Rethinking the 70:20:10 rule (2024)

🌟 Have you heard of the 70:20:10 rule in workplace learning and development? It's a model that suggests 70% of learning happens through on-the-job learning, 20% through social learning, and the remaining 10% through formal education. While many believe in the importance of occupational learning, there's a hidden side to this paradigm that we often overlook.

🚀 The 70% of experiential learning, though valuable, can be stressful, particularly if you are new to the job. Cumulative on-the-job stress can become a barrier to effective learning, personal growth and a comfortable home life. The pressure to 'fake it till you make it' can lead to imposter syndrome- check out this clip from a previous prime minister of New Zealand, who never recovered from imposter syndrome, and it ultimately cost her job.

How much actual learning goes on in your day to day occupational learning? I’d say most of what we do is largely habitual.

💬 The 20% of social learning, which involves interactions with mentors and colleagues, although of high value in terms of relationships and building communication skills, can also be unpredictable. Workplace relationships are constantly evolving and run hot and cold at times.

🧮 What about the 10% formal learning slice? Ask yourself, how much time do you invest in structured learning? Sure, we all do workshops and training sessions from time to time. But how about week after week? How often do you revisit formal education to reinforce your skills? If you work for a university, when was the last time you did a degree? Taken advantage of probably free access to your library to read a journal article? Used LinkedIn learning for free from your public library?

💡 I’d argue that the 10% is an absolute minimum. I’d push it to 15%. Why? Especially if you work in marketing, you have to. Creativity and innovation are our job, and we need to feed our engines to keep them running. More importantly, it will give you something which will help you sleep at night - confidence in what you are doing, and confidence to step up to new learning situations and new relationships.

🌐 Let’s take an example. I learned Spanish on the job. I didn’t do formal study of the language before I hit the ground in South America. As a consequence, my Spanish is functional and serves me well in my day-to-day activities and relationships, but I still have to run through phrases and particularly novel constructions in my head before speaking, which cuts down on my fluency. If I had spent more time learning in a formal situation at uni, I would be a lot more comfortable in my daily conversations - and I would have become so years quicker.

🚗 Recommendations: commit to at least 4 hours of formal learning per week- push out to 6 next by the end of the year. Timetable it into your calendar if you have to. Do it on public transport on your way to work if you can. Make it happen, you’ll sleep better. 😴

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