Fish are the last to recognise water = informal learning?

I just twittered a thought - 'The benefit of Informal learning is that fish are the last to recognise water' - and then I started thinking...

This is the real essence of informal learning. People become so engrossed in what they are doing that they don't see that they are learning - until they have learnt (if this makes sense?)

So what does this mean for workplace learning?

1. design opportunities to stretch your teams capabilities
2. design informal learning opportunities to meet the development needs of workers
3. provide easy access to organisational knowledge, preferably online
4. use the skills and knowledge of the group
5. embrace enterprise-based social networks
6. build collaborative online workspaces

But, informal learning is not:

• an excuse for not having any plans
• the easy way out
• great, 'cause it's cheap!
• a good way of passing responsibility to others

So, let's try for a definition:

 "Informal learning is the learning we do when we don't realise we're learning."