80-word Summary: Whether you’re looking to put together a strategy on how to address learning gaps or if you’re looking for specific strategies to engage your learners in the classroom, Disruptive Learning has a little bit of everything. There are a lot of books out there offering ideas on traditional ways to improve training efforts. This book, which is mostly a collection of Shannon Tipton’s blog posts from the past several years, challenges traditional notions and encourages readers to think a little differently.
The Details:
- Author: Shannon Tipton
- Price: $5.99 on Amazon
- Pages: Depends on the size of your e-reader screen (it’s available only as an ebook)… but it’s pretty short
Bright Spots:
- If you’re like me and just can’t keep up with all the amazing blog posts that so many different high quality writers are putting out there every week, then this book offers a series of Shannon’s best posts (updated and modified to better fit the book format) all in one place.
- From the beginning, this book is a bit different – not starting with strategies or tips on how to engage learners or feel more comfortable speaking in front of an audience, but rather it’s a holistic look at how learning programs should be developed.
- “Feed Your Curiosity” components toward the end of each chapter provide links to a variety of other thought leaders who wrote in more depth about the topics in Shannon’s book.
- Who doesn’t like well-placed Star Wars and Star Trek references?
Who Should Buy It:
- I’m not sure this is for the part-time trainer or a casual presenter. This book may be for someone new to the field of learning and development as long as they’re open to doing something their employers may or may not like. This book really seems like it’s written for readers who are willing to make some waves when it comes to designing and delivering learning initiatives. This book isn’t just about training (Shannon makes the point that training is just one element of a more comprehensive learning initiative), it’s about finding ways to make investments in learning pay off. If your organization or client expects you to deliver training to solve performance problems, this book probably isn’t for you. If you’re willing to do some things that might get you in a bit of trouble, tell people who request training some things they may not want to hear (“What do you mean this issue won’t be fixed after a half-day training?”), Disruptive Learning will offer you some important things to keep in mind as you lay out your future learning initiatives.
