www.opensesame.com
A NEW WORLD
The traditional approach to learning and development worked well in the predictable past.
It was possible for training departments to take their time producing courses in line with
the long-term needs of the business. This approach worked until recently, but the increased
pace of business over the past 5-10 years means that it is no longer adequate.
The need for speed
This increased pace of change means that products are developed faster. In 2008 the
production cycle of a car was about 60 months from initial design to production. By 2013,
that had dropped to 24-36 months. Similarly, it took decades for the telephone to reach 50%
of US households, but just 5 years to achieve the same penetration with mobile phones.
1
In the 1960s, stocks in US companies were held for an average of over 8 years. Today that
average is under 6 months. This all makes it harder to stay at the top.
2
In 1958, the average
company in the S&P 500 Index remained there for 61 years. Today, the average company
can expect to stay no longer than 20 years.
3
This new, faster world, has a direct impact on the work of L&D. In the UK, a cell phone chain
used to create online courses for each new Apple phone. The problem: all information on
Apple phones is embargoed until launch. By time the course was published – usually two
weeks after launch – the peak need for it had passed. In response, the company changed its
approach. On launch day the L&D team arrived at work before the regular store members
and began compiling information from the internet, creating not a course, but a list of FAQs,
resources and hints and tips that they could distribute to stores by the time the doors
opened. This solution won no instructional design prizes, but it did meet the need of getting
vital information out to staff in a matter of hours.
1
1
McGrath, R (2013) The pace of technology adoption is speeding up, Harvard Business Review, November 25.
Available from https://hbr.org/2013/11/the-pace-of-technology-adoption-is-speeding-up
2
Ro, S (2012) Stock market investors have become absurdly impatient. Business Insider, 7 August.
Available from www.businessinsider.com/stock-investor-holding-period-2012-8?IR=T
3
Basenese, L (2014) 375 companies prepare for the guillotine. Wall St Daily, 31 January.
Available from www.wallstreetdaily.com/2014/01/31/creative-destruction-sp/
2
