{"id":40578,"date":"2022-11-24T21:31:25","date_gmt":"2022-11-24T21:31:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.totara.fortyapp.com\/articles\/disruption-debate-with-cammy-bean-shifting-the-titanic\/"},"modified":"2024-08-02T20:49:52","modified_gmt":"2024-08-02T20:49:52","slug":"disruption-debate-with-cammy-bean-shifting-the-titanic","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/staging.totara.fortyapp.com\/us\/articles\/disruption-debate-with-cammy-bean-shifting-the-titanic\/","title":{"rendered":"Disruption Debate with Cammy Bean: Shifting the Titanic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Welcome to the fourth instalment of our new Disruption Debate series, where we speak to leading industry experts to discover more about disruption in the L&D industry. In this post, Lars Hyland speaks to Cammy Bean.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Cammy\u00a0is a long-time e-learning veteran and currently a solutions consultant with\u00a0Kineo<\/a>, a global provider of technology-based learning solutions and one of the founders of Totara<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A frequent conference speaker and active blogger, she is also\u00a0the author of\u00a0The Accidental Instructional Designer: Learning Design for the Digital Age<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Real life vs work<\/h3>\n

\u201cThere is a fundamental disconnect,\u201d said Cammy, \u201cbetween the technologies we use in our real lives and many of the technologies we use at work. This gap is particularly bad, with regard to learning technologies. Old school e-learning courses and learning management systems give e-learning a bad name because they don\u2019t meet people\u2019s needs.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is a complaint L&D professionals hear time and time again – that the way we use technologies for workplace learning doesn\u2019t align with the way we use them in our \u2018real lives\u2019.<\/p>\n

We may use the exact same laptop or tablet for work that we use at home, but we use different tools and access information in different ways. L&D technologies haven\u2019t really kept up. Cammy believes that this is a symptom of widespread inertia in the L&D community.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt Kineo, we\u2019re trying to look beyond what L&D is doing today. But we recognise that it\u2019s hard – with regulatory compliance requirements to tick off boxes and millions of dollars spent on licenses for big systems, organisations don\u2019t want to shift the Titanic.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s almost an insurmountable problem, so L&D keeps doing more of the same. But we need to take a broader viewpoint – there are lots of different platforms and tools out there.<\/p>\n

“Platforms like Totara Lear<\/a> are super flexible and allow us to experiment with other approaches, like gamification and virtual roleplay tools.<\/p>\n

“As a learning partner, we need to decide if we\u2019re going to pull everything into the LMS and build those features in a \u2018one-platform-to-rule-them-all\u2019 approach or become tool aggregators, cherry-picking the best of everything out there in a more agile plug-and-play approach.\u201d<\/p>\n

24\/7 change management mode<\/h3>\n

The world is changing at a faster rate than ever before, and this is particularly relevant to businesses.<\/p>\n

The average lifespan of the world\u2019s top 250 companies is now around 15 years, as opposed to around 70-year lifespans just 20 years ago. And with this huge shift in organisational lifecycles comes all the accompanying product life cycles, which are also shorter than ever before.<\/p>\n

Businesses worldwide need the ability to respond to change rapidly, in particular to changes in technology. As Cammy says, change management mode is the new norm:<\/p>\n

\u201cYou always have to be in change management mode, and that\u2019s hard for people to accept. We have to look at all technology solutions as temporary. The shelf-life of technologies is so short that if you\u2019re thinking long term, you need to know that pieces of your solution will be changing. For many people, this is a disruptive, unsettling, even paralysing mindset.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cammy believes that many organisations are struggling to get a grip on the myriad of new learning technologies which have become available in recent years. For instance, some organisations are opting for technologies created not by learning experts, but by software experts with no real understanding of how the tools will be used for learning.<\/p>\n

\u201cCompanies are letting technologies lead the way, not performance outcomes. This needs to be our starting point. We shouldn\u2019t just be adopting the technologies vendors are pushing without thinking about how these technologies will help people do their jobs better.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also a myth that millennials (those born between the early 80s and late 90s) have different learning requirements than previous generations. But this isn\u2019t really the case.<\/p>\n

\u201cMillennials don\u2019t learn differently,\u201d said Cammy, \u201cbut they do access technology in different ways, giving them different expectations about how it should be used for learning.\u201d<\/p>\n

But this mindset is true of not just millennials, but many tech users across all ages. We need to be agile in our approach to current and future generations and their expectations of workplace learning – how can we best prepare for when Generation Z (born post-millennium) hit the workforce in the coming years?<\/em><\/p>\n

Embedding social learning<\/h3>\n

In these rapidly changing times, one of L&D\u2019s key roles in learning is to facilitate deliberate practice to ensure new skills and behaviours remain front of mind.<\/p>\n

\u201cKineo\u2019s award-winning solution for US Beef focused on giving learners opportunities for deliberate practice. We can use technology in smart ways to scaffold that experience, building in accountability and structure, and the opportunity to reflect on one\u2019s learning experiences in meaningful ways.\u201d<\/p>\n

Social learning, which was a darling buzzword of a few years ago, has become more accepted and mainstream.<\/p>\n

However, \u201cSocial learning isn\u2019t always seen as the purview of L&D,\u201d said Cammy, \u201cand we\u2019re not always talking to the right people in organisations to get it on the agenda. Often, it\u2019s a bigger conversation that needs to happen including more than just the L&D department.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cammy sees that Totara’s\u00a0features and social learning tools allow learners to pull their managers into conversations much sooner, keeping them in the loop and alerting them to any obstacles or challenges in the learning process.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can use technology in smart ways to create these types of structured learning experiences that build in that social element with real-world, deliberate practice – it\u2019s a disruptive approach in e-learning because it\u2019s not just 30 minutes of self-paced content. It\u2019s about creating smarter blends that use technology in meaningful ways to support the learning process. that\u2019s becoming increasingly popular.\u201d<\/p>\n

Making learning technologies work in your organisatio<\/h3>\n

A vital part of ensuring L&D professionals remain productive is to keep priorities front of mind at all times.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlways come back to your business goals,\u201d said Cammy, \u201cand don\u2019t just chase the shiny new technology. Keep an eye on your mission, and make sure what you\u2019re doing will help you achieve that. Are you designing a meaningful learning experience? Do you understand how your programme is helping you drive your bottom line?\u201d<\/p>\n

Another thing to consider is how reliant our learners are on technology. As we\u2019ve seen, the rate of change can be paralysing for many people, so we turn to technology to help us with the increasing complexity of decision making.<\/p>\n

Cammy shared a story about a colleague who, when faced with the vast array of toothbrushes available at the supermarket, had to look up toothbrush reviews right on the spot before he could make a decision.<\/p>\n

For better or for worse, we\u2019ve gotten so used to our ratings and reviews that we can no longer make simple decisions without them!<\/p>\n

We\u2019re all susceptible to information overload, so the job of L&D is to cut through all the noise, take away unnecessary decisions and provide only the necessary information at the most convenient time.<\/p>\n

Cammy\u2019s final tip is for L&D teams to take inspiration from other industries.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany organisations are growing at a very rapid pace, and facing challenges such as fast onboarding and high staff turnover. How can they meet the needs of their audience? They might want to ask themselves what other industries are doing. For instance, a bank could look at what fast-food restaurants are doing – they face similar challenges in different spaces. What are they doing to train their people? This can help you think outside the box and come up with more creative solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finally, L&D must always remember that the technology itself won\u2019t be around forever, but the learning principles are often timeless.<\/p>\n

\u201cTechnology is temporary, but organisations move really slowly when it comes to L&D. By the time they\u2019ve decided on which technology to use, there are five new iterations available. Start small – pilot things with single divisions, not the entire company. You won\u2019t necessarily find a one-size-fits-all approach.<\/p>\n

“In the real world, not everyone uses Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter and Instagram, but at work we expect everyone to use one solution – instead, think about ways to get information out to people in many ways to suit everyone.<\/p>\n

“This is how L&D professionals will be able to keep up in an ever-changing business world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Enjoyed this piece? You can follow Cammy Bean on Twitter<\/a>. Her book, The Accidental Instructional Designer<\/a>, is available to purchase.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

We\u2019ll be posting more from our new Disruption Debate series soon – follow us on Twitter (@totaralearning<\/a>) for all our latest posts.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>","protected":false},"template":"","tax\/tags":[],"tax\/solutions":[],"tax\/topics":[],"tax\/industries":[],"tax\/article-types":[1021],"class_list":["post-40578","article","type-article","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.totara.fortyapp.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles\/40578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.totara.fortyapp.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.totara.fortyapp.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.totara.fortyapp.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.totara.fortyapp.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax\/tags?post=40578"},{"taxonomy":"solution","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.totara.fortyapp.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax\/solutions?post=40578"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.totara.fortyapp.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax\/topics?post=40578"},{"taxonomy":"industry-tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.totara.fortyapp.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax\/industries?post=40578"},{"taxonomy":"article-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.totara.fortyapp.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax\/article-types?post=40578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}