"Speed of learning" as a competitive advantage

In today’s rapidly changing world, the speed at which your organisation learns can be a competitive advantage.

The world is changing, and the rate of change is speeding up.

In the past, when progress was slower and the rate of change was lower, an organisation could compete on its products, its patents, its reputation and on its people.

However the rate of change is increasing, and companies need to adapt. Markets are changing, customers are changing, expectations are changing, regulations are changing, the world is changing, and it is changing faster and faster. If companies are to adapt, they need to unlearn old habits and learn new ones. And in a competitive world, the fastest learner wins.

The analogy is with the aerial dogfights in the first world war.  There, the maneuverability of the aircraft was key. If you could maneuver faster than the opposition, you could get inside their turning circle, and shoot them down.

Today, the learning agility – the intellectual maneuverability – of a competitive organisation is key.

If you can get inside the opposition’s learning circle, you can shoot them down.

So how fast is your learning circle? How quickly does the organisation learn from experience?

• How long does it take for a new lesson from experience to become embedded into the way you work?

• How long does it take a question in a Community of Practice to be a) asked and b) answered?

• How long does it take a piece of new knowledge to show up in the company knowledge base, and how long does it take for this to be re-used and applied?

Do you even know? Do you have the metrics to measure your speed of learning, as an organisation?

Contact Knoco if you need help with tuning up your learning circle!