Why Learning Doesn’t Drive Change

Earlier this week I read thoughtful comments by new RICS President, Nicholas Maclean,  on the importance of learning, standards and professional development in a changing environment.

It landed, and it prompted a related reflection.

Learning matters.But learning alone doesn’t move organisations forward.

Adaptation does.

Across real estate, governance and the arts, I see highly capable professionals constantly learning - qualifications, frameworks, best practice. Yet the operating model underneath often stays the same.

Because adapting is harder than learning.

Learning builds understanding.Adapting forces trade-offs.

It asks uncomfortable questions: 

• What no longer works in the environment we’re actually in? 

• What assumptions are we still protecting because they feel familiar? 

• What needs to change now, not after the next cycle?

Professionalism isn’t just about what we know.It’s about how quickly we’re willing to change behaviour once we know it.

As the week closes, this is the question I’m sitting with:

What have I changed because of what I’ve learned - not just noted or filed away?