A child asks up to 500 questions a day. And you?

Who of us adults with (small) children doesn't know this: the hail of questions from our offspring hits us every day and can sometimes take on nerve-racking proportions. But it is actually easy to understand. Children learn by looking, imitating and asking. They inquire about the world around them and thus gradually expand the spectrum of their knowledge. As they get older, topics and questions become more complex until they focus on specific areas of interest. And what about us adults? When did we stop questioning things? When did we stop learning new things every day? And why?

It's actually not that difficult. Both privately and professionally, we learn something new every day - sometimes small things, sometimes bigger. And companies also try to support their employees in their progress and development. According to statistics from Destatis, in 2020 more than 70% of German companies made offers to their employees for further and advanced training measures. 73% of these support offers not only related to on-site courses and seminars, but also included digital training for self-directed learning such as e-learning.

Experience from the Corona period has shown that self-directed learning that is flexible in terms of time and space and independent works with digital concepts. Learners appreciate the possibility to work on further education and training courses at their own pace and at the time that suits them best. HR managers and executives appreciate the flexible and cost-effective use of digital solutions. Thanks to evaluation tools, they also have a good overview of the employees' processing and learning status.

With this knowledge in mind, the EU's proposal for the year that has just begun is encouraging: according to a proposal by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, 2023 has been declared the "Year of Skills". Together with all member states, the European Union would like to focus on the education and training of citizens and in particular strengthen the digital skills of each individual.

The Commission has recognized that lifelong learning is elementary for us people and our society. Strengthening the individual brings benefits for all, investments in education not only increase own competencies, but also benefit companies: they strengthen competitiveness, they strengthen employee loyalty, they increase the company's own skills. This is where Corporate Learning comes into play, which describes the consistent, specific and strategic training, continuing education and further training of all employees of a company. Knowledge transfer to all and the exchange of this acquired knowledge among all employees is the center of this learning method. Only those who ask questions can learn and expand their knowledge through interaction with others.

With this in mind, I would like to remind you of the classic from childhood: "Who, how, what? [...] If you don't ask, you stay stupid," as the Sesame Street song goes in Germany. And this is exactly the core of learning. We learn from others and with others. The individual knowledge of all individuals forms the collective competence of a society as a large whole.