Toolkit: Learning Agility

Learning agility

What this resource is about

In rapidly changing work environments: financially, culturally and technologically, being an agile learner is one of the most crucial attributes to practice. Being

an agile learner means that you can think on your feet—rapidly strategising and acting while creating positive outcomes in constantly changing environments.

Agile learners may have a natural ability; however you can still increase your own agility and help increase the agile learning capabilities of your team. Agile

learning isn’t just about good work performance; it is about being able to work strategically in changing environments while rallying others around to get the job

done.

What is learning agility?

Agile learners have the ability to take past experiences and apply the learning from them into current situations. They don’t try to apply the same solutions to

each situation, but are able to recognise how their prior learning can be adapted into the new situation in a unique and creative way. Agile learners seek out

changing environments, are self-reflective, good communicators and are adaptable and resourceful in gaining results.

Evelyn Orr (2012), in her book Becoming an Agile Leader, sums up agility.

Learning agility is formally defined as the willingness and ability to learn from experience, and subsequently apply that learning to perform successfully

under new or first-time conditions. Another way of looking at it is that learning agile people know what to do when they don’t know what to do.

While it is thought that learning agility is likely to be something people are born with, like IQ, we can develop it further in ourselves and others. It is important

that we do develop ourselves, because our learning agility indicates whether we have high potential. A 2011 Korn/Ferry study of sales managers bears this out:

The higher an individual’s learning agility, the more promotions he or she received during a 10-year period.

Five factors of learning agility

1. People agility

An agile learner is a skilled communicator who can work with diverse types of people.

Agile learners understand the value of getting things done through others and are exceptional communicators who see conflict as an opportunity rather than a

problem.

2. Change agility

An agile learner likes to experiment and is comfortable with

change.

Agile learners like to experiment and can deal with the discomfort of

change; they have a passion for ideas and are highly interested in

continuous improvement.

3. Results agility

An agile learner delivers results in challenging first-time

situations.

Agile learners deliver results in first-time situations through

resourcefulness and having a significant presence that inspires others.

4. Self-awareness

An agile learner knows his or her true strengths and

weaknesses.

Agile learners know what they are good at and not so good at. They

actively address the ‘not so good’.

5. Mental agility

An agile learner has the ability to examine problems in unique and unusual ways.

Agile learners are critical thinkers who are comfortable with complexity, examine problems carefully, and make fresh connections that they make

understandable to others.

Not all highly agile learners are good at all five of these areas, but will be adept at the majority. They are keen observers of themselves and of others—seeking

to make sense of situations and interactions even if they are ambiguous or confusing. Agile people use their reflections to create new and innovative solutions

to new problems and situations.

Why is learning agility so important?

We live in a constantly changing world where the rules for work and

society are constantly shifting and moving. When we consider how this

affects work practices, it becomes clear how important learning agility

is. Unless leaders are able to apply past learning in fresh and new

ways to complex and evolving environments, they will be applying old

solutions to new problems.

The diagram on the left details some of the current factors which make

the working environment in New Zealand complex and constantly

changing.

How do you recognise an agile learner?

It might seem logical to assume that your most productive team members will be the most learning agile, but this isn’t generally the case. Just because

someone is productive in one environment, doesn’t mean that they will be just as productive if you change the environment that they are working in. Because of

this, formal assessments become very useful for selecting people for certain roles that require high degrees of agility, and before committing to resources to

develop leaders.

To assess whether you are exercising learning agility, see the ‘for fun’ Learning agility—checklist, from the webpage for this toolkit.

Once you have completed the checklist, you may find that you would like to undertake a valid and reliable assessment to gauge your learning agility.

Assessment tools

In addition to the Learning Development Centre’s Leadership Success Profile 360, which can give us a learning orientation score to represent the participant’s

level of learning agility, others such as Korn/Ferry have created assessments to help predict whether someone is learning agile. The following table outlines the

attributes of the Korn/Ferry assessments as an example of such tools.

Korn/Ferry

Learning Agility

Assessments

visEdge™ Choices Architect® Learning From Experience™

(LFE)

Overview

Self-assessment to provide insight into

learning agility and assist in determining

potential

Multi-rater assessment used to identify

and validate high potential

Structured interview protocol to quantify

the job candidate’s learning agility

Talent audience Internal or external Internal External

Uses

Succession

High potential identification

Development

Selection (for roles requiring

learning agility)

Succession

High-potential identification

Development

Selection

Learning agility

assessment factors

Five factors:

Mental agility

People agility

Change agility

Results agility

Self-awareness

And overall learning agility

Four factors:

Mental agility

People agility

Change agility

Results agility

And overall learning agility

Four factors:

Mental agility

People agility

Change agility

Results agility

And overall learning agility

Accuracy

Incorporates mechanisms that

determine the accuracy of an individual

score

Ratings can be affected by the selection

of raters e.g., training in evaluation

methods, fatigue

Requires interviewers be highly skilled

and trained in LFE methodology

Descriptions of agile leaders

In addition to assessments, the Korn/Ferry Institute research has found that seven distinct leadership profiles described

approximately two-thirds of the learning agility in people. The Korn/Ferry descriptions are listed below. (Extended

descriptions are provided in Lominger’s High Learning Agility Profiles tool).

You may be stronger in one style than another. No style is better or worse than another and each has its own combination

of strengths and developmental needs. By understanding which agile leader profile you match, you are able to leverage

your strengths as well as being able to see what areas you can develop in yourself. This is important when you are

choosing development opportunities because you will be able to recognise when an opportunity has a healthy ‘stretch’ and

the kind of support you would need to put into place to assist you. Partnering with someone who prefers a different agile

leader style will help you to learn from them and to work in complimentary ways.

Below is a brief summary of the seven Korn/Ferry Institute profiles:

Problem solvers: Given an ambiguous problem, they explore its complexities, develop a notion of what will work, and then set about

resolving the situation with a mix of drive and resourcefulness. Along the way, they seek to involve others and leverage

their abilities. This is the most frequently occurring of the seven profiles and most closely fits the ‘classic’ definition of a

high—learning agile person.

Thought leaders: Determined seekers of insight and truth, they ask hard questions and strive to make difficult connections. They are

committed to seeing progress, however, they tend to function best behind the scenes versus being out-front champions for

change.

Trailblazers: They have a clear sense of where they need to be and are determined to make it there, sometimes by whatever means are

available. ‘Laser-focused’ and confident in their approach, trailblazers are at home where others fear to tread.

Champions: Like the hero in a classic tale, individuals fitting this profile have a flair for saving the day in grand style. They can handle

difficult situations with humor and grace. By focusing primarily on people and results, they also allow others an opportunity to

shine.

Pillars: Pillars put considerable effort into crafting and implementing highly refined solutions, but tend to focus more on creating an

improvement than making a dramatic change. They lead with a harmonious blend of insightful thinking, focused action, and

an open, inclusive manner.

Diplomats: When the stakes are high and the situation calls for smooth people skills, these are the individuals you want to be at the

forefront. They are deft at sizing up others and can adjust their style to fit the moment.

Energizers: Achievement-oriented, extremely hardworking, and able to inspire others, Energizers establish larger-than-life, almost iconic

reputations. Energizers put together a committed and capable team and always get the job done.

Growing your learning agility

Learning agility is innate, however, it can be developed further in the same way that you can increase your IQ by stretching and challenging your mind. Simply

learning more doesn’t increase your learning agility. Evelyn Orr (2012) suggests that you can tell if an experience is challenging enough to help you to increase

your learning agility if the following factors are involved:

Success is not guaranteed Your work will be under scrutiny

Responsibility rests with you New territory for your orginisation

Requires working with new people or a lot of people Requires you to be resourceful

Stakes are high Tests your ability to deal with complexity and ambiguity

Requires influencing without authority Involves some hurdles

Different from what you’ve done before

These types of experiences are often the ones that can seem too difficult to take on, so it is important to be purposeful in seeking activities that will stretch your

learning agility.

To access a planning worksheet to help you develop your learning agility, open the Growing your learning agility—worksheet, from the webpage for

this toolkit.

Using the five factors of learning agility to grow

Below are ideas for experiences that will help grow your learning agility. These are based on suggestions adapted from Evelyn Orr (2012) and are grouped

under the five factors of learning agility. These will help you to think about how you might strengthen a certain area of learning agility.

Building self-awareness: knows his or her strengths and weaknesses

Engage in a 360 degree feedback process

Work on your feedback with a coach to make changes

Work outside of your home country and culture to learn about

your assumptions

Practice reflection to help you to make meaning of your

experiences

Get involved in activities outside of work

Building mental agility: the ability to examine problems in unique and

unusual ways

Increase your use of brainstorming to generate new ideas

based on past experiences

Start something new and unique for you, your company, or

your customers

Turn around a business that is in a downward spiral

Think beyond current constraints—if obstacles were

removed, what might you do?

Building change agility: experiments and is comfortable with change

Lead a significant change effort

Take on a role where success isn’t guaranteed; work with a

mentor who can guide you along the process

Explore diverse and new ways to execute a plan

Take a job so complex that it makes your head spin

Create or refine a complex system or process

Building people agility: skilled at communicating with diverse types of

people

Practice active listening. Can you listen while the person creates

their own solution?

Practice being mindful about your responses to people and

stressful situations: managing your emotions in order to pause

and take a ‘moment’ before taking action

Take on a role that requires you to navigate complex,

interpersonal issues

Influence without authority

Manage a team

A note about environments

You might find yourself in an environment that doesn’t value learning agility. You will know when this is happening because you may find that challenging the

status quo, being innovative and curious will be ‘shut-down’. If this is the case, it is important for you to be aware of this and find ways for you to nurture and

grow your learning agility outside of the workplace.

Using your time wisely outside of the workplace to nurture your learning agility will keep this part of you alive. Join an innovator’s group, volunteer on a

community project that needs new ideas and solutions, learn a new skill or subject. It is important to be proactive in this as stifling your learning agility can

cause a downward slide in your energy levels and enthusiasm.

Building results agility: delivers results in challenging first-time situations

Practice thinking on your feet

Explore complex case studies and reflect on how you might

approach solving the issues

Find a job that takes what you do well and then super-size it

Work in a new industry on secondment; reflect on your

transferable skills

and list what you need to learn to accomplish the job

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This is a component of the Learning Agility Toolkit

© 2016 Leadership Development Centre