Habit vs. New Learning

Remember the first time you drove a car? The first car I learned to drive was a baby-blue Toyota Celica with a stick shift. It was my best friend's car and she gave me lessons on a dirt road behind her house. I remember concentrating on every shift, holding my breath each time I pushed down the clutch.

I don't put that kind of focus on driving anymore. I hardly think about it—I can even multi-task! (Yes, I know I shouldn't). Driving has become routine. I can pretty much do it "without thinking."

When we learn something new, the bulk of the brain activity is happening in the "new learning" area (the pre-frontal cortex), where we process new things and compare them to what we already know. Once we figure "it" out, and routine sets in, the brain activity associated happens in a different part of the brain, the "habit" area (the basal ganglia). It requires much less energy to process activity in the "habit" area than it does in the "new learning" area. Travel to a different country and try driving on the "wrong" side of the road. See how quickly you move out of the "habit" area, and how much more mental energy it takes.

Changing behavior is stressful. Our brain senses that something is wrong when we shift from processing in the "habit" area to the "new learning" area. This shift is what we are attempting to create through the learning experiences we design and deliver.

How do we create this shift? How do we first move the learner from habit mode into new learning mode? Then, once we figure out how to do that, how do we move the new learning into habit?

Begin by connecting with what the learner already knows. Create dialog, experiences and personal sharing that elicit what the learner already knows about the content. Training design begins with what the learner knows, not what the trainer knows.

I like my ideas better. Avoid "telling" as much as possible and figure out how they can "discover." Our brain is flooded with chemicals when we have a personal "aha!" moment. Those chemicals lock in the insight, and create permanent change. Create some "aha!" moments in your training through activities and sharing.

Practice. The very act of focusing our attention on new learning through application locks in the learning. Move the learner into application, before they leave the learning experience.

Personalize it. Give the learner the opportunity to figure out how they can use the information they are learning in their real-world work situation. Allow the learner to do the assessment of how effectively they apply the information.

Enjoy the process,
Jeanine O'Neill-Blackwell
President/CEO, 4MAT 4BUSINESS