70/20/10 model (learning and development)
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There are two 70/20/10 models in business: education and managing innovation.
Learning & development
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.
Morgan McCall and his colleagues working at the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) are usually credited with originating the 70:20:10 ratio. Two of McCall's colleagues, Michael M. Lombardo and Robert W. Eichinger, published data from one CCL study in their 1996 book The Career Architect Development Planner.[1]
Based on a survey asking nearly 200 executives to self report how they believed they learned, McCall, Lombardo and Eichinger's surmised that:
“Lessons learned by successful and effective managers are roughly:
- 70% from tough jobs
- 20% from people (mostly the boss)
- 10% from courses and reading”
Lombardo and Eichinger expressed their rationale behind the 70:20:10 model this 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
In recent years, many academics have been coming out against the purported effectiveness of the 70-20-10 hypothesis.
Criticisms include:
- A lack of empirical supporting data [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]
While, the model may serve to inspire some to consider non-formal learning as a part of their learning programs, it's important to remember that 70:20:10 was never intended to be a prescriptive model. Learning professionals are encouraged to remember that 70:20:10 "is neither a scientific fact nor a recipe for how best to develop people." [4]
Managing innovation
The 70:20:10 Model for Business Innovation is a business resource management model pioneered by Eric Schmidt and articulated at Google in 2005.[5]
This model dictates that, to cultivate innovation, employees should utilize their time in the following ratio:
- 70% of time should be dedicated to core business tasks.
- 20% of time should be dedicated to projects related to the core business.
- 10% of time should be dedicated to projects unrelated to the core business.
References
- ^ a b Lombardo, Michael M; Eichinger, Robert W (1996). The Career Architect Development Planner (1st ed.). Minneapolis: Lominger. p. iv. ISBN 0-9655712-1-1.
- ^ Kajewski, Kellu; Valerie, Madsen. "Demystifying 70:20:10" (PDF). Deakin Prime. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
- ^ Thalheimer, Will. "People remember 10%, 20%...Oh Really?". Will At Work Learning. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
- ^ a b Jefferson, Andrew; Roy, Pollock. "70:20:10: Where Is the Evidence?". Association for Talen Development. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
- ^ John Battelle (December 1, 2005). "The 70 Percent Solution: Google CEO Eric Schmidt gives us his golden rules for managing innovation". CNN Money magazine. Retrieved August 12, 2011.