This is one of the problems I am currently working on through Excellerate.
A substantial part of learning inside organizations appears to happen socially: people watch one another, ask questions, share experiences, correct each other and pass on small pieces of practical knowledge such as “This is how we do it here.”
That creates a practical question:
What happens when those arenas become weaker because people no longer meet as often?
Why I find the problem interesting
Hybrid work changes how often people observe one another, how often small questions are asked, and how culture, judgment, routines and norms are transferred.
The question became sharper
The question is not “Can we digitize learning?” It is closer to:
Which parts of the learning that used to happen naturally between people are being lost or weakened — and how can we recreate useful equivalents without making work more bureaucratic?
Silent learning is one possible mechanism
Can useful learning be recognized and preserved from normal work without asking the employee to stop and formally document everything?
Current working model
People work → interaction occurs → experience/correction/judgment is exchanged → something may change in understanding or action → a possible learning trace exists → the learning may be preserved → it may become useful later → future work gives new evidence
Some things we currently think we have observed
- A meaningful amount of workplace learning appears to happen through human interaction.
- Some of that learning is informal and difficult to document after the fact.
- Hybrid work changes the frequency and form of spontaneous interaction.
- Formal documentation does not necessarily capture practical judgment, culture or tacit experience well.
- Useful learning may leave traces in normal work.
- AI may make some traces easier to interpret, but interpretation is not the same as evidence of learning.
What we do not know yet
Which informal learning mechanisms are weakened most? How much culture transfer depends on physical interaction? What does a genuine learning event look like? Which interactions can be recreated digitally? How do we avoid surveillance?
Try the idea
A later interaction can let the visitor inspect the first three months of a new employee in a hybrid organization and ask: Where is learning happening? What might be missing? Which parts could technology reasonably support?