What is Learning Agility? How Can It Help You Grow?

haslina4
Nov 16, 2021
3 min read

Updated: Jun 8, 2024

Wendy Tan

Author, Keynote Speaker & Managing Partner of Flame Centre | Human Skills Institute

Updated 28 May 2024

Learning agility is the capability to learn different skills easily and quickly.

People with high learning agility:

Know what they need to learn
How to learn effectively
Monitor and improve their learning

Looking at the chart above, there are 5 dimensions in the adult learning process - absorbing input, reflecting on the input, applying the ideas, getting feedback, and reviewing to improve how we learn (metacognitive). Highly agile learners have significantly higher metacognitive ability. They also reflect and apply their learning more, and have a wider repertoire of learning strategies.

Is learning agility a skill? Can we teach learning agility?

Yes, learning agility is a skill we can all learn.
The World Economic Forum, SkillsFuture SG, and McKinsey list learning agility as one of the top skills to prepare for the future.

What does learning agility encompass?

Five components are needed to be an agile learner:

1. Sense of Purpose in Learning

We want to learn because we believe what we learn will impact the world for the better. We also learn to be successful in our careers.

2. Proactive Initiative

This is an attitude to take charge of our learning and have confidence in our ability to learn.

3. Metacognitive Ability

This is the ability to set learning goals, make a learning plan, implement your plan, and review the learning to make improvement.

4. Learning Strategies

These are activities to learn:

Taking in content from books, courses, videos and experts
Reflecting on the content and one's assumptions to derive new insights
Experimenting and applying the learning
Getting feedback on our application

5. Environment to Apply our Learning

Having a job or assignment that compels us to learn to be successful
Colleagues or teammates to share diverse perspectives, learning resources and give each other feedback
A manager or mentor to guide and challenge us
An organization that helps us assess the skills we need to learn for the future, gives us access to learning resources or tech tools to support learning.

Why is learning agility important?

To acquire new skills and capabilities quickly as jobs change and new skills are required.
To learn how to be successful in new or uncertain situations where the solution needs to be discovered.
When we learn, we feel successful and confident, empowered to make a difference, and enjoy positive outcomes like more career options or more fulfillment.

How to learn and improve learning agility?

Increase motivation to learn
Develop proactive initiative
Learn the metacognitive ability
Cultivate a network of experts
Join communities that are learning the skills
Get a job or assignment that compels you to learn to be successful
Shape your learning environment to apply and obtain feedback

What is learning agility in leadership?

Leaders need to be agile learners to path-find in new and uncertain situations.
Leaders need to deal with an increasingly wider span of areas. Learning about different areas to know what questions to ask is key to success.

Can learning agility be assessed?

Yes, learning agility can be assessed.
Learning agility can be assessed by measuring the factors that influence it, such as motivation, attitude, and process.

To hone your learning agility, check out my book, Learning Agility: Relearn, Reskill, and Reinvent for more research-based insights and actionable strategies.