The Learning Shift

How Adaptive Learning Approaches Can Help Organisations Achieve Better Transformation Success

We believe that next-gen learning models can help unlock sustainable change in today’s fast-moving organisations.

In today’s fast-paced world, where new challenges and disruptions constantly emerge, organisations must understand that transformation is a continuous journey rather than a one-off occurrence. However, it’s common to see many businesses still depending on old-fashioned learning approaches that were originally developed for a time when things didn’t change so rapidly.

These old models treat learning as a box-ticking exercise. They separate ‘work’ from ‘learning’. They assume that a few days of training, often crammed with information, are enough to equip teams for complex transformation work.

They’re not.

If organisations want to transform effectively, they need to fundamentally shift how they think about learning.

What’s broken in traditional learning models?

In our conversation, Taural Rhoden, Principal at Rhoden Consulting, and I explore limitations of legacy learning approaches, especially in transformation-heavy environments.

Here’s where things often go wrong:

• Learning is decoupled from work
  Teams are expected to perform at a high level with minimal investment in training and development (only a few days a year of budget allocated). It’s like asking a sports team to compete every day with no time to practice their craft.
• Learning is overly standardised into a one-size-fits-all
  Most corporate training is designed for scale, not for impact. It’s broad, generic, and lacks contextual relevance to individual roles, business challenges, or personal needs.
• Learning lacks application and follow-through
  Even when the training is good, employees often return to their old environment with no support or incentive to change how they work.
• It’s a compliance exercise, not a capability builder
  Training becomes more about checking a box than empowering people with the tools and confidence to drive change.

What next-gen learning looks like

To move from transactional to transformational learning, organisations must rethink their entire learning strategy.

Here’s what we believe the shift requires:

1. From “training events” to continuous learning in the flow of work

Learning can’t be just a one-off. It has to be embedded into daily workflows, supported by microlearning moments and real-time application, with nudges to guide them in the right diffraction to drive behavioural changes.

2. From command-and-control to curiosity-led

Instead of telling people what to learn, we need to foster environments where individuals are encouraged to ask questions, explore what’s needed to learn to get things done, experiment, and reflect on their learning.

3. From static courses to adaptive, personalised experiences

Not everyone learns the same way, with the same type of content. With the help of AI and emerging technology, we can now tailor learning to individual styles, roles, and even learning speeds, making it far more relevant and effective.

4. From leaders who ‘talk the talk’ to those who walk it

Transformative learning cultures are driven by leaders who prioritise their own learning, not just their teams’. When leaders experiment, fail, and learn in the open, it sets the tone for the organisation.

“You can’t expect high-performance teams without giving them the space to learn, practice and grow. In sport, teams spend most of their time in training. In business, it’s the opposite.” – Taural Rhoden

Where transformation learning often breaks down

Even with good intentions, companies often stumble when they:

• Treat complex, dynamic work as something that can be learned through standardised, linear training
• Overlook the power of mentorship, peer learning, and reflective practice
• Incentivise the wrong things (e.g. completion vs. behaviour change)
• Ignore the role of environment, expecting people to apply new ideas in systems designed for the old way of working
• Fail to distinguish between learning for compliance and learning for transformation

How to build a culture of continuous learning

For learning to become a true driver of transformation, it needs to be reimagined from the ground up:

• Start with real problems, not generic content
  Make learning practical, contextual, and tied to current organisational challenges.
• Design for micro-moments and long-tail application
  Spread learning across time, with repeated nudges and opportunities to apply knowledge.
• Use AI to enable personalisation and coaching
  Modern tools can act as co-pilots, helping individuals digest, apply, and explore content on their own terms.
• Create safe spaces for experimentation and feedback
  Learning requires vulnerability. Leaders must create environments where it’s safe to try, fail, and iterate.
• Recognise and reward learning, not just delivery
  Shift performance metrics to include development and innovation, not just outcomes.

Conclusion

Transformation without a learning shift is performative. It looks good on the surface but doesn’t change how people think, act, or solve problems.

If we want organisations to be truly future-ready, we need to stop treating learning as an afterthought, and start designing it as an integral part of how we work, lead, and change.

Because in the end, transformation isn’t just about systems and strategies.

It’s about people.

And people grow when they learn, continuously, contextually, and collectively.

🎧 Listen to this episode of Transformation 2.0 to hear more from Chamara Somaratne and Taural Rhoden on rethinking learning in transformation.