>I thought the idea of a learning contract wasn't such a bad idea -
>until I read John's extensive work on it. What began to overcome me
>was increasing boredom and wondering why I was losing interest in
>what was a well formulated approach. Then it hit me.
>
>I couldn't put myself in the system and like it. I couldn't imagine
>that I'd get the value of learning or the joy of learning inside such
>a system. I can't imagine it in any place but a huge bureaucratic
>nightmare that needs such a system - and where it wouldn't work any
>better than the miserably failed "management by objectives".
I think this is very well put, Michael. I have often felt that the very
people like yourself who could excel in designing and executing a learning
contract are precisely the people who don't want or need one. I also
share your ideal of creating processes, structures, and practices that
help people create what they want with maximum dignity and minimum
external control.
The reason that I haven't jettisoned the idea of the learning contract
entirely is that it simply is the case that many, many people work in huge
bureaucratic nightmares. I've worked in them myself. The idea of the
learning contract originated in a huge bureaucratic nightmare -- public
education. Within that highly hierarchical, control crazy, paternalistic
environment, the idea that the learners could actually negotiate learning
objectives and strategies and manage themselves through the learning
process was truly liberating. It was seen as radical, and, even by the
current standards of most public education it still is. It created a new
horizon for learning -- one which paved the way for the more organic
approaches you and I can now imagine.
My view of learning contracts is that, if done properly, they are a good
transitional tool for those who find themselves in need of such. I think
they are best viewed as an option to be exercised by a skilled manager on
behalf of an associate who wants and needs a more structured learning
experience. For example, I am a confident, eclectic, insatiable learner.
When I first became a manager in a huge, bureaucratic nightmare, I thought
I could energize my team by introducing them to my preferred way of
learning (interdisciplinary dialogue, etc). I soon discovered that it
worked great for some, but others came to me confessing that they were
uncomfortable with that amount of freedom and asking for more structure
and guidance from me. It hit me that learning was as difficult and
frightening for them as technical rock climbing would be for me. That's
when I started getting interested in learning contracts. I am still much
less comfortable with them as company programs or blanket policy.
>[...]
>What it looks like we need in these bureaucratic nightmares that
>we're trying to get a bit better at/in is some development. If
>managers can't or won't do what's required to engage in dialogue that
>works, why not invite them to develop the ability - or to leave?
>
>It keeps coming down to development, to education, to learning - and
>there's no way out of that except the authority and control that I am
>crusading against.
I think you'll get no argument on this list about the need for
development. Development, education, and learning take time. They also
take some basic skill building and a lot of courage on the part of some
people. I have spent many hours counseling terrified middle aged
employees who, because they were in danger of losing their jobs in the new
"continuous learning" environment I had helped install, were struggling
with the idea of going to college or enrolling in some company-sponsored
re-tooling experience. I remember one black woman with 20 years service
who was convinced her best chance to survive the next round of downsizing
was to go to college. (I agreed.) She had defeated all sorts of cultural,
corporate, and personal demons to get herself enrolled in the local
community college. And now she needed help getting over the last hurdle:
she had grown up in segregated schools, and she was terrified at the idea
of going to school with white people. Another middle aged employee called
me once, asking for help in picking a PhD program. I was about 15 minutes
into my spiel about doctoral programs when I discovered she had only a
high school education. She didn't know there was something between high
school and a doctorate.
Incidentally, that same company that installed the "continuous learning
environment" was elated when their standard measures of learning activity
(no. of contact hours in training, no. of people seeking financial aid for
graduate degrees, etc.) showed a big increase. Then we looked at the data
more closely and discovered that the same 15-20% of the population who had
been continuous learners before the new programs went in were now in a
veritable learning frenzy and the vast majority were still untouched.
I've probably gone on too long here, but I guess what I'm trying to say is
that, even with the best of intentions, one doesn't just take people who
have no culture of learning or learning skills and, overnight, lead them
on a giddy, Dionysiac romp through the Forest of Knowledge. Learning
contracts and other more structured learning experiences have their place
in the building of a free learning culture.
Cheers,
John Snyder
Innovation On Demand
Round Rock, TX
jsnyder@bga.com