L&D Best Practices

Maturity Models in the Flow of Work

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Maturity Models Series CrossKnowledge

Part 3/3

From the Learning Bubble to the Flow of Work

So far, we’ve walked you through the early beginnings of maturity models in academia (Part 1), all the way to their evolution into a useful tool for L&D (Part 2). Although we most certainly have not touched on every maturity model that exists, we did want to talk about one more: Dani Johnson’s Enterprise Learning Framework.

Before launching her own consultancy firm, she was at Deloitte with Josh Bersin and worked on the HILO model. When she ventured off on her own, she decided to leverage her in-depth expertise in management science and business consulting to refine the HILO model. Her goal was to link it closer to business reality, aligned with her philosophy for a completely decentralized and personalized L&D that ultimately focuses on its main goal of making business easier

The Enterprise Learning Framework

Her Enterprise Learning Framework is articulated around four sections, which are then segmented in specific focus areas.


Enterprise Learning Framework

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What about learning outcomes?  

Exactly 30 years ago, Peter Senge released his book The Fifth Discipline. In it, he uses an elephant metaphor to illustrate why Systems Thinking is the fifth discipline required to created a Learning Organization (the other four being Shared Vision, Mental Models, Team Learning, and Personal Mastery). The metaphor illustrates that while you could certainly split an elephant in half, you would not end up with two smaller elephants. This was meant to underline the importance of analyzing patterns in an organization from a holistic viewpoint, rather than splitting them into smaller parts just to make them more mangeable.

Even today, learning outcomes are often seen as the elephant in the room. Digital technologies have revolutionized corporate training and give us the means to access all available knowledge at a much lower cost than traditional methods. These new technologies have also increased the speed of delivery. But the true impact of learning remains a grey zone in many places

While it is important for L&D to demonstrate relevance in the immediate, by promoting and ensuring the scalability and efficiency of existing solutions, it also needs to anticipate the future by regularly questioning the current ways of doing things. This important reflection cannot be limited just to technology and content, or even engagement and usage of the learning platform. Instead, a more systemic approach and a clear strategic framework, viewed through the lens of maturity models, will serve as a steady beacon even during uncertain times. A study published by Fosway last June reported that 59% of L&D leaders described their organization’s adoption of digital learning as immature. Consequently, those organizations were 3 times more likely to have found difficulty coping with the pandemic.