Learning Agility: Quite Possibly the Only Skill That Matters, period.

Welcome to the Learning Agility Blog!

This is the first blog post of many we will share with you about the power of Learning Agility to transform individuals and organizations.

We are the Burke Assessment team, a group of researchers, business partners, certified consultants and coaches who came together to help promote Learning Agility globally.

The timing couldn’t have been better. It has been just over a year since the World Health Organization (WHO) announcement that the pandemic officially ended. However, the transformational impact of the three years can still be felt.

The question that the talent management field has not been able to answer is: “All technical skills being equal, in a dramatically changing business environment, what is more important for leaders and candidates to have: superior intelligence and years of experience, or the ability to figure out how to solve problems that have never existed before?

This question will give pause to anyone who was in a leadership position during the pandemic. Rarely has the world had to change everything so quickly. Some organizations thrived, others barely survived, and many didn’t make it.

We believe Learning Agility is the difference between the ones who thrived and the ones who didn’t make it.

My business partner and co-author in the book Learning Agility – The Key to Leader Potential 2017, Columbia University Professor, Dr. Warner Burke and I have been studying Learning Agility for over 40 years.

In 2016, working with a group of researchers at Columbia University, Burke created the Burke Learning Agility Inventory, an assessment that measures Learning Agility.

They identified 9 dimensions that together drive Learning Agility:

Flexibility: Moving fluidly between perspectives by recognizing when a mindset or belief should be abandoned for a new one; changing positions rather than becoming stuck; rejecting what has worked in the past in order to find what will work best in the future; maintaining a perspective on the environment in order to know when the context has changed.

Speed: Quickly gaining an understanding of a new situation and the variables at play; correcting course by knowing when something is working and when it is not; being able to gain necessary new knowledge, skills, or abilities expediently.

Experimenting: Testing ideas and monitoring progress by collecting and reviewing data relevant to the task at hand; trying new things to see if they work; comparing different approaches to find the best one.

Performance Risk Taking: Taking on job tasks or assignments that are difficult and challenging; volunteering for projects that have a possibility of failing; trying something new or unknown that would be highly successful if successful.

Interpersonal Risk Taking: Making oneself vulnerable by asking for help, admitting mistakes, pointing out the errors of others or having difficult conversations that may risk relationships.

Collaborating: Regularly working with others to gain a different perspective on a task; creating interdependent work projects; asking for input from others in order to cooperate on tasks.

Information Gathering: Regularly attending courses, reading relevant publications such as blogs, magazines, professional journals; attending professional events and networking meetings.

Feedback Seeking: Asking others for their impressions about your work performance; asking questions during the course of a task to make sure you are on track.

Reflecting: Taking time to consider the work that has taken place and the assumptions in play as to what has gone well and what has not either alone or in a collective manner; reviewing events after they have occurred to consider how things can be done in the future.

5 Examples of how you may apply Learning Agility in Talent Management

1. In Talent Selection, it is possible to incorporate the self-assessment version of the Burke to assess the level of Learning Agility of candidates. In some situations, you can predefine which dimensions are most important for the role.

2. For leadership development programs, you may choose to use both the self-assessment and multi-rater tools. In addition, you may want to create a full program based on the 9 dimensions that includes individual coaching and collective learning experiences.

3. As a coaching methodology, the Burke provides coaches and consultants with an effective, research-based framework for helping individuals increase their level of learning agility. We offer a comprehensive hybrid certification program that includes a self-paced e-learning platform, an individual feedback session, and two live virtual cohort sessions.

4. As a personal development tool, we offer a simplified course that includes four self-paced e-learning modules of Learning Agility content, an individual feedback session with a coach, and an action plan template.

4. The Burke can also be used as a precursor to educational programs, particularly in business and executive education schools. Knowing your level of Learning Agility before embarking on an educational experience will maximize your learning.

As a researcher, professor, author, and sought-after leadership development consultant to organizations as diverse as NASA, the U.S. military, and Pepsico, before retiring from Columbia University, Burke gifted the organizational psychology field with a wealth of knowledge of how to measure and develop Learning Agility.

At Burke Assessments, we make it our mission to help bring Burke’s legacy to individuals and organizations around the world.

Follow this blog to learn more!