The Leadership in Action Series: On Strategic Leadership

Knowing and Doing: How to Put Learning Where the Work Is

Frank P. Bordonaro

The idea that knowing and doing should be tightly linked may seem like a management no-brainer. But progress in putting learning more directly on the path of work has been slowed by conventional thinking. How can leaders move learning to the places and people where it can most powerfully further the strategy of the company? First, they must put aside old habits and form a new perspective about where the most important learning takes place.

Where else would one want to have learning occur than at the places where it can most directly lead to better performance? For centuries people have been learning in studios, laboratories, and fabrication plants under tutelage and with ...