6 Steps to turn your Learning into Action
Have you ever returned from a goldmine of a training session and found, 2 months later, that you’ve hardly used any of the knowledge or ideas that you acquired…or that you’ve forgotten almost everything?
I have. But not this time.
Last month, I attended the Shiftup Business Agility and Innovation Leader workshop. It was well worth the investment. Thumbs up 👍 to its creator (also Agility Scales founder), Jurgen Appelo.
This was a learning opportunity I want to make the most of — squeeze all the potential value out of it for my work and for myself.
Here’s the 6-step activity I used to guarantee I didn’t squander it.
1. Get Organized
- Block out 30–60 minutes,
- Find a spot where you won’t be interrupted.
- Equip yourself with your favorite writing supplies (pen and paper, journal, Google docs, tablet, etc.),
- Have your training materials (book, slides, handouts, etc.) at hand.
2. Process the material
Grab some paper or open a Google doc and process the material in 2 stages:
- Remember. What do you remember without any other prompts - insights, learnings, questions, activities, interactions during the day, etc? Write it down.
- Content Review. Now review your materials (slides, handouts, maybe photos or comment streams) section by section or concept by concept. Write down whatever you wish to capture more learnings.
I spend most of my reflection time on this step. I recall what I absorbed, capture connections to my work and personal projects, and end up with an outline of the material that gives me even more ideas. By the end of writing, I usually have already identified ways I might apply ideas or tools...
3. Explore how you might apply it.
What impact could you make with what you’ve learned? Are there ideas you can use for current projects or pass on to others? How could it help you, your team, your company, your family, etc? Write it all down.
For example, I want to map out our current strategy team’s work against Jurgen’s Innovation Vortex stages. Are we missing anything? Are we glossing over any steps? Can we use this as a standard flow for our quarterly cycles? The work we’re doing is mission critical and will shape our direction and focus starting in September. I reckon overlaying this model will test it and push it even further.
The 10 Business Lifecycle Stages concept has inspired me to reorganize work streams for a non-profit engagement by stages — some are established projects that need execution and tweaking, others are brand new ideas with no structure, just an enthusiastic person or two creating the 1st version. I want to create a common language among our group and set up different support processes depending on the stage of the project. This will help us be more efficient and set better expectations around new initiatives.
By the way, neither of these represents the stated purpose of these tools…I’ll save that thought for another post.
4. Explore personal upskill opportunities.
What do you personally want to get out of what you’ve learned? Write it down.
Maybe you want to develop a skill or mastery in an area? Get certified? Become a facilitator? Maybe you’re working towards more responsibility at work, a promotion or even a new job elsewhere. Or perhaps you just are passionate about the subject and keen to absorb as much as humanly possible. Just figure out what personal growth opportunities exist.
I want to get to the point where the Shiftup innovation materials are part of my personal toolbox. I also want to try facilitating the agile mindset group exercise Jurgen used — it was one of the best I’ve ever done at bringing home the difference between using artifacts and agile. I might ask for permission to try it out with peers at an SB Agile meetup…
5. Generate possible actions.
Review what you’ve written for 1, 2 and 3. Brainstorm and extract action points — projects, research, conversations, etc. Work on them until they all make sense.
I used Google Docs, highlighted possible actions using the comment tool and then listed them out at bottom of my doc, added more details.
6. Cull, commit and capture.
Review possible actions. Check your motivation and capacity to follow through. Narrow down the list to something you’re willing to commit to. You might organize into “Must do, Should do, Could do, Won’t do” categories…or use your own personal sorting method. Now get your plan into whatever tool you use for action.
My tasks and projects are safely stowed in my personal kanban tool.
It took me over an hour to do the steps above until I was satisfied, but it was worth it. I’m clear on what experiments and actions I want to take. I’m ready to maximize the value of my learning. Watch out.
What strategies do you have for applying what you’ve learned?
Let me know if you take any explicit steps — or is it an informal process?
Cheers,
Paula C.
Agility Scales
PS: you’re welcome to join our agile changemaker Slack community where we share our work and discuss innovation, agile, lean, and improvement cycles.
