What Do Humans Bring (3)?  Continuous Learning

Connie Malamed told me to keep going...so I am. So far this week, in pondering what humans bring to the workplace, I've talked about my ideas around social infrastructure (made up of networks, Communities of Practice, working out loud/showing your work, and culture), and the ways L&D can support the humans in those spaces.

As I see it, the larger picture of organizational learning can be fleshed out into what I think of as the "Continuous Learning" layer, where the activities and learning in the social infrastructure are supported by formal, more structured things: LMSs, LRSs, traditional formal instruction, and the like. (I can't decide where to put performance management systems, but I'm thinking here, maybe?). It's not another tier --this isn't a hierarchy-- but another piece that completes the idea of "continuous learning" that happens in the organization.

And social learning happens here as well, as people -- we hope -- engage in robust, 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 (I repeat: skillfully facilitated) learning experiences built on realistic scenarios, real-world practice, and applicable takeaways, in settings that allow them to make meaningful connections.

In short:
Continuous learning (formal layer) = designed, structured, intentional
Social infrastructure = emergent, relational, adaptive