Adjacent Learning

David and Steve have produced a stimulating and inspiring read about how we can all learn and transform our work through the other things we do for fun and the people we interact with. So many of the stories resonated with me, from my own experience of starting to draw and Sketchnote for myself, and then finding it taking over my life. Read this at your peril, who knows what you might discover!

Continuous learning is vital to the improvement of both the individual and businesses. As business environments evolve, learning from other experiences enables individuals and businesses to gain better improvements and results. The premise of this book is to understand and utilise those learning environments between learnt experience, knowledge of one profession and business and how they can be translated into a benefit for other organisations. The authors have been able to capture learnt experiences and how they are used. This book is vital to understanding that journey and those benefits and will be a valuable resource to individuals and organisations who want to have continuous development and improvement.

David and Steve have managed to hit the nail on the head by explaining and landing the concept of adjacent learning. They share insights from their own experiences and the experiences of some of the most amazing people I know in this field about leveraging interconnected communities, multiples sides of our identities and bringing great concepts and frameworks from the world of work into learning. Pick up this book, take a deep breath, and get ready to go on a 4 acts journey to explore the power of transferable and non-traditional learning experiences brought in the context of development. Expect to be challenged on your current thinking and leverage new contexts into your practice.

This is a highly accessible read that would work well for experienced Learning practitioners as well as people managers with a keen interest for improving performance through learning. It has a natural rhythm almost poetic in places, with some well thought out points for reflection and application. By using the adjacent concept and framing learning to a performance in well-known theatre and cinema productions, the authors are able to lift our expectations and aspirations for learning, plus bring in a whole set of tips, techniques and practical, everyday examples. Using drama and theatre as adjacent disciplines to learn from in particular the focus on the audience - what we want them to feel, how we want them to react, what we want them to remember is a particularly useful anchor. In these ways, this book differs markedly from an academic treatise which can often be conceptual, requiring a fair bit of work to translate into everyday practice.


I found the section that focused on the reader and your role in learning to drive your performance and that of your organisation particularly valuable including, a focus on personal (as well as professional) development by encouraging curiosity, self-questioning and reflection. Additionally, the point on bringing purpose to learning, was revelatory for me e.g even compliance training can have a higher relatable purpose that gives it meaning and impact to the learner. The variety of valuable points, techniques and examples that will enable you to improve the learning experience of your learners as well as their ability to translate that into the world of work.

I read 'Adjacent Learning' with a couple of hats on! Firstly, as a manager of a large team across multiple functions, but also as an organiser of learning events on various scales. Finally, from the perspective of my own learning. What becomes abundantly clear is that we either don't recognise, or choose to ignore the skill sets that we have acquired through life, outside of what would be termed 'work'. The authors' style and process offered the opportunity to explore and reflect on a personal basis, but has also sparked conversation with colleagues about their own experiences of learning outside of work, and how these can be applied in our business.