This article describes this meta-learning effect in school aged children but I am convinced the principles and behaviors apply to working adults as well…especially given that most adults probably experienced education that emphasised performance (exam results) over learning.

Sustainable performance obviously indicates the awareness of an underlying approach and strategy an individual adopts to achieving results under varying circumstances (i.e. a development-focused, reflective approach raising a meta-level awareness of personal processes driving an adaptive self), rather than merely knowing if one achieved or not (i.e. with a binary, performance-focused, non-reflective approach driving an inconsistent self). Exceptions exist for individuals who already have well-developed strategies.

Coaching or mentoring within any context or domain should fundamentally focus on raising meta-cognitive and meta-learning awareness in order to drive sustainable performance. Performance should not be confused with learning. Effective Learners will give you sustainable performance especially in what is becoming a fast changing world with ever-increasing levels of ambiguity. Performance Coaching conversations or conversations with mentors shift from how to improve to performance to how to improve learning, how to improve agility.

Coming out of this, I revisit my ideas about agility, I see learning agility as the ability to learn quickly and effectively under varying circumstances and in different contexts, I see performance agility as the ability to sustain high levels of performance under varying circumstances and in varying contexts. Performance Agility is learning agility demonstrated in a specific domain of ‘activity’ e.g. school – able to consistently pass exams, work – able to achieve performance objectives.

One behavior I am convinced effective learners display is ‘pulling’ on available resources to drive their learning. The resources pulled upon vary and are definitely not limited to packaged ‘training’ which often has to be pushed to learners.