You Know it's a LearningConnect if...

As the creators of the LearningConnect® process we often hear of people doing something they are calling LearningConnect®, but then as they describe what they are doing we say to ourselves “huh? That doesn’t sound like what we created.” Other times people tell us they have done LearningConnect and then as we start describing our recommended approach, they utter “Ooohhhhhh, uhhhhhh, I guess what I was doing wasn’t really LearningConnect. So in the interest of clearing things up here are a few ways you can tell when it IS and when it is NOT LearningConnect:

LearningConnect® is…

• A Team Learning Process (i.e. it doesn’t happen in an hour meeting or even in a day) – it’s multi-day, experiential and collaborative
• Conversational – where the consumer guests have the power – it’s all about them, their stories and their experiences
• Graphically facilitated (it uses templates) so your team collects and organizes data (the actual, real words your consumers are saying) in real time
• When your team spends more time doing Analysis, Synthesis and Building individual and team Knowledge than collecting data … Because the real learning happens in the Analysis – together as a team
• Action focused … when complete, your team has made decisions, collaboratively created Outcomes and is moving your project forward in a real, tangible way – applying insights and taking ACTION. There might even be a celebration!

You know it’s NOT LearningConnect if…

• There’s not a Team Start Up to orient to the process, envision success, and surface team questions, prior to the consumer workshops
• There is a back room or there are team members who are “observing”
  When you are with your consumers you are asking a series of direct questions – like an interview
• Data is not collected and organized during the conversations (using graphic tools)
  Individuals are working alone or independently
• One person takes the data and does the analysis alone in order to write a report
  The only output is a report

What does your team learning look like? When do you LearningConnect?