And both organizations and individuals are at many different points along that journey.

I think it’s an oversimplification to say that “a complex work environment” means “innovation is more important than following established procedures.” Manufacturing and processing, which deal with atoms as well as bits, aren’t going to disappear.

If they do, say goodbye to your computer, your vitamins, your medication, your power grid — and your bicycle.

Of course innovation matters. To see what happens when it stops, take a look at Detroit, where Chrysler’s market share has dropped below 10% and GM has managed to lose more market share than Ford ever had.

At the same time, both manufacturing and processing increasingly depend on precision, which demands standardization, which demands procedures.

The individual worker, even on the pharmaceutical packaging lines I worked at recently, can and will come up with effective ways to alter, expand, or replace procedures. But that individual can’t implement them at will.

That worker would, however, be grateful to have some help in makign more rational her company’s current methods for helping her acquire new skills and apply new procedures.

However, in response to Martin’s assertion that “the bulk of the learning is informal in delivery and takes the just-in-time approach” I would like to say “I wish!”

There is just too much just-in-case, sheepdip stuff still around. There is ample evidence that, for many managers in the corporate world, training provision is a box-ticking exercise. When we have put all our staff members through the current hoop-of-the-month and performance/proficiency/on the job behaviour hasn’t changed one iota, we can point to the expensive, whizzy learning programme we put on and sigh about horses and water and stuff.

I think it is courageous of you to attempt to describe the practices found in the field of education with the practices of the corporate world. As someone who has spent time in both, I am amazed about how polar they are in their approaches and performance indicators.

Within the corporate world, dominated by stakeholder needs, tthe bulk of the learning is informal in delivery and takes the just-in-time approach. In the educational world is it more dominated by formal just-in-case learning. This polarity, i think has a fundamental effect on the managemtn dynamics.