LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT | STUDENT ENGAGEMENT
How I experience exformative learning in talent development and people engagement
(unleashing the power of the unknown)
I was introduced to exformative learning by Francis Laleman in the course of the spring and summer of 2020, when the world locked down. My journey of learning since then has helped me look at exformative learning as an innovative and transformative approach for talent development, engagement, and productivity in organizations.
I was blessed enough to spend the early days of my two decades in HR with some of the most progressive global organizations. You will read these references in different places in this write-up.
What is exformative learning?
Exformative is an adjective deducted from the word exformation — a noun that wasn’t coined until 1998 (in Tor Nørretranders: The User Illusion - Cutting Consciousness Down to Size, Viking Press), and has come to live a life of its own ever since.
Exformation is an activity of making things unknown
[Kenya Hara, Exformation (2015)]
The act of exformation is a multidirectional flow, deconstructing what we already know and opening up a space, volume, time, word, or a plane to be continuously reconstructed and replenished with new meaning — by creating newness of everything — as learners go along the discovery and learning process. It is a space where learning happens.
Okay, if this is the intellectual definition, as taken from the book Resourceful Exformation by Francis Laleman, what shall I do with it?
If I am to explain this to my 6-year-old niece, I’d probably go for …
Exformation is like discovering a new superpower to conquer the world! It is all about exploring new things, thinking differently, and becoming the best version of yourself.
or:
Imagine if Spider-Man only climbed walls and never tried swinging from his spiderwebs! Ex-formative learning encourages us to break free from what we already know and venture into exciting new territories.
The key line of exformation is that it stops providing pre-shaped information with pre-defined meaning — and invites facilitators and students to venture out in the opposite direction: “undress” the information, taking away everything that was previously known and taken for granted — and from there, extract new meaning and build new semantics together.
If you think this is all too vague, below I have identified two fields where I think exformation can contribute to making a difference: talent development and people engagement. In each of these fields, I recognize some core exformative principles, and I provide examples from my practice where exformation can be helpful as the next step.
How exformation empowers talent development
Exformative learning goes beyond the traditional skills and knowledge
paradigm. By nurturing exformative learning principles, organizations can foster a culture of continuous improvement, innovation, and adaptability among their people.
1 — curiosity and exploration
Exformative learning nurtures a sense of curiosity and encourages people to explore uncharted territories. Organizations can create opportunities for their talent/people to engage in self-organized cooperative learning, allowing them to explore themes of cross-functional interest and develop expertise in opportunities beyond their immediate roles. It helps expand knowledge and promote a culture of lifelong learning within the organization.
Here is where exformation could play a role:
For one of the global media organizations where I worked in early 2000, we developed a yearly “Innovation Sprint” for people to work on personal projects related to emerging media technologies. It ignited curiosity, passion, and growth potential in people, and we discovered and created cutting-edge innovative ideas in the broadcast media industry and other businesses.
2 — collaborative learning
Exformative learning focuses on the power of collaboration and collective intelligence. Business leaders encourage people to collaborate on projects, share knowledge, and engage in meaningful discussions. Organizations can tap into the collective wisdom of their talent/people.
Here is where this plugs into:
For one of the investment banks I worked for three years ago, we designed collaborative learning initiatives, such as cross-functional teams, reverse mentoring programs, and peer-to-peer knowledge-sharing platforms, resulting in higher engagement and commitment from people and business leaders.
3 — embracing “fail fast” as a catalyst for growth
Having the right to fail fast is an essential part of the learning journey. Organizations can foster a growth and competitive mindset if they start celebrating short-term fails and creating learning opportunities from them. The essentials for talent development strategy are: calculated risk-taking, learning from mistakes, and iterating approaches to promote resilience, innovation, and adaptability.
Here is a possibility:
P&G encourages business leaders and their teams to experiment and fail, and they call it an intelligent risk at the company.
How exformation enhances employee engagement
By leveraging the principles of exformative learning, organizations can create a culture that empowers people, fosters their intrinsic motivation, and promotes a sense of purpose and belonging.
1 — personalized learning pathways
Exformative learning recognizes that people have diverse learning preferences and needs — and cherishes this diversity in multi-level learning groups. Personalized learning pathways, if mustered in the context of mixed groups, can contribute to unique talent aspirations and goals in organizations. This approach enhances engagement by empowering people to take ownership of their learning journey and pursue development opportunities aligned with their interests and career aspirations.
Here is an example where this could be the next step:
At another investment bank where I worked five years ago, people were encouraged to choose from different learning experiences (workshops, online courses, conferences, mentorship opportunities) adapted to their interests and career goals. It led to an alignment between the organization and personal growth objectives.
2 — recognizing and celebrating growth
Exformative learning emphasizes recognizing and celebrating transformation and growth. Transformation happens at all levels: Through exformation, the essence of the existing processes and organizational knowledge and skills transforms into new meanings. At the same time, individuals walk from where everything is known to a world where they grow curiosity for the (as yet) unknown — a journey that is driven by, and shapes, the transformative power of the collective.
The relevance of this aspect was shown by Ikujiro Nanaka in his seminal SECI paper (1991):
Here is where a journey from the individual to the collective could come next:
With the clients and organizations I have collaborated with in the last two decades, we implemented varied feedback loops and performance evaluation frameworks focusing on individual progress and development. Celebrating big and small achievements reinforces a positive learning culture and strengthens talent engagement.
3 — nurturing a culture of innovation
Exformative learning encourages people to challenge the status quo and embrace innovative thinking. People are encouraged to experiment, share ideas, contribute to continuous improvement, and experience heightened engagement.
Here is where this starts:
For one of the technology startups that I partnered with in late 2000, we designed initiatives such as hackathons, innovation labs, and cross-functional collaborations. It helped us discover the diverse expertise and perspectives of the people and further facilitate talent development and engagement.
4 — creating learning communities
Exformative learning thrives in a supportive and collaborative environment. Exformation, through the act of taking away predefined meanings fixed by the gurutva of one, and providing space for groups to explore and discover, is by definition a community concept.
Learning communities are where this emerges from:
For an investment banking client, we created learning communities where people can connect, share knowledge, and engage in an ongoing dialogue. Since this was a global organization, we facilitated the communities through online forums, social learning platforms, and regular knowledge-sharing sessions. By fostering a sense of community, the organization promoted engagement, collaboration, and the exchange of diverse perspectives.
I strongly support the idea that the global talent competencies and skills shared by the World Economic Forum (source) today need continuous adaptation through exformative learning. By integrating exformative learning principles into talent development strategies, organizations can create an agile, transformative, and engaging culture where people are empowered to unleash their potential for continuous improvement.
your work is to discover your world
and then with all your heart
give yourself to it[attributed to the Buddha]
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Thank you for reading!
