Learn Like The Wind

Here in Boulder when the wind gusts, it's usually at about 90mph. No kidding.

A couple of weeks ago, I was sitting in my living room reading when suddenly the house shook and there was the sound of deck of cards shuffled. Looking out the window, shingles everywhere. Damn. I went outside to survey the damage. Now what? I'd never fixed a roof before.

First, check tomorrow's weather report...snow. Ouch! Can't wait to make this repair.

Second, Google "roof repair asphalt shingles". I found several good sites on home repairs and crosschecked their advice. Then, I made a list of supplies to buy at the local hardware store. Roofing tar and nails. I even watched a nice little video on how to do the repair.

Last, repair the roof and celebrate my success.

This incident captured for me the future of training...MOTIVATED SELF-LEARNING. People are going to pull what they need exactly when they need and how they like it, their learning style.

Organizations need to provide resources that employees can pull from instantaneously. Could be the company's website or internal university. But, also YouTube, Lynda.com or any number of sites that provide instructional videos. Many are free or very reasonably priced. The cloud of knowledge is getting bigger and bigger, so that's not the issue.

The big issue is that people need a 'clear learning signal' and instant access to the resources above. If people know they need to learn, they'll start learning.