Why You Don't Understand Your Learners...Yet
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When someone tells you to do something, how do you respond?
The Four Tendencies
According to Gretchen Rubin in her book The Four Tendencies, we all respond to expectations in differently. She identifies four tendencies:
The Upholder
The Questioner
The Obliger
The Rebel
If someone tells you to do something and you cringe... well, your tendency may be the Rebel.
One unique thing about Rubin's work is that she focuses not just on external expectations, like when someone tells you to do something, but also internal expectations, like when you WANT to do something.
The Upholder, for example, is likely to follow through and meet both internal and external expectations, while the Obliger may meet external expectations while failing to meet internal ones.
Why is this? And what does it mean for L&D?
We have an opportunity to better understand our learners - not just their extrinsic motivations but also their internal ones. Without taking the time to see both, we can't really know who our learners are.
Applying the Four Tendencies to L&D
The Upholder: These are your rule followers. They want to meet expectations. For L&D, this means we need to give them clear direction and a path to follow. They will meet the expectations because it's the "right" thing to do.
The Questioner: They want to know why. If they see the reason for the expectation, they will follow through. When we make our training relevant and meaningful, we are meeting the needs of the Questioner.
The Obliger: They will follow through if they are held accountable. In L&D, we can create learning cohorts, foster mentor/mentee or coaching relationships, and prepare the supervisors of staff when we need staff to make a behavior change.
The Rebel: Give up now. Just kidding. The Rebel likes to feel autonomy and ownership. When we provide self-directed learning, we can tap into their desires for freedom.
Key Takeaway
While our staff may not fit perfectly into a single tendency, understanding these tendencies can give us great insight into how to approach our staff when change is needed, and we can design learning with all of these tendencies in mind.
P.S. If you want support understanding your audience so you can create more effective learning solutions, here's how I can help:
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About the Author
An experienced learning & development professional, Heather Burright is a principal consultant with Skill Masters Market.
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