The 5 Least Motivational Reasons for Adults to Participate in Professional Learning

1. It’s free! Yeah. Free doesn’t mean good. And, PS, we’re falling and getting back up all day every day—aren’t you?

2. It’s required as part of your job or funding. Oh, the threatening approach. That’s real effective…at building resentment.

3. You’ll get a badge or certificate. Ok. The carrot or reward just like we train performing circus animals.

4. It’s “fun”. Unless it’s at a beach, this sounds like it’s forced fun.

5. It’s time away from the office. What’s up with office culture if this is a real motivator?

Many leaders of capacity building work bring this puzzle to us: “What would make our capacity building and professional learning efforts “more engaging” for our learners?”

We always have the same response: Have you asked your participants what they want to learn or where they need help?

A traditional capacity building approach is where you come in and tell participants what they need to know. You dismiss them with “They don’t know what they don’t know.”

Guess what—they DO know what they know. AND they know what they WANT to know. But it may not be what we want to hear.

Here’s a #truth: “All adults want to make sense of their world, find meaning, and to be effective at what they value—this is what fuels their motivation to learn.”— @Ray Wlodkowski & @Marjorie Ginsburg, 2017

As leader-facilitators of possibility, it’s our role to enter with an open mindset, a mindset of possibility. So we can recognize in others the passion and sense of possibility they bring AND nurture it. We want our teams, networks, learners, participants to live fulfilling lives AND contribute to the missions our organizations focus on.

And that starts with asking: What do you want to know?

You help your network be more effective at what they value and support their mission. You’ve got this. ❤️