Learning in Action

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From Individual to Organizational Learning

Learning is the most natural of activities. It is an essential part of the human experience, and something that we as individuals do throughout our lives. Yet more often than not, our progress as learners goes unrecognized or unheeded. It happens as if by magic: one day we are ignorant, then time passes and suddenly we possess a wealth of new knowledge.

Children provide the most obvious example, for they are instinctive, intuitive learners. Much of childhood is spent expanding one’s horizons and acquiring new perspectives, abilities, and skills. But the work of development does not end in childhood. Countless studies have shown that individuals continue to adapt and grow as they age.¹ Self-directed ...