Avoiding Confusion in Learning and Development Conversations

Written by Carter McNamara | Edited by Rory Hart

Last updated on Sep 18, 2023

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It’s fascinating how two people can be talking about groups and individuals in almost any form of learning and development, but be talking about very different things. You can sense their confusion and frustration.

Here’s a handy tip that we all used in a three-day, peer coaching group workshop in the Kansas Leadership Center, and it helped to clear up confusion during the entire workshop. (You might remember when we all did that, Teresa J

When two people are talking about peer learning:

If they’re talking about outcomes, what type are they talking about?

Short-term outcomes (new knowledge)?
Intermediate outcomes (new skills)?
Long-term outcomes (new abilities, conditions, perceptions)?

Are both talking about the same type of outcomes?

If they’re talking about activities or outcomes, what level is each talking about?

Organizational?
Program?
Group?
Individual?

Are they talking about the same level?

It might be interesting to notice this during your own conversations 🙂

Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, co-founder of Action Learning Source.

Carter McNamara

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Avoiding Confusion in Learning and Development Conversations