In the recent past you couldn’t get music anywhere at anytime. If you wanted to hear a specific artist you went and bought their music in record, tape or CD and took it home to play it. You could share it with people in a smaller circle and there was a sense of effort in getting to hear what you wanted.

We now have streaming services which can deliver pretty much any track, from any artist, to you immediately. This has shifted the model and delivery channels in ways which have eased access forever.

Learning and development is in the same place.

‘Learning’ used to be exclusive and held behind gateways, hurdles, and restricted access. I can now pretty much look up any content I want, anywhere, anytime. That doesn’t mean, of course, that I can learn anytime, but the perceived value of learning has shifted. Instead of a premium product, which held an element of exclusivity, learning is now democratised and has been diminished to simple content and free access.

A music album used to be a collection of songs put together in a specific order; they are now just singles. Learning used to be a collection of activity, content, reflection, and application. What made it work was the combination of tools and techniques which the learning specialist used.

Learning content is a stream right now, like music. Like water from a tap. Helping people understand when to turn it on and off, when to collect it in a thimble, cup, jug, and bucket.

Knowing when you need it and when you’ve had enough.

How are you managing this stream of content?