How You Really Learn-You Retain % Of Knowledge If You

Where and how do you learn most? And how to learn so that it sticks? Understand the Learning Pyramid and you know what to do.

Learning is essential. Not just as a kid or at school. It remains important your entire life. But how to do it effectively?

You learn in different ways: from hearing things, seeing something, practicing, etc. But not all ways of learning are equal. Some are more effective than others and some ways of learning stick, while others don’t.

The Learning Pyramid (also Learning Cone or Pyramid of Retention) is a simple framework helping you understand how to learn effectively. This is the essence.

You retain … % of knowledge if you …
5% Listen to a lecture.
10% Read.
20% Watch audiovisual.
30% Watch a demonstration.
50% Engage in a group discussion.
75% Practice what one learned.
90% Teach someone else/use immediately.

There is criticism against this model as there is no solid scientific evidence for it. But the exact numbers don’t matter, they are flexible. And even the exact order of activities may differ between people.

What is key, and not refuted, is that different ways of learning differ in their effectiveness.

Personally, the pyramid works well for me – with a twist. As a student I learned much faster and more effectively from reading than from going to college. For me, this means that Reading is more somewhere in the middle of the pyramid, at 30% or so.

At the bottom of the pyramid I can confirm that this is indeed how I learn most: from teaching. Not just from teaching in a class room or mentoring people one-on-one. Also by writing and sharing posts on LinkedIn I learn.

So for me, learning-by-teaching is the most effective (and also enjoyable!) way of learning. What about you?
The fact that you learn more from discussing, practicing and teaching is a key reason why we have made the Strategy Reinvented conference a practice-oriented and highly interactive conference. Rather than only listening to others, we cocreate the future of strategy with you.