INNOVATION AND CONTINUOUS LEARNING ARE INSEPARABLE
The enormous amount of change requires an almost equal speed in learning. Changes are in so many areas like new technologies, new government guidelines, global markets or social media/networking. Also it is crucial to not only check your competition and your customers, but also noncustomers (if you are interested in creating blue oceans…). Fortunately there is so much knowledge available on or via the internet.
However you need time as well as a willingness to learn! Most executives are so busy that they don't plan any 'learning time'. Firefighting keeps them away from working on the business. Somewhere there is an inner voice which says “you should learn ..” but that voice rarely wins. To silence that voice some buy books. I have been in many rooms of senior manager and they all have a bookcase in it. But most of these books are not read........ Maybe they might even think that they don’t need to learn, as they are already up to date. Well that might be true for your own company, but certainly not so in a larger perspective. For instance, there are many great books (John Kotter) and researches available about change management. But still are most change initiatives not producing the required results. Why? Because they don’t know about this knowledge and change in the old way, the way things get done here.
Therefore I do think it is crucial that executives see learning time just as important as any other business commitment And there should be a new, frequent modus of learning/teaching available (instead of the one-off executive education programs), where they can ongoing learn the latest findings and know-how from experts, academics and research. This should be planned for at least half a day each month. Also a proven method like a mastermind group could be very useful for corporate execs, not only for entrepreneurs and business owners.
Innovation by definition means doing something new, either in your business model, processes or services. To do the right new thing you need to learn. Applying what you have learned is the only way to be innovative. If you want to create new markets, than read the book about the Blue Ocean Strategy, learn and apply the methods provided. Only then your innovation can be successful.
To cope with today’s and tomorrows challenges senior managers should become enthusiastic about ongoing learning (and change limiting beliefs that learning is only what you do at school).
What are your ideas for creating a culture of learning??
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