‘We learn each day.’

I hear such a sentiment frequently, and confess the need to fight my desire to squirm whenever it is said to me.  Often the people saying this to me will contradict this statement through performance and actions which instead indicate that they stopped learning and developing a long time ago.  For me, if the mind of an individual is closed; distracted; or just not aware; then even the best learning and training experiences can be wasted.  When this happens, the best case scenario is the individual will stay static with their learning.  And in the world of learning, if you are static, you might as well be in reverse gear.

So why me as another blogger? And why focus on the field of Learning?

Well I am fortunate enough to have found and established a career in the hospitality field that I am passionate about.  This career has taken me across the world, and provided me with opportunities to study formally and informally the field of Learning.  Through these opportunities my interest in Learning, especially in professional workplaces, has been sparked,  and equipped me with the skills and knowledge to be able to comment on the topic with some level of awareness.

Encouraging learning; observing learning; observing resistance to learning – even the failure to learn; it all intrigues me.  What creates effective and suitable challenging learning environments and relationships, and what works against learning from actually taking place?

What about Learning/Training professionals?  What are their responsibilities to themselves, their own development, and of course their audience?

From a corporate level, what separates the small number of companies that embrace a culture of Learning, from the standard variety that outwardly preach the importance of Learning, but in reality place it far down the list of priorities, and fail to genuinely understand the concept of Learning?

And what of the individual learner themselves?  What are their responsibilities; their habits; and what makes their differences such a tremendous challenge (and opportunity) for Learning professionals to overcome?

So I am looking forward to expressing my thoughts on these many questions, and more, and hopefully contributing to public thought on what to me, is a fascinating, and globally relevant topic.