Continuing culture, continuing customs
Much of the work on learning culture mistakenly becomes program work. We build workshops, launch platforms, and update manager toolkits. That’s what’s important. However, winning or losing in culture is not determined here. Culture is won or lost by what happens when someone asks an inconvenient question, when a mistake is pointed out, when the team realizes something needs to change and decides whether to actually change it.
So there’s a difference between maintaining a learning culture and building learning momentum. You can generate excitement with a strong rollout. To maintain a learning culture, you need to repeat small movements in your work flow until they become the norm. Here are five habits to keep learning from dying on the vine, even when everyone is busy.
Habit #1: Make learning visible and repeatable
Learning rarely fails because people don’t have answers. You get stuck because your questions don’t fully surface. People realize something is wrong, but hesitate. Maybe you feel like things are slowing down. Maybe you feel like you’re exposing uncertainty. Maybe you just feel inconvenienced in the middle of your actual work.
In complex environments, questions are often the most valuable contribution. Bring assumptions to the surface before they solidify. Test clarity while there is still room for adjustment. When inquiry feels unsafe or unwelcome, learning remains civil, safe, and incomplete. In reality, this looks like this:
Leaders and facilitators not only answer questions, but also appreciate them. Before committing to a plan, the team pauses to clarify its assumptions. People asking, “What are we missing?” Not as a dramatic movement, but as a normal movement. Disagreement is phrased as a question: “Help me understand what got us there.”
Over time, doubts will appear sooner when they can still affect your work. Confusion turns into clarity before it becomes a do-over. Decisions are better retained because they were challenged while they were still forming. If it’s working, look for this.
There were fewer “wait, I thought I was doing X” moments later in the process. I started getting asked more questions in the room, and then less questions in private. A pushback that feels calm and concrete, rather than personal. Risk increases faster without significant hedging.
Habit #2: Normalize queries as contributions
Most teams move quickly. The meeting ends, decisions are made, and everyone moves on. Learning happens within that momentum, but it is rarely named. Awareness surfaces, mistakes are revealed, patterns begin to form, and then they disappear.
Without small, visible moments, learning becomes fragile. Rather than carrying over, it is reset with each new project. The same problem reoccurs because the insights that could have interrupted the problem had no place to land. In reality, this looks like this:
Instead of a complete record of an important meeting ending with “What should I remember next time?”, record one main point and one unanswered question. Name the pattern out loud. “This is the third time I’ve run into the same problem.” Creating a Light Place to Learn to Live (1 page, 1 channel, 1 note)
As time goes by, the work feels like it’s piling up. Teams remember not just what decisions were made, but why they were made. Patterns are discovered faster. There are fewer lessons that exist only in someone’s head. If it’s working, look for this.
There are fewer repetitive discussions that give a sense of déjà vu. Onboarding to projects is faster because context is easier to find. Make the end of meetings and handoffs cleaner. People who naturally refer to past learning: “The last time I learned…”
Habit #3: Prove that learning has consequences
People come to learn longer than we sometimes expect. They provide feedback, share lessons learned, and participate in reflections. It is not the effort that exhausts them. After that, nothing seems to change.
Learning is everywhere. Research, retrospectives, pilots, sessions. But when insights don’t visibly impact decisions or the way work is done, participation starts to feel symbolic. Reflection becomes routine rather than useful. In reality, this looks like this:
Close the loop: “Here’s what we heard, and here’s what we’re changing.” Make one visible adjustment post-retro, no matter how small. Assign an owner who not only captures goodwill but also follows through. Shows the “before and after” when the process was changed.
Over time, engagement deepens. People provide better input because they expect it to be important. The team stops revisiting the same conversation because learning leaves a mark on what happens next. If it’s working, look for this.
Not only will you get more feedback, you’ll get better quality feedback. Less cynicism about investigations, retros, and pilots. There are fewer repeated pain points throughout the cycle. Those who cite change as evidence: “It’s different now because we learned…”
Habit #4: Recognize learning behaviors
In many organizations, people learn quickly what’s important. The results are visible. It’s easy to celebrate results. Thoughts that lead to such outcomes are often done silently, even if they are noticed.
As job uncertainty increases, learned behavior becomes essential. Surface risks early. change your mind. Ask better questions before getting a clear answer. These are the moments when judgment develops. In reality, this looks like this:
Recognize those who surfaced risks early on, rather than just resolving them later. “You changed your mind based on new information,” evokes the thoughtful axis. Kudos for seeking clarity: “That question saved me a lot of rework.” Reward asking for help before mistakes become costly.
Over time, people will take smarter risks. Concerns surface faster. Teams spend less energy on looking good and more energy on improving the way they do their work. If it’s working, look for this.
More early warning and less escalation later. This allows for more visible course corrections and fewer unglamorous workarounds. Posture less during meetings and think more realistically. People are talking about judgment and trade-offs, not just speed.
Habit #5: Model learning from the top
Uncertainty is part of everyday business. Decisions are made based on incomplete information and trade-offs are constant. Yet, many leaders feel pressure to always act confident and accomplished.
If leaders don’t model learning in moments like these, the organization will learn something else instead. That uncertainty should be hidden. That question belongs further down. That mistake should be managed quietly. In reality, this looks like this:
A leader who says “we’re still working on it” without over-explaining. List mistakes and corrections. “This is what I would do.” Ask honest questions in public as well as in private. Invite objections early on: “Why is this the wrong decision?”
Over time, information moves faster and is filtered less. The team surfaces issues while they can be fixed. The course correction will be normal instead of unstable. If it’s working, look for this.
Fewer surprises reach the leader late. More direct upward communication and less polish. You’ll see reality sooner, so you’ll be able to pivot faster. Leaders are not only trusted, but trusted for their integrity.
Finally: Culture is built on Tuesdays.
Just because people are no longer interested doesn’t mean the learning culture will collapse. It erodes because no one has time to take care of it on an average Tuesday. The good news is that maintaining a learning culture doesn’t require another launch, framework, or heroic effort by L&D. You need to pay attention to the moment that is already present. Questions people ask most of the time. Insights revealed just before the meeting ends. When feedback arrives, see if anyone does something with it.
These habits of maintaining a learning culture aren’t fancy. It doesn’t trend on LinkedIn. But they work because they change what people expect. Questions are most welcome. The learning will remain in your memory. Raising your voice will lead somewhere. Leaders are still learning.
If you work in L&D, this is where your influence is strongest. It’s not about designing more content, it’s about shaping the conditions in which learning travels. You can’t make people learn, but you can make it harder for them to unlearn what they learn. Start small. Choose one habit. Try it this week with one team, one meeting. Culture does not change through declarations. It will change through repetition.
