Learning agility, the future of management?

It’s a good question, and as always, the answer always filters to Spain late. It seems that competencies management is finally leaving the stage to make room for such a pioneering notion, for which we still have no offical translation in Spanish. Gurus like Carlos Alemany, president of Korn Ferry International, have heralded learning ability as the future for business management.

To figure out what this is all about, we need to cross the pond and wade through the articles that may shed some light on the nature of “learning agility”.

John R. Ryan, president of the Center for Creative Leadership states that learning agility is the best way to face new challenges and recieve feedback we need to evolve in our organization. “ If you need to think quickly, adapt and react very, very quickly—what you need is learning agility”.

Agile learners think with greater clarity and speed in difficult situations. They are the ones who  know themselves best, and who like to experiment and expose themselves to new and bigger challenges. They like to learn, and are capable of applying new knowledge acquired on the spot. Most importantly, agile learners are capable of delivering results even in entirely new situations.

Although it might seem easy, it isn’t. Developing this talent requires strong iron will while learning; facing challenging situations however difficult they may seem; and relentlessly seeking out all the feedback and acceptance we can on our performance.

The first requirement is far harder than it seems. Just the mere fact that finding time to study and keep ourselves up to date is already complicated. Even more so for leaders who are always busy and  tight for time. But this is a non-negotiable requirement, particularly for agile learners who must always be hungry for knowledge.

The search for continual challenges isn’t easy either. It is unusual to find people who are ready to leave their comfort zone and risk their careers for possible failure. This is accentuated even more among those who are accustomed to success. What is the secret to success for agile learners? Knowing themselves, recognizing their abilities and being aware of the ones they need to develop, and of course, when and how to do it.

Lastly, lets get to the most complicated requirement, at least in my eyes—to be capable of positively accepting and absorbing feedback. In Spanish companies we are not accustomed to accept or even request feedback on our work. Perhaps it is something we need to learn from scratch—accept constructive criticisms and apply them in our day to day activities.

Even if in Spain we are late in importing this idea, looking towards the US which is always at the forefront of the latest management trends, we can see that those people who are able to develop this learning agility will be the ones to deliver the best results, leaving behind the average performers.