Robert Levi wrote:
"Learning is something that one develops on one's own time, and not at the
expense of the company... Why is it that business and the arts are so far
apart on this?"
This note has caused me to do a lot of thinking. In the arts, especially
the performing arts, we do pay people to learn and practice -- orchestras,
ballets, operas, etc. However, these people are paid because the sponsors
expect something of value to be produced. Artists are seldom paid simply
to learn and not produce art. In addition, we select a very small
percentage of the population -- only those who are viewed to have great
potential -- and pay them to learn their art.
In business, we also are willing to pay for learning, but there is an even
greater emphasis on producing something based on the learning. In
addition, we must pay for the learning of a large percentage of the
population -- not just a few who show great potential.
My conclusion is that businesses will pay for learning when those who
write the checks are convinced that learning will lead to improvement.
Our challenge is make the link between learning and improvement more
visible, or better yet, impossible to ignore.
-- Roger Breisch The Webber Group, Inc. REBreisch@aol.com