ATD’s Foundations of Talent Development: Launching, Leveraging, and Leading Your Organization’s TD Effort

CHAPTER 25

Enable Social Learning

Abraham Maslow was right when he suggested that people feel safe and secure when they are connected to other people and included in a group. This feeling of belonging enables participants to more easily face the challenges before them. When employees are learning with others rather than alone, it may seem easier to try something new. This is reflected in the small-group activities we use in the classroom or in breakout rooms in a virtual classroom, which are social events and the start of social learning.

Social learning started way before Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest. In fact, it has been around forever, and is probably the single-biggest force multiplier that caused human beings to develop to our current ...