Hi, I am Shaurav
After 32 years in the consulting, research, learning and development world, I recently stepped away. During those years I was always fascinated by the topic of how we learn, and how we retain and apply what we learn. Over time, especially in the organizational context, I realized that very little actual learning and transformation was happening through traditional training formats. What was missing and what I believe truly matters and makes a difference were two key factors: activation of learning curiosity and emotional relevance to why that learning mattered.
Almost everything I learned during my professional journey happened when someone or something sparked curiosity in me and when I felt the emotional (not just rational) urge to learn more. Once that happened there was no stopping me—I dove deep into the rabbit hole and tried to learn "that thing" or the topic unearthing every source, tool, and learning aid I could and creating ways to make that learning stick.
I began to wonder why most of our current approaches to training and learning are not geared to do this. And that's when I decided to dive deeper and take a hard, objective look at the world I was so much a part of—both as a consumer of learning but more critically as a provider and facilitator myself—and decided to compile the twelve essays you will find in this book. I realized that with the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence and what it makes possible, for the first time in decades, we have a real opportunity to change the way learning and training happens in organizations. AI not only exposes the fundamental flaws in our system today but offers incredible new ways for self-motivated and self-guided learning than ever before.
That is the core premise of this book. The book is not designed to provide you with guaranteed solutions to every training challenge you experience. Instead, it is meant to do 3 things: (a) surface what is not working and why; (b) spark internal debate and discussion on what must change; and finally (c) seed ideas for you to explore for your own organizational and personal context.
Nothing more. Nothing less.
Book Navigator
Training is Broken
Time and attention are truly the scarcest resources in today's modern times. Despite our best intentions, we struggle to read through entire books and articles we so eagerly picked up or downloaded and fail to consider or apply the ideas contained within. Unfortunately, 99% of the best business books end up gathering dust without the reader having time to go through the entire content, or worse, not even understand how the book can help them in their context.
I don't want that to happen with this book.
The accompanying Book Navigator will help you quickly determine if you should even read this book at all or if the book is relevant, both as an individual and for the organization you are part of. It will help you quickly access the key ideas and insights that will help spark curiosity to dive deeper. It will help you communicate some of the ideas and opportunities in the book to your team and stakeholders—after all while learning is an individual sport as I argue in the book, the system of learning within organizations is clearly a team sport.
Try it. I think you will find it helpful.
Why the Book and Resources Are Free
I decided to make my book freely available. Even the Book Navigator to help you navigate it. Zero dollars, zero catch. And I can already feel the collective eyebrow raise from the business world: "If it's free, it can't be worth much."
We've been conditioned to believe that price equals value. The more something costs, the more it must be worth. Except, the global corporate training industry generates $370 billion annually, and a large part of it fails to create lasting behavior change. So, tell me again about the correlation between price and value?
Perhaps, I could charge for it. But if I truly believe learning is individual—that everyone must chart their own path— a central theme of the book, then I need to remove every barrier. Including the financial one. The only thing I'm asking you to invest in is your willingness to think differently. That's always been priceless anyway.
And yes, please do share it. If you know anyone directly or indirectly in this space—a leader, a decisionmaker, a team member, or a practitioner—please share this. Remember the goal is to spark conversations and create change!