By Jennifer Stangl
With so many opportunities to learn at our disposal, how do we get the most out of all the learning that we do? One way is to identify how you are letting your formal learning experiences feed your informal ones.
In a recent newsletter, Daniel Pink shared how he categorizes the TV shows he watches as “intentional,” “interstitial” or “invisible.” Pink’s intentional shows are the ones he means to watch and watches carefully. His “interstitial” shows are those he uses to fill available time, watching them in increments. His “invisible” shows are the ones he consumes going through his daily life without even realizing it.
Three Categories
If we take this from a talent development perspective, does all learning also fall into one of these three categories?
-
Intentional learning: that which we complete with focus and purpose. This might include
classroom training or an online course or conference aligned to a development goal or objective. - Interstitial learning: that which we complete in short increments, while we’re waiting. This could be articles or books read in a waiting room, podcasts listened to while driving, or reflecting on an experience.
- Invisible learning: that which occurs from all sources, tangled into our everyday life. These include hallway conversations, brainstorming sessions or experiences that move you outside your comfort zone, such as networking events, leading a project or presenting an idea to a new audience.
If you think back over the last month, I bet you have experienced learning that falls into two if not all three of these categories. If I asked you to share what you learned, what would you list? Would it be a training you attended or an article you read? Would you think to mention the conversation you had with a co-worker as you discussed a recent meeting? Would you think about the connections among these three types of learning?
Intentional learning is very purposeful – we register to go somewhere or attend something. We come out with our list of notes, ideas and action plans. But here is where the rubber meets the road: When we return to our desks, we tend to overlook the interstitial or invisible learning that is key to helping us apply and get the best value from that intentional learning. Let’s make this clear with an example.
Why To Sign Up
Let’s say you attend CUES School of Consumer Lending(intentional). As you travel back to the office, reflecting on what you’ve learned, you think about a better way to manage a loan (interstitial). Upon returning to your office, you see Sam in the hallway and share your new idea. Sam builds on your idea and, as you part ways, you are left with a new process that will help you both gain efficiencies and provide better member service (invisible). Without the intentional learning, this invisible learning wouldn’t have taken place; your idea wouldn’t have grown; and the full possible benefit to you and your credit union may not have been realized.
So, to have purposeful talent development, send your staff or sign yourself up for an upcoming conference. When you do this, leverage the intentional learning time by engaging in discussion with others and identifying future interstitial learning opportunities by making a list of articles, books or podcasts that other attendees recommend. When you return, don’t ignore the invisible learning opportunities. Be sure to share your thoughts and new ideas with others to build on your thinking and fully leverage the learning experience.
Jennifer Stangl, is CUES’ director of professional development and author of the “Purposeful Talent Development” column that runs monthly on the CUES Skybox blog. http://www.cues.org/skybox