How a Virus Can Be Good for Your Business

Have you ever trembled in fear at the words "computer virus?" Have you ever seen a movie about a deadly virus spreading faster than anyone can act to stop it?

Viruses work because they are contagious. First one person becomes infected and then sneezes on someone else. That person becomes infected and soon nearly everyone in a community is infected. A virus is a very effective thing.

A computer virus can cause vast amounts of damage to a company's information systems. A smallpox virus can destroy an unprotected population. It's no wonder we hate the word "virus." Yet, there is a kind of virus that can be good for a business and that can make a company smarter and more effective. Because as much as 80% of what we learn on the job happens in informal settings, the most effective form of informal learning happens with the spread of something I call a learning virus.

Introducing: The Learning Virus

A learning virus starts when someone in an organization learns something powerful. If co-workers respect this person, they will be attracted to the new idea and will try to use it themselves. It is this cycle of learning and passing on the learning to others that spreads the learning virus.

Here's an example. Let's say a few bright and hard-working employees take part in a project team that accomplishes a great deal for the company. In the process, they learn how to use a new method of problem solving. What do you suppose happens when the project is finished?

The employees return to their own departments or branch offices and start to use the new problem-solving skills, telling everyone around them how powerful this new method is. Because these employees are respected by their co-workers, others will want to try out the new ideas. This is how powerful new ideas that employees value are spread quickly throughout an organization.

The next time a tough problem arises, whom do you think will be put in charge of it? Almost certainly, the job will go to one of the original roblem-solving team members. Chances are, this person will form a team similar to the one that created the original learning virus. This team will not only further spread the original problem-solving learning virus but will create one or more additional learning viruses as well, depending on the nature of the problem to be solved.

If you think about it, I'm sure you'll remember seeing a learning virus spread around your own organization. I've seen it in a very dramatic way. Three years ago I was part of a project team that helped our client bring in ten million dollars in new sales by finding a way to cut the time needed to train new sales engineers in half. We did this using a team process called Action Learning.

Creating and Spreading a Learning Virus

Action Learning projects are a highly effective way to spread a learning virus through any organization quickly. Action Learning employs a team approach to problem-solving with the team members coming together from various parts of an organization. Once the team members learn to use Action Learning to solve a problem, they return to their respective places within the company and start spreading the learning virus throughout the entire organization.

While we were working on our project, some of the team members started telling their co-workers about this exciting new team process and how effective it was. Everyone was amazed by how much we accomplished and that so many people from diverse parts of the company were able to work together so effectively. When our team finished its work, every team in the company wanted to know how we did it. Various members of our team spread what they had learned about Action Learning. Now every project team in that company uses the same process.

How do we create and spread a learning virus? First, you need some way for an influential and respected employee to learn something powerful. Then, this employee returns and starts spreading the learning virus to co-workers. Others become infected and begin to spread the virus around the company. Soon numerous employees have these new skills and they are all working more effectively.

Now that's a virus that is good for business.

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