Have you ever had a conversation with the driver of a London Black Cab? I know the stereotypical conversation is all about Arsenal’s title chances, outspoken political opinions or a list of celebrity passengers. But if you get the chance to move beyond, “Guess, who I’ve just ‘ad in the back of me cab?” there is a subject of extreme interest to all of us involved in learning...

I refer, of course, to the fabled Knowledge.

The Knowledge is the requirement for London taxi drivers to have learned 320 routes, 20,000 landmarks and 25,000 streets within a 6 mile radius of Charing Cross.  It is rigorously examined through written tests and one to one oral examinations.

Those seeking to gain their licence as a cabbie are given no warning of the routes they will be required to describe.

It takes an investment of 2 – 4 years to pass The Knowledge.

The test has long been recognised as the global gold standard for taxi driver licencing – an assurance that passengers will step into a cab with a driver who will know how to get them to the where they need to go.

Cognitive scientists have studied Cabbies’ brains using Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) scans at key points during their studies.

It takes an investment of 2 – 4 years to pass The Knowledge.

They found that their brain changed significantly as they acquired knowledge of routes, landmarks and streets.

The Knowledge is not only a feat of learning unlike pretty much any other, it is also a very significant investment in their development by every would-be Black Cab driver. 

A disruptive model for businss and learning...?

It is also one of the reasons why whenever someone cites Uber as a disruptive model for both business and learning which we should emulate, I feel more than a little angry.

Those referencing Uber at L&D events often do so from a position of partial understanding at best or knee-jerk tech-approbation at worst.

Those who have swallowed Uber’s role as part of the ‘sharing’ economy, with its lovely tech-fluffiness of empowered workers and passengers sharing their opinions, ratings and experiences I would argue are being more than a little gullible.

To endorse and unwittingly promote a business model which replaces 2 – 4 years of painstaking study with a low paid workforce directed by apps and sat-navs seems less of a step forward than a relentless drive to the bottom.

The unthinking, any-body-can-do-anything depths of employment practice.

Those referencing Uber at L&D events often do so from a position of partial understanding at best or knee-jerk tech-approbation at worst.

'Agents of de-skilling'

Uber is an example of technology as an agent of de-skilling, and - through this lowering of entry level knowledge and skills - it is an agent of the increasing precariousness of work, reduced pay and non-existent job security. 

It is an application of technology which consigns study, learning and brain-altering knowledge gain to something which is too expensive, unnecessary and out-moded. A great leap forward it is not.

Last week, as you may be aware, Uber lost a court case brought by some of its drivers in association with the GMB Trade Union.

Uber is an example of technology as an agent of de-skilling.

The so called sharing economy was exposed as a ruse to exploit vulnerable workers, to circumvent minimum wage legislation and to roll back hard won employment rights fought for over generations.

The foundations of Uber’s £50bn global business are criminally low levels of pay and terrible working conditions. It is promoting a world of work in which a wholly subjective star rating by a (possibly) racist, misogynist or drunk passenger can mean that the driver doesn’t get any more work that week. 

It makes the conditions which the apparently self-employed drivers are forced to endure even worse than those experienced by workers in Sport’s Direct’s ‘Victorian Workhouses’.

The foundations of Uber’s £50bn global business are criminally low levels of pay and terrible working conditions.

Those who extol the virtues of Uber as a model for the future of learning and work have bought into what one judge in the case described as Uber’s “fictions, twisted language and even brand new terminology”.

An investment of effort

Now I accept I might be old-fashioned here.

But one thing that my experience has told me is that learning takes time and requires investment.

It might not always require an expensive course in a converted country mansion, but it does require an investment of effort, an ambition to be better and a vision for a different future – whether that’s to master a tricky task or to change one’s life.

The kind of practices employed by Uber and others in exploiting fake self-employed status to lower costs and to undermine worker’s rights, is not going to unlock that investment, reward that time or inspire that ambition.

One thing that my experience has told me is that learning takes time and requires investment.

Put simply, why would I invest in learning if my reward will be a below minimum wage job which could come to an end at any time?

I recognise that some technological advances can enable us to do things faster and more effectively.

I recognise that the ability to look things up via apps and online tools means I need to rely less on my base knowledge and memory when achieving tasks.

I have used search engines to assist me in referencing this article. Accessing information is quick, convenient and available to anyone with an internet connection.

The preservation of knowledge

But I also recognise that we must preserve certain levels of knowledge.

I want someone who knows what they are doing to use technology to supplement their experience and knowledge, not to replace it.

OK, maybe the London Cabbie’s Knowledge may eventually become an anachronism, but I still want someone with sufficient local knowledge and the ability to make their own decisions when confronted with a dodgy algorithm or a duff steer from a sat nav.

I want a critical user of technology to provide the services which may be improved by access to that same technology.

I want someone who knows what they are doing to use technology to supplement their experience and knowledge, not to replace it.

I don’t want someone to provide services to me in transport, health, or financial services who is so reliant on the technology that their only possible response at certain points is “Computer says No!”

So, two requests, if I may be so bold...

1. Blinkered assertions

Next time you are at a conference or an event and someone extols the virtues of Uber or similar technology platforms as a model for future work and the learning and development required to fulfil those jobs, call out these blinkered assertions. 

Ask questions of the speakers, writers, bloggers and tweeters who describe this exploitative business model as ‘the sharing economy’.

Point out how Uber-ization potentially undermines everything which L&D teams should be concerned with – increased skills, better performance and higher standards.

2. Celebrate knowledge

An accountant who has mastered spreadsheets will be more effective if she or he also understands how the figures are derived and can critically analyse the answers their technology gives them.

A medic who understands the progression of an illness is more likely to question the recommendation from an app designed to improve the prescribing of medicines.

Ask questions of the speakers, writers, bloggers and tweeters who describe this exploitative business model as ‘the sharing economy’.

A pilot who understands how to manually fly a plane is more likely to get you on the ground safely than one who blindly relies on the auto-pilot in all circumstances.

A taxi driver who uses technology as an aid to - rather than a replacement for - their in-depth local knowledge is more likely to get you there safely and on time.

(And just a final thought – as we hear all too regularly about accidents caused by mobile phone use – does anyone think this image of an Uber driver on the road in San Francisco is actually safe?)

Thank goodness for the time and investment some people have devoted to their knowledge.

Thank goodness for ones who know.