In my last blog entry, I wrote about the marriage of people-centric and people-first learning approaches (http://www.3creek.com/index.php?/612-the-marriage-of-people-centric-and-people-first-learning.html).  As I reflected on what I wrote, I can’t help but think about something that one of our shareholders likes to say from time-to-time: “We’re gonna be big!”  The reality is that the time is considerably more right for Open Mentoring than it ever has been before.  Why?  Allow me to expound by looking at what organizations need from their learning practices today:

• People-Centric & People-First – As discussed in the aforementioned, previous blog entry, organizations need to find a way to allow learning to happen in both a people-centric and people-first manner at the same time.  Given that knowledge workers need to be able to constantly re-tool themselves, learning can no-longer focused on certification-based processes (static content), but instead needs to be focused on connection-based interactions (dynamic and contextualized).
• Cost-Effective – Regardless of the specific budget situation of a given organization post-recession (i.e., still very tight, in the process of loosening, or close to pre-recession spending), organizations on the whole are generally more cost-conscious than before.  Traditional learning interventions (e.g., classroom training) are seen as too expensive, yet learning and development still need to take place.
• Measurable Impact – Social networking has conditioned people to connect more openly with others.  It started with things like Facebook and LinkedIn, which were organization-agnostic and has transitioned into intra-organizational solutions.  While intra-organizational social networking helped condition people around the practice of connecting with colleagues, it cannot deliver on the desired goal of measurable impact from intentional learning connections.  Yet, that is exactly what organizations need and are asking for: the ability to ensure impactful learning occurs when people connect, as well as the ability to understand the type and magnitude of the impact.
• Quick in/Quick out – Organizations and individuals alike are looking for learning processes that allow people to participate with a relatively minimal investment of time and energy.  People want to learn and people want to teach; they just want to be able to do it quickly and efficiently.
• Ease – Piggybacking on the previous point, solutions need to be “easy” from a variety of perspectives: easy to implement, easy to use (for end users and administrators), and easy to understand (mostly in regards to the aforementioned point about measurable impact).  Solutions that are too complicated to use or understand on any of these points will be quickly left behind. 

For the above reasons, and many others, we know here at Triple Creek that we are very well equipped to meet the needs of today’s learning organization.  In fact, we’ve believed that for the past ten years.  It’s just that the stars are finally aligning, and, you know what, “We’re gonna be big!”