{"id":49134,"date":"2025-09-02T09:57:43","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T13:57:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ccl.org\/?post_type=articles&#038;p=49134"},"modified":"2025-11-13T06:31:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T11:31:11","slug":"tips-for-improving-your-learning-agility","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/www.ccl.org\/articles\/leading-effectively-articles\/tips-for-improving-your-learning-agility\/","title":{"rendered":"Tips for Improving Your Learning Agility"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>How to Increase Your Learning Agility: 4 Tips<\/h2>\n<p>In today\u2019s times of uncertainty and change, leaders need to be more agile than ever. Adapting to new business strategies, working across cultures, dealing with virtual and hybrid teams, while facing industry and geopolitical disruptions \u2014 these all demand that leaders and their teams are flexible and agile. The willingness and ability to continue learning throughout your career is more important now than ever.<\/p>\n<p><em>So, what do you do when you don\u2019t know what to do?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>To be a high-performer and increase your long-term career potential, you need a way to deal with the unknown \u2014 and fast.<\/p>\n<div class=\"callOut\"><a href=\"https:\/\/shop.ccl.org\/usa\/learning-agility-unlock-the-lessons-of-experience.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"floatRight\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Learning-Agility-Guidebook.jpg\" alt=\"Learning Agility\" width=\"150\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a>We all need to learn to adapt and thrive in ambiguous or new situations, and as noted in <a href=\"https:\/\/shop.ccl.org\/usa\/learning-agility-unlock-the-lessons-of-experience.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">our book, <em>Learning Agility: Unlock the Lessons of Experience,<\/em><\/a> when you don\u2019t know what to do, learning agility is the key.<\/div>\n<p><strong>The ability to learn from experience is also a critical predictor of success as a leader, according to decades of our research.<\/strong>\u00a0(Learn more about how to gauge <a href=\"\/articles\/leading-effectively-articles\/are-you-an-agile-learner\/\">if you\u2019re an agile learner likely to have a long career<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<p>Learning agility is about knowing <em>how<\/em> to learn \u2014 knowing what to do when you don\u2019t know what to do. It\u2019s about learning from experience and applying it in new ways, adapting to new circumstances and opportunities.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s never too soon (or too late) to increase your learning agility.<\/p>\n<p>So, if you want to increase your performance \u2014 and your long-term potential \u2014 you can boost your learning agility in several ways.<\/p>\n<h2>A Step-by-Step Guide to Build Your Learning Agility<\/h2>\n<h3>Follow These 4 Tips for Improving Your Learning Agility<\/h3>\n<p>With improved learning agility, you\u2019re able to make the most out of your experiences. As you build the habits that help you figure things out as you go, you\u2019ll improve how you navigate new and difficult situations and increase your contribution to your organization.<\/p>\n<p>To excel at learning from experience and to succeed in changing times, follow our 4 tips for learning agility:<\/p>\n<h4>1. Be a seeker.<\/h4>\n<p>Seek out new and diverse experiences. Memorable experiences impact the way in which you lead and manage, so seek out more and different experiences. Immerse yourself in situations that broaden your skills and perspective. Explore new pathways.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Embrace the challenge of the unfamiliar;<\/strong> don\u2019t just go through the motions. If you react to the new learning opportunity by staying close to your comfort zone, you minimize struggle and discomfort \u2014 and you also miss out on the corresponding rebound in growth and performance. The end result is that you\u2019re pretty much the way you were before, and the full power of the new experience is lost. If you\u2019re up for it, you may consider raising your hand for a tough assignment at work and asking for a <a href=\"\/webinars\/turn-up-the-heat-turn-up-the-learning\/\">heat experience to accelerate your learning<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Take on a new challenge that scares you.<\/strong> Find something that is meaningful, but not so important that failure will have serious personal consequences. Most importantly, tell others what you\u2019re doing, and ask for their help and support. Taking on new challenges allows you to develop new skills and perspectives that may become an important part of your repertoire in the future.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Don\u2019t get stuck on first solutions.<\/strong> We often choose the first solution to come to mind, rather than taking time to consider whether it\u2019s truly the optimal course over the long term. By trying out new approaches, you can uncover ways of doing things that could save time and energy and surface new learning that may otherwise haven\u2019t been considered. Look beyond the obvious or the easy. Bring in other points of view. Find another way to understand the problem. Approach it from a different angle. If you\u2019re typically data-driven, seek out stories or go get some hands-on, action-driven insight. For each problem you face, challenge yourself to come up with new solutions, even if seemingly tried and trusted ones exist.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Make it a habit to push for new ideas<\/strong> \u2014 the less traditional, the better. When faced with a challenge, ask yourself 2 questions: <em>What\u2019s holding me back from trying something new and different? If these constraints weren\u2019t in place, how would I approach this situation differently?<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>2. Hone your sensemaking.<\/h4>\n<p>In today\u2019s high-stakes, complex, ambiguous, and fast-moving situations, you don\u2019t have the luxury of time. You need to dive in and start making things happen. This means you need to take an active approach to making sense of the new challenges you face. Be curious and willing to experiment. Ask <em>\u201cWhy?\u201d \u201cHow?\u201d <\/em>and <em>\u201cWhy not?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Find another way to understand a problem.<\/strong> Utilize multiple techniques, engage different senses, and tap into your emotions to wrest understanding, insight, and meaning from the experience. Elevate your <a href=\"\/articles\/leading-effectively-articles\/collective-problem-solving-sensemaking-steps-for-leadership-teams\/\">sensemaking and collective problem-solving skills<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>When you\u2019re in a conversation with someone and find yourself feeling stressed or trying to respond quickly, <em>pause<\/em>.<\/strong> Don\u2019t just say or do the first thing that comes to your head; instead, <a href=\"\/articles\/leading-effectively-articles\/coaching-others-use-active-listening-skills\/\">actively listen to understand<\/a> what others are saying. Trust that you\u2019ll have a response when they\u2019ve finished talking, and resist the urge to impose your own solution \u2014 these are especially key when <a href=\"\/articles\/leading-effectively-articles\/how-to-have-a-coaching-conversation\/\">holding a coaching conversation<\/a> with someone else. Take a moment to consider what\u2019s really required in the moment.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>3. Internalize experiences and lessons learned.<\/h4>\n<p>This process is needed to solidify insights and lessons learned for recall and application later. If you don\u2019t process the learning, you may miss important clues to next steps. Lean on others for this if you need to. Learning-agile people recognize that others are essential to their learning and performance. They build ties and relationships that increase their access to people who can provide new experiences and opportunities to learn; they can collaborate while <a href=\"\/articles\/leading-effectively-articles\/boundary-spanning-the-leadership-advantage\/\">spanning boundaries<\/a>.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Ask for feedback and be open to criticism<\/strong>. Find someone who you trust to give you open and honest feedback. Show that you\u2019re open to the process by only asking clarifying questions. Take time to think about what happened and what you\u2019re learning. View feedback as a gift that someone\u2019s giving you. You may not like it, and it may be uncomfortable, but there\u2019s value in it nonetheless. Regardless of the other party\u2019s motivations for giving you feedback, there&#8217;s always the opportunity to learn something about yourself.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Don\u2019t defend.<\/strong> Resist the temptation to explain your actions or make excuses. When you enter a mode of self-preservation and try to defend what <em>is<\/em>, you close yourself off to what <em>could be<\/em>. To practice non-defensiveness, always try to thank the other person. Consider the feedback carefully so you can see patterns (and changes) over time.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Reflect, both alone and with others.<\/strong> Learning occurs when you take the time to reflect, to shift your thinking beyond merely what happened, to ask <em>why<\/em> things happened the way they did. Reflection helps to surface the intuitive and lock it in for future reference. So step back from the busyness and figure out what you\u2019re learning from a project, from an interaction, from a new experience. Talk about what\u2019s currently working well and what isn\u2019t \u2014 or debrief what\u2019s already happened. Conduct after-action reviews where you, and relevant others, reflect by asking questions: <em>What happened? Why did it happen that way? What should we stop \/ start \/ continue doing in order to ensure success in the future? What changes in knowledge, skill level, attitudes, behavior, or values resulted from the experience?<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>4. Adapt and apply.<\/h4>\n<p><a href=\"\/articles\/leading-effectively-articles\/use-experience-fuel-leadership-development\/\">Through your experiences, you&#8217;ve had the opportunity for development<\/a> and learning things. Over time, you get even better at applying those learnings to navigate new and challenging situations.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Learn to rely on your intuition.\u00a0<\/strong>Concentrate on principles and rules of thumb. People who rate high on learning agility tell us they operate largely on feel and flexibility. When faced with something new, look for similarities between the situation and things you\u2019ve done in the past. Draw on these similarities to frame the new challenges.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Don\u2019t overthink.<\/strong> Under pressure, you probably feel the urge to get things done quickly. Ironically, consciously searching your mind for ideas and solutions closes us off to both the wisdom of others and our own experience. Inspiration often comes from the unconscious; being open to this can spark new ideas and strengthen performance. Be a flexible leader and don\u2019t shy away from experimentation as you venture into new territory.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Our research has found that learning-agile superstars engage in these 4 behaviors at a significantly higher level of skill and commitment than everyone else \u2014 and get great results over and over again. (That\u2019s why it\u2019s often said that <a href=\"\/articles\/white-papers\/great-leaders-are-great-learners-how-to-develop-learning-agile-high-potentials\/\">great leaders are great learners<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, your ability to continuously learn and adapt will determine the extent to which you thrive in today\u2019s turbulent times \u2014 and succeed in the future.<\/p>\n<p>If you follow our tips to improve your learning agility, you\u2019ll make the most of your experiences. By seeking, sensemaking, internalizing, and applying, you\u2019ll do more, learn more, and have a more satisfying career.<\/p>\n<h2>Ready to Take the Next Step?<\/h2>\n<p><strong><em>Share these tips for improving your learning agility with other leaders at your organization, and consider upskilling your team for <a href=\"\/leadership-challenges\/leadership-through-uncertainty\/\">leading through uncertainty<\/a>. We offer curated learning journeys based on our research-based modules. Available <a href=\"\/leadership-solutions\/leadership-topics\/\">leadership topics<\/a> include Communication, Emotional Intelligence, <a href=\"\/leadership-solutions\/leadership-topics\/learning-agility\/\">Learning Agility<\/a>, Listening to Understand, Psychological Safety, and more.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What do you do when you don\u2019t know what to do? Your ability to learn continuously determines how well you survive \u2014 and thrive \u2014 in the future. Here are 4 research-based tips to improve your learning agility.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":130,"featured_media":49408,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49134","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","categories-learning-agility","audience-leaders-managers","audience-alumni","impact-level-individuals","region-global","article-type-leading-effectively-articles"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.6 (Yoast SEO v26.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Tips for Improving Your Learning Agility | CCL<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Your ability to learn continuously shapes how well you survive \u2014 and thrive. 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