I’m in the middle of the Missing Link Story-to-Stage Mentorship program, and it might be the most challenging development experience I’ve ever taken on. And that’s saying something, because I’ve done MIT, Oxford, Yale, the Reinvention Academy, and more courses than any sane person should admit to. Those programs were brilliant – rich and theory-based. Missing Link is the opposite. It’s practical, confronting, unapologetically “get up and present,” and a masterclass in continuous learning. (And if anyone wants me to present to their team as a no-fee session, reach out and we’ll see if diaries align.)
Every Monday evening, our global cohort meets to unpack ideas, explore challenges, and workshop our developing talks. In the very first session, I realised things were going to get interesting when the opening topic was hallucinogenics and wellness. Not exactly your standard introduction to improving organisational learning.
But the idea that’s stayed with me came from our first challenge, built around Darren Hardy’s The Compound Effect – a principle we apply often in personal development but rarely inside organisations, where a strong Learning Culture is the real differentiator.
The Blind Spot Inside Organisations (and their Learning Culture)
Most organisations excel at KPIs and deliverables but fall short on developing long-term individual capability. I’ve worked with over a dozen companies; only one truly supported real employee development – and that was because learning was their actual business model. Everywhere else, the pattern was the same: outdated content, clunky portals, compliance dressed as workplace learning, and no protected time for team learning habits to form.
What’s striking is that McKinsey research shows organisations with strong learning cultures are 30–50% more likely to outperform their peers, yet we continue treating learning as a “nice-to-have,” instead of a strategic engine for capability building.
Employees aren’t learning because they’re stretched thin. Asking people to “upskill in your spare time” is like asking a marathon runner to sprint the final five kilometres for fun.
In my last permanent role, I began gathering my team every Friday at 3pm. The suggestion landed like I’d invited the team to a surprise Friday-at-3pm workshop on chainsaw juggling. But, it was also the time when people were least productive. Everyone looked busy poking their keyboards, but nothing was happening. So instead of another meeting, we created a moment to breathe, acknowledge wins, stucks, and losses, and shared one idea that helped us work better – a simple team learning habit.
Sometimes it was a 10-minute YouTube clip. Sometimes it was a 2-minute TikTok accompanied by Gen-Z insisting anything longer was “basically a documentary.” But slowly the team’s language changed. People referred back to shared ideas, applied them to solve problems, and collaborated more fluidly. The compound effect of continuous learning at work took root.
From my EdTech experience, I’ve learned this: people learn best in chosen spaces where they feel safe, not judged, and not rushed. Give people room, and they grow. This aligns with Dr. Carol Dweck, Stanford psychologist and pioneer of the Growth Mindset, whose work underpins modern thinking about growth mindset in organisations. She says:
“Why waste time proving over and over how great you are, when you could be getting better?”
And employees know this too. According to the LinkedIn Workplace Learning Report, 94% of workers say they would stay longer if a company invested in their learning and development.
Yet many still aren’t learning. They’re performing. They’re proving. They’re protecting themselves.
Fear blocks compounding. And fear kills a learning culture.
What Compounding Looks Like in the Real World
Microsoft under Satya Nadella is one of the best modern examples of a transformed Learning Culture. When he took over in 2014, Microsoft was stuck in a “know-it-all” mindset. Nadella didn’t push harder – he rewired the culture around curiosity, organisational learning, and continuous improvement. In his book Hit Refresh Nadella says:
“We must move from being know-it-alls to learn-it-alls.”
The results:
- Market cap grew from ~$300B to over $3T
- Collaboration improved
- Innovation accelerated
- Engagement rose
Toyota takes a different route. Kaizen is operational compounding: tiny daily improvements, repeated consistently. Small changes in process, communication, and environment – classic capability building moments – multiply into world-class performance.
“Small changes, repeated consistently, don’t add up – they multiply.”
Microsoft shows how a Learning Culture transforms a global organisation. Toyota shows how micro-progressions build unstoppable capability. Both prove compounding is a design choice.
The Leadership Responsibility (and Yours)
Most leaders try to build performance through process instead of people. Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings captures it perfectly in No Rules Rules – “We build people, not processes,” because when you build people, processes lighten. When processes lighten, people move faster. And when people move faster, learning culture compounds.
But here’s the key part: this isn’t only a leadership story. Anyone can start a learning ritual, share an insight, or create a psychologically safe moment. Culture builds downward, sideways, and diagonally. The smallest positive act, repeated consistently, often starts with one person.
When I started those Friday sessions, no one gave me permission. It wasn’t a programme. It was simply consistent, human-centred employee development practice – and it created compounding impact.
In Atomic Habits, James Clear points out that “You do not rise to the level of your goals; you fall to the level of your systems.” and If your learning system is weak, ambition won’t save you. If your learning system is strong, challenge won’t break you.
So the real question isn’t whether your people have potential – they do. The question is:
Have you built a Learning Culture where that potential can compound?
And equally:
Are you personally contributing to that system of organisational learning?
Because the truth is simple:
Skills compound.
Confidence compounds.
Culture compounds.
Capability compounds.
But only when learning has space to breathe.
Start Here: A 15-Minute Compounding Starter Kit
If you want to activate a strong Learning Culture in your team, begin with one simple ritual this week:
- Pick a 15-minute slot (not Friday at 4pm).
- Ask one person to share a useful idea, insight, or tool.
- Ask the team:
“What’s one thing we can try this week?” - Rotate ownership weekly.
- Repeat. Let compounding do the rest.
Small actions, done consistently, don’t stay small.
They compound.
That’s how a Learning Culture begins.
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