Avoid these three common educational pitfalls.
When I began my career as a special education teacher, I quickly witnessed how someone with significant learning hurdles could acquire new skills. Yet a surprising theme emerged in my recent conversations with Inc. 5000 business leaders: Many expressed frustration about the readiness and capabilities of Gen Z employees entering the workforce. I wondered if the coronavirus pandemic negatively impacted their learning or whether something else was to blame.
When someone on your team struggles, what conclusions do you make? You might think the employee doesn’t have strategic or technical abilities. You could surmise they’re not leadership material or conclude they just don’t get it. As a learning scientist, I know that a person’s performance at a particular moment doesn’t represent their overall ability to assimilate new information and grow. Neuroscience research demonstrates that the brain retains its capacity for neuroplasticity throughout life, reorganizing and adapting in response to learning, experience, and environmental demands.
Leaders shouldn’t assume employees come with all the skills and knowledge necessary to perform the way leadership wants, nor should they mistake a gap in current performance for a lack of capability. The way development opportunities are designed matters just as much as what is taught. Too often, though, organizations assign a course, deliver information, and check the completion box. Then, they place responsibility on the employee when behavior or performance doesn’t change.
3 pitfalls when educating employees
If we believe everyone is capable of learning, we must also acknowledge that leaders have a responsibility to create learning conditions, even if this requires rethinking some deeply ingrained approaches to employee development.
Avoid these three simple pitfalls when educating employees:
1. Don’t think of development as a one-time course
Building community and true lasting connections is difficult when your orientation is a generic course or death by PowerPoint. Most organizations deliver generic content that has little meaning to the learner in the moment when content is assigned. Instead, approach the structure like this: Learn, practice, discuss, apply, reflect, and receive feedback. For example, leadership development might combine a short, authentic microlesson with a real workplace challenge, peer discussion, coaching, and on-the-job application. This elevates it from a course to an experience that will stick with the learner.
2. Don’t deliver learning in a single format
The five interaction modes of learning can individualize experiences for any age and any cognitive capacity. Most organizations use learner-to-instructor interactions, where an expert leader delivers the information, or learner-to-content interaction where the learner reads content on their own. However, research suggests that learner-to-self and learner-to-learner interaction approaches support metacognition and self-regulated learning strategies. In essence, these help people become better at managing their own learning and expanding their perspectives.
3. Don’t put people in a room for hours in the name of learning
Cognitive overload is real. People can hit a point where they stop processing information. The reasons for cognitive overload vary. For example, age sometimes impacts how much information we’re able to process and determines that more time is needed. Regardless of the reason, most people forget almost half of what they hear within one hour if it’s not relevant or used immediately. Think about the last conference you attended: What do you remember about that conference today? If we’re taking the time to provide information, let’s make that time meaningful and its impact long-lasting.
Final thoughts
The next time you find yourself focusing on someone’s limitations, consider what you may have failed to unlock. Learning hurdles might be more about delivery than capability, and a few adjustments to how your organization approaches learning can make a big difference for your team.
Article originally published on September 21, 2026 on INC Magazine.