Your Professionals Are No Longer In College

many of our colleges today still teach in the same way that they did a century ago; by lecture, in a fixed classroom, at a fixed time, and in vertical silos by subject matter.  yet anyone who spends much time around the young, wired, self-empowered professionals of today knows that they learn at their convenience, by topic area across many different subjects and disciplines.

we can't change colleges today or possibly even tomorrow, we must wait for the economics of their inviable situation to hit them in the teeth before they are likely to change.

but, we can operate our companies in the way that stimulates the learning and experimenting methods of these "o so valuable" young professionals.  we can allow them every day to explore their company and work environments across divisions, departments, offices and customers (outdated components?).  we can give them the freedom to learn and contribute to the company in ways that we never thought of before.  we can allow them the freedom to learn something new every day and explore their own potential while materially accelerating the company and its markets.

don't act like our colleges.  hold onto your professionals by allowing them to experiment and grow at their own pace.