Before we explore iterative learning, here is a quick recap on the six Is of real learning model. In this series, we outline each component – Individual, immersive, incremental, iterative, intrinsic and intentional – and how to apply it. We also suggest how to combine different components to support learning that leads to behavioural change and workplace application. Here, we dive into the fourth I of this new L&D model – Iterative learning.
What is iterative learning?
When first advised that learning is an iterative process, I nodded wisely and pretended to understand what this meant. In truth, I had no idea. The Cambridge dictionary, as many times before, came to my rescue, advising that Iterative is ‘Doing something again and again, usually to improve it’.
Iterative learning, therefore, involves the deliberate revisiting of whatever the issue or experience is to intentionally learn more deeply, building capability and performance.
First is worst
Any first learning effort is rarely the best. Such immediate progress – where no revisit is needed to refine, develop and enhance – is the exception, not the rule.
‘First is worst’ means that any initial progress, particularly with complex, difficult and dynamic issues, will be the least valuable. It is the later iterations that will often significantly move value forward. This is the natural journey to mastering anything – new or previously worked upon.
In today’s ‘hurry up/move on’ world of work, time to think, reconsider, and look for something better is rarely encouraged or rewarded.
Lord Allen Sheppard, when Chairman of Grand Metropolitan, bemoaned a culture of ‘acceptable under-performance’. This can be shown clearly in the ‘that’s good enough’ approach to learning, which is much more valuable when consciously and deliberately revisited and polished.
Iterative learning is often a challenge
Without support or encouragement, iterative learning may be hard work, lonely, exposing and time-consuming. It will often be driven not by the demands or needs of others but by the learner’s personal standards. By their desire to achieve higher levels of outcomes beyond the first effort. The greatest value comes from difficult, not easy, learning.
Learning is not linear; there is no straight line to mastering a skill or thoroughly understanding new knowledge.
Revisiting learning may well involve moving backward or forward so gradually that it seems not worth the investment. Maintaining motivation to achieve a learning goal can mean digging deep, managing expectations, and being realistic about what progress is possible with each iterative visit.
Iterative learning is how the best get better
Authors, songwriters, musicians and sportspeople know well that optimising performance takes more time than most are prepared to find – and more robust, honest self-review and analysis than most are prepared to take. Drafts and redrafts of books, hours of working on a three-second section of a song, or thousands of hours of work on a practice ground involve going over current positions and results critically. It means seeking small and significant changes that get closer to what can be achieved.
In his book Bounce, Matthew Syed makes a strong case for the ‘10,000 hour rule’. He says it typically takes that much time dedicated to immersive practice to achieve true mastery of anything.
Practice alone, Syed emphasises, is also not enough. Feedback and coaching are required to multiply impact and improve the chances of applied learning.
‘It takes time, not talent’
If the maxim ‘it takes time, not talent’ is right, then iterative, long-term persistence is key. Syed cites test cricketers, orchestral musicians, as well as chess masters, and even reflects on his own journey as a champion table tennis player. This huge, daunting number of hours is what differentiates the most capable, the most persistent, the most driven from the rest of us.
The appetite to return again and again with a relentless desire for excellence is the far end of high performance. Some way back from those extremes are where the majority of learners’ own contexts and performance pathways lie. While these journeys involve fewer hours, persistence is still essential, and frustration likely, before the learning goal is achieved.
Accept, embrace and use iterative learning
Not getting the best ideas, results, solutions and outcomes the first time round is not failure – it’s reality. This is true for any specific skill or knowledge area, and more broadly for professional development.
The last words are from the much-missed master of words Charles Handy, who advised that the learn-ing are of far greater value than the learn-ed.
