The 70:20:10 model for learning and development (also written as 70-20-10 or 70/20/10) is a learning and development model that suggests a proportional breakdown of how people learn effectively. It is based on a survey conducted in 1996 asking nearly 200 executives to self-report how they believed they learned.[1]
In this survey respondents reported the following influences on learning:
- 70% from challenging assignments
- 20% from developmental relationships
- 10% from coursework and training
Michael Lombardo and Robert Eichinger expressed their rationale behind the 70:20:10 model in the following way in The Career Architect Development Planner:[1]
Development generally begins with a realization of current or future need and the motivation to do something about it. This might come from feedback, a mistake, watching other people’s reactions, failing or not being up to a task – in other words, from experience. The odds are that development will be about 70% from on-the-job experiences - working on tasks and problems; about 20% from feedback and working around good and bad examples of the need; and 10% from courses and reading.
Criticisms
Criticisms of the hypothesis include:
- A lack of supporting empirical evidence. [2]
- The use of perfectly even numbers. [3]
- The nature of the survey (i.e. Asking already successful managers to reflect on their experiences.) [4]
- The model may not reflect the changes in the market instigated by online technologies. For example, it does not reflect the recent focus on informal learning.[5]
- The 70:20:10 model is not prescriptive. Author and learning and development professional Andy Jefferson asserts it "is neither a scientific fact nor a recipe for how best to develop people".[4]
- Every business has its own optimisation levers, and it will be imprudent to apply the 70:20:10 model to all businesses.
- The method being too old and deprecated.
See also
References
- 1 2 Lombardo, Michael M; Eichinger, Robert W (1996). The Career Architect Development Planner (1st ed.). Minneapolis: Lominger. p. iv. ISBN 0-9655712-1-1.
- ↑ Clardy, Alan (2018). "70-20-10 and the Dominance of Informal Learning: A Fact in Search of Evidence". Human Resource Development Review. 17 (2): 153–178. doi:10.1177/1534484318759399. S2CID 148964020.
- ↑ Thalheimer, Will (May 2006). "People remember 10%, 20%...Oh Really?". Work-Learning Research. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
- 1 2 Jefferson, Andrew; Roy, Pollock. "70:20:10: Where Is the Evidence?". Association for Talent Development. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
- ↑ "The 70:20:10 Model for Learning and Development | Training Industry". www.trainingindustry.com. 2017-09-28. Retrieved 2017-09-28.