“There is a big disconnect between what science knows and what business does.” So claimed Daniel Pink in Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. One of the three elements of true motivation, Pink found, is the deeply human need to learn.

Our workplace training typically takes place in multi-hour or multi-day group settings. The minute we finish the learning, our chances of remembering starts to drop. Ten days after the training, our retention falls to 60%. By Day 20, it falls to 25%. By Day 40, our chances of remembering drops to just 10%. That’s an incredibly expensive and inefficient way of learning.

So, how do you find the time for learning and sharpening your leadership skills when faced with the urgency of work?  The answer, according to the Journal of Applied Psychology and Harvard Business Review researchers alike, is microlearning. Microlearning is learning that has been curated specifically to take advantage of your brain’s natural tendencies. Your working memory can hold only four to five key concepts at any given time. Microlearning, then, is designed to share only a few key concepts in any given lesson. This makes the transfer on learning to the desk much more efficient.

What’s more, microlearning greatly improves retention. Although science tells us how our brains are hardwired for learning, our workplace training still typically takes place in half-day or full-day group settings. The minute we finish the learning, our chances of remembering what we just learned begins to drop. Ten days after the training, our retention falls to 60%. By Day 20, it falls to 25%. Just 40 days after the training our chances of remembering drops to just 10%.

That’s why we’ve partnered with awarding-winning Blue Ocean Brain® to bring microlearning journeys to your laptop or smart phone. The platform is used by trusted brands like MetLife, Siemens, and Panasonic to deliver microlearning to give their employees globally-relevant, fresh, on-demand content.

For the price of a cup of coffee a day – and in less time than it takes you to drink it –  you could learn how Appreciative Coaching works, or find out Why Saying, “Good Job!” Really Isn’t that Great and what to do instead.

Need to have a difficult conversation? Check out How Effective Leaders Deliver Difficult News, or How to Name the Elephant in the Room.

Microlearning topics like these helps keep you competitive in today’s market. You can feed your need to learn the right thing, at the right time, for the right reasons, and retain what you learn as you go.

Question: Where do your turn to get just-in-time solutions to your most pressing workplace challenges?

Driven by the premise that excellence is the result of aligning people, purpose and performance, Center for Executive Excellence facilitates training in leading self, leading teams and leading organizations. To learn more, subscribe to receive CEE News!