I like to tell the story of an old friend who was a security guard at a military installation. He was guarding a gate when a car rammed into one side of it. It was a foggy evening and the driver claimed he couldn't see. The next day, my friend's supervisor had him wrap reflective tape on the side that was damaged. When he attempted to tape the other side, his supervisor stopped him. “No need to do that,” he said. “It wasn't hit.”

Unfortunately, many employees today adopt the same attitude as my friend's supervisor: “If it ain't broke, don't fix it.” Why the resistance to new ideas? Why is learning the dreaded “L” word to these people?

Here are some of my favorite reasons:

• Fear of losing one's job: If I help you solve a problem, I may very well lose my position.
• Fear of change: If I help change my job, I may not be able to do it as well.
• Fear of accountability: Since I am being more closely scrutinized, I may be punished for errors I didn't know I was making.
• The “knowledge is power” employee: I'm the only one who knows my job. It would be foolish to improve or share my knowledge with others.
• The “negatron”: I am quick to say “no.” Why learn and make contributions when it's simpler to be negative?

How do we change the culture and get employees to embrace learning?

First, drive out fear, since it is at the heart of the barriers to learning described above. As W. Edwards Deming said, “No one can put in his best performance unless he feels secure…to express ideas…to ask questions.”

Let people know that you're not after their jobs. It's important to reassure employees that there will be a place for them if they help to streamline or even eliminate their own positions. Stress how you value their drive to improve, not only their ability to perform tasks.

Take employee suggestions seriously. An organization learns by listening to what the person who actually does the job has to say about improving it. Encourage and reward suggestions.

Finally, deal positively with resistors to the program. Try to show not tell them by including them in the learning initiative. Understand that it may prove difficult for some to abandon their comfort zones in favor of “theory.” Listen to their objections and, most importantly, exercise patience.

The optimism we feel after we've read a book or attended a seminar is often cooled by the reality of how difficult it is to get employees to see the benefits of what we have learned. But it's important to try, working every day to show that learning can make a difference not only in our company's bottom line, but in the way we all regard our work. Wouldn't it be wonderful to be excited by our jobs, challenged by what they bring every day and enormously satisfied by the things we accomplish together?

We have only to turn the dreaded “L” word into the powerful force that learning can be for our organizations.