Remember that from school? Sit there, listen, write some things down, take an exam or two and you’ll learn. Generations of children muddled their way through. When we started Defy Expectations, we knew that our objective was to dramatically improve the quality of leadership to help companies succeed, and succeed faster.

But how should we do that? It means helping people learn. But not just all people but adults, and adults who are often senior people well into successful careers. We all had successful careers, so we understood how it feels to sit in their seats, but we knew that to engage and change smart people who have very little time to spare needed a rethink.

We are lucky because one of our Founders, @Helen Honisett is a specialist in andragogy. That is the study of how adults learn. Pedagogy is how children learn and that is very different. Adults, once they finish their education, have to learn in situations where they have high pressure jobs, often with the need to travel, combined with personal responsibilities. There is no time for the classroom, no time for long learning sessions at evening and weekends.

What adults need is to be able to learn in the flow of work, to take advantage of 15 minutes here and there in the day to build learning. They need flexibility, variety, stimulus, and content that is engaging enough for when you are tired and stressed. It also has to be relevant to the situation in hand – no one wants to learn to change a tyre until you have to know! Adults also need to be able to demonstrate that they have done the work required and can put what they have learnt into practice – the theory is great but what adults want to know is “how” and “why”.

So we adopted a pick and mix approach. We created online courses in leadership based on short videos where you can earn a digital certificate. We have videos on individual topics (How to have difficult conversations is a hot favourite). We run workshops, we provide group and individual coaching, and we have podcasts and blogs all based around our theme of growing leadership and succeeding faster.

Everything is based on helping adults learn in a pressured environment as well as enjoying the process.