The Ones Who Learn Fastest Win - DRAGOS CALIN
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12 Apr The Ones Who Learn Fastest Win

Posted at 15:45h in Emotional Intelligence, Leadership, Psychology by

Knowledge Transfer, Attachment, and Learning in Times of High Turnover

People are rotating out of organizations faster than ever. Gone are the days when we measured success by how long someone stayed. Today, the competitive edge belongs to companies that ask a different question: How do we transfer what people know – fast, meaningfully, and deeply – before they leave?

The answer lies less in digital platforms and more in our oldest biological software: relationships.

Learning is Social, Not Just Digital

Psychoanalyst Peter Fonagy suggests that learning begins when one mind encounters another, in a state of attunement (Fonagy & Target, 1996). The more securely attached we feel in a relationship, the more likely we are to trust, absorb, and integrate knowledge. Insecure environments breed defensiveness and superficial learning.

Our brain isn’t just a processor of information – it’s a regulator of states, constantly scanning for signals: Am I safe here? Can I afford to not know something?

Without psychological safety, learning stalls.

Mentalization: Understanding Minds Is the Core of Learning

Fonagy defines mentalization as the ability to understand your own mind and someone else’s – at the same time (Fonagy & Allison, 2014). It’s the hidden engine of empathy, collaboration, and deep learning.

Learning doesn’t begin with content. It begins with curiosity about the other: What does this person know? Why do they think this way? How can I absorb that without feeling diminished?

And mentalization itself is not an abstract skill – it is born from emotionally attuned relationships, especially in early development (Fonagy et al., 2002).

Knowledge Transfer Depends on Contingency, Not Content

Edward Tronick’s research on infant-caregiver interaction shows that the healthiest developmental environments aren’t smooth and perfect – they are sloppy, with frequent mismatches and repairs (Tronick, 2007). The same is true in organizational learning.

It’s not about delivering perfect content. It’s about being responsive, engaged, and willing to co-regulate confusion. Great leaders don’t always have the answers. But they model how to stay in the learning process with others.

High Turnover? High Learning Culture.

Employee rotation isn’t a bug – it’s a feature of modern work. What differentiates resilient organizations is not employee retention, but knowledge retention.

Companies that invest in:

  • peer learning,
  • mentorship,
  • reflective feedback,
  • emotional attunement, and
  • psychological safety

…are companies that create attachment systems where learning becomes second nature.

What Role for Leaders and HR?

Leaders and HR teams are not just content distributors. They are architects of affective safety.

Their job is to:

  • mirror the emotional states of learners (Fonagy & Target, 1998),
  • model curiosity, not certainty,
  • and make it safe to not know.

This is especially critical in times of transition. Every exit can be either a loss or a learning opportunity – depending on the container of the relationship.

In Summary:

  • People will leave.
  • Learning can stay – if it’s transferred relationally.
  • Real learning is emotional before it is cognitive.
  • Leaders and HR are the ones who make that possible.

Those who learn fast together, win.

References:

  • Fonagy, P., & Target, M. (1996). Playing with reality I: Theory of mind and the normal development of psychic reality. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 77, 217–233.
  • Fonagy, P., & Target, M. (1998). Mentalization and the changing aims of child psychoanalysis. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 8(1), 87–114.
  • Fonagy, P., Gergely, G., Jurist, E., & Target, M. (2002). Affect regulation, mentalization, and the development of the self. New York: Other Press.
  • Fonagy, P. (2015). Mutual regulation, mentalization, and therapeutic action: On the contributions of Ed Tronick to developmental and psychotherapeutic thinking. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 25(4), 408–428.
  • Tronick, E. (2007). The neurobehavioral and social-emotional development of infants and children. Norton.

#learningculture #knowledgeflow #mentalization #leadershipdevelopment #hrstrategy #sociallearning #organizationalpsychology #empathicleadership

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