I don’t like the description of learning systems as ‘like Netflix’. Learning isn’t entertainment and the way people search for (and find and use content) isn’t the same as a video streaming supplier.

There is, however, one element of Netflix that internal learning teams can learn from; the subscription model. The difference is the same as the way we watch films. We’re able to (from today) go back to the cinema in the UK. A cinema visit is a shared experience, but it’s a one-off. It’s an event that is transactional in nature – we go to a place and transact the cost in time and money for an experience.

The Netflix subscription model is about making content available to people at their point of need, at the time they want. If they want to see the same thing a dozen times they can and, if they wish, binge a whole series of materials.

People want the cinema for the experience; what they’ve found over the last year is that streaming offers a comparable, home based, cost effective alternative.

Think about how your learning offer is being compared to how it was before. Are people still subscribed?