In 1995 I published a whitepaper entitled, “Learning: The Critical Technology.” In it, I made a simple claim: Organizations only learn through individuals who learn. Individuals must learn for organizations to progress.
At the time, online learning (not even called “eLearning” back then) was taking off and all eyes were on the technology without much thought of the people who were actually capable of making change. That paper, widely distributed and talked about in corporations as well as classrooms, gave me a new perspective into the power of writing simple truths from fresh angles, in terms everyone can understand and rally around to take action.
That paper began my second career as a business writer and researcher, focused on learning (a lifelong passion for me), creativity (something I was seeing too little of given the often cumbersome demands of navigating organizational politics), and productivity (the “bottom line” litmus test my dad had focused on since I was a kid).
Trouble is, much of my writing has been published in far flung locales, some online, some not, without a central hub to capture the work and engage the larger conversation around these topics. That’s about to change. This blog is meant to be both a holding tank and starting block for those conversations–and a place you can see how my story unfolds.
Here you’ll find a mix of new ideas and old writing that articulate (hopefully) timeless themes. Most pieces will be authored by me alone, yet some will be guests posts and pieces written with people I have learned from and who you should know too. At first I’ll drop in new content every day or so, and over time I’ll figure out the right pace. This is not meant to be a breaking news site, although sometimes there will be hot topics. Rather it’s a corner of the online world you can come to for thoughtful looks at people-focused matters.
Learnativity will also highlight the areas I will be focusing on at Altimeter Group, where I’ll focus my time on the spokes that make enterprise collaboration turn.
I encourage you to subscribe to the RSS feed and tell me how you’re approaching these topics in your work so together we can all move forward fast.
