We’re experiencing a deep transformation process. Experts sustain that COVID-19 has speeded the adoption of digital technologies by five years.
Without a doubt, this demands a huge learning effort in the short-term by individuals and organisations. Organisational learning is key for transformation, and the agility to learn becomes the spearhead of the ability to adapt to the new context.
However, the great majority of organisations still have learning systems designed for another type of environment, a more stable and traditional one, which makes it difficult for organisations to learn and capitalise on their acquired knowledge.
A learning system is an environment designed for people to have access to meaningful active learning, by interacting with their environment and its different elements.
The challenge, then, is to develop an agile and systemic organisational learning model.
Changing how we learn
So that we, as humanity, can be up to the task of the historical moment we’re living, it’s imperative that we create learning systems that are in agreement with the complexities of our present and future.
The traditional forms of imparting knowledge are trapped in an implied irony: the institution which might have the most power to change the future of the new generations is probably the one which is most stuck to mechanical ideas from the past. We’re not indifferent to this, and we know that the traditional ways of teaching need to be radically changed, but for some reason, we don’t take the leap.
Building learning systems means embracing the challenge of creating knowledge based on the future and not the past.
It means accelerating skills and abilities that will make sense for the jobs of the future, for building employability, and also for our lives. It implies not losing sight of the fact that we can be the protagonists of history and solve complex problems of our world by working together, as a community.
Systemic learning means putting our creativity to the service of the aches of humanity, as our organisations are a reflection of these aches. It means creating networks and ecosystems where learning takes place 24/7 and 360º. It means putting people in the centre of the learning process, with all their potential. It means that learning has to be individual and collective (person-team-organisation).
All of this is not a utopia. It’s a possibility.
