Learning used to cascade—now it must circulate — from chieflearningofficer.com by Sharon M. Ravitch
Long-held structural and procedural assumptions undergird how organizations promote and deepen learning that precedes its flow through organizations. What replaces the cascade isn’t a smarter platform. It’s a deliberate act of leadership; a set of adaptive mindsets that make circulation possible in the first place.
Admitting “I don’t know what I’m doing with this yet” felt like exposure, a confession of falling behind, and surfacing a workaround carried the calculated risk of “going rogue.” By the time the CLO scheduled a refresher, the tool had evolved again, and whatever either camp learned in the meantime had nowhere to go.
The issue wasn’t adoption. It was circulation. Without this step, learning cannot move through the organization quickly enough to keep pace with technological adoption.
The problem has both widened and deepened. Organizations are moving to roughly double AI investment as a share of revenue, with 72 percent of CEOs now personally directing AI strategy. Capability requirements are shifting at the pace of leadership attention, not curriculum cycles.