reminds us of the holistic way we learn and helps us (re)focus on the different elements of the package, as the sole focus for too long had been on courses. Just that is a tremendeous way forward. Don't make more of 70:20:10 than it is though. (Hint: it is not a law or a general recipe.) Think about balance rather than proportions.
Here’s a quick recap for those just tuning in...70:20:10 has shone a spotlight on the limits of formal learning. In contrast, social and experiential learning continue to be veritable goldmines of productivity, placing learners at the centre of their story and demanding a major shift from Learning & Development professionals.Skip ahead and we find ourselves faced with an amazing opportunity. We can shed our obsession with isolated formal learning and embrace the real question: how can we best support organisations and individuals to develop a culture of
Andrew Gerkens's insight:
The learning (or perhaps more appropriately, performance) ecosystem - what are all the things that help you do your job, support you to solve problems and challenge you to get better at what you do every single day? Is your ecosystem left to chance or by design?
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Charles Jennings discusses how 70:20:10 and a focus on workplace learning can best support people to perform and develop in times of increasing change and complexity.
The piece on leadership development (min 48.13) is interesting as is the section on Adding Learning to Work, Embedding Learning within Workflows and Extracting Learning from Work (min 50.30) - Adding, Embedding, Extracting & Sharing provide great insights into what 70:20 solutions look like and the scope of the opportunity to make workplace learning intentional.
The section on Embedding is especially interesting, as it focuses on the role of Performance Support - solutions that help workers to learn in the moment of apply (i.e. access just-in-time HELP when performing a task or responding to a challenge). Performance Support solutions include checklists, aide memoirs, help guides, help desks, online help, Yammer, SMEs, amongst many, many others and have huge potential to impact performance.
This article has more information on the power of performance support tools and resources and some fantastic examples. It is a long read, but well and truly worth it. It talks a lot about how checklists/aide memoirs support people to work through complexity:
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/12/10/the-checklist
This article includes research demonstrating that a focus on performance support can reduce formal training time by up to 50%, whilst increasing speed to competence and quality outcomes (see the second link). The message is simple. We don't have to try and give people all the answers they need a solid foundation and to know where to go to find help and explore further (i.e. find the answers if/when they need it):
http://www.learningsolutionsmag.com/articles/1141/show-me-the-roi