Episode 39: Why are we so bad at retaining info as adults? And how do we get better?

The Blunder Years

I don’t know about you, but I’ve very infrequently been to a successful training as an adult professional. Most are entirely subpar: stale cookies in the back of the room, chart paper on the walls, maybe some trust falls. But, while people do get new context and information professionally from interactions with co-workers and general life, the fact is that we put a semi-religious importance on training to hand people new skills. If the world of work is truly shifted by COVID, training will seemingly be a bigger deal in late 2020 and into 2021. But we haven’t broadly done it that well for a while. So it begs a work question and a broader question: how can we, as adults, gain and retain knowledge better? And how can we focus more on individual learning needs, as opposed to flashy technology? My guest on Episode 39 is my friend Laura, a learning and development professional, and we’re going to discuss this in both work and personal contexts. Let’s roll.