Learning Journeys

As John Le Carre wrote, "the desk is a dangerous place from which to view the world." With managers and leaders being trapped behind their desks most of the time, learning journeys -- a highly customized, designed field trip -- have emerged as an antidote to this organizational bias, teaching vital skills in how to observe, explore and sense important future trends and developments beyond the radar and reach of traditional market research and analysis. Clearly, while pie charts, facts and spreadsheets aren't likely to change the hearts and minds of people, a powerful experience like a learning journey can transform a person's sense of possibility overnight.

A flexible methodology, learning journeys are commonly used to jump-start product development, R&D, accelerate executive education and "out of the box" learning, and as a platform for strategy innovation. Learning journeys are often used as an important input and process in a larger engagement. They are also excellent for boosting the social capital within a team or aligning perspectives across different groups.

Read Nicole Boyer's primer on learning journeys, "Finding the Future" for more information.