At first glance, everything is working. The team is delivering sales targets, implementations are completed and calendars are filling up with meetings. But beneath the surface, there is a growing problem that no dashboard shows: the team stops learning.
It does not happen suddenly. The process is quiet, gradual, often imperceptible. We stop hearing questions in meetings. Feedback goes into a vacuum.
The same people solve the same problems in the same way. Change creates resistance, not curiosity. And leaders begin to feel that the team is performing – but not growing.
In the IT channel, where the operational pace is high and projects are complex, a lack of learning is a strategic risk.
A company that does not develop a team starts to regress – even if it is temporarily growing.
Why the team stops learning
Contrary to appearances, it is not a lack of willingness on the part of people. In most cases, the problem is not motivation, but a lack of space. When calendars are filled from morning to evening, there is no time for reflection. And without reflection, there is no learning.
In many partner companies, leaders unknowingly block team development.
They are often the experts themselves, who have the answer to every question. When every decision ends with the sentence “let’s do it like last time”, there is no space for experimentation. If an initiative is met with criticism or disregard, it stops.
Another factor is an excessive focus on operational efficiency.
When only the quarterly result counts, any activity that does not directly translate into a sales target is considered a waste of time.
In such an environment, rehearsals, tests, conversations about failures – all seem like a ‘luxury’ that no one can afford.
And yet it is the failures that are the fuel for learning. A team where nothing ever goes wrong often doesn’t experiment. It works according to plan – even if the plan is from the previous decade.
What can a leader do to unlock this
Building a learning culture doesn’t start with a training budget. It starts with a decision that there is room for thinking in this company. And that a leader doesn’t need to know all the answers, but can ask questions that trigger reflection.
The first step is to change your own behaviour. Instead of giving immediate answers, it is worth starting with: “And how would you solve this?”. Such questions show that it is not just about performance, but about developing competence.
Another element is to protect the learning space. It is not about designating whole days for training.
Sometimes an hour a week dedicated to analysing a specific project situation, discussing a mistake together, sharing experiences after implementation is enough. The most important thing is that such time is not put aside ‘for later’.
It is also worth communicating clearly that non-obvious questions and attempts at new approaches are welcome. And set an example. Talk about what is being taught. To admit when they don’t know something. Share not only successes but also moments of doubt.
What a team that learns looks like
Learning teams are recognised not by how often they go to training, but by how they operate on a day-to-day basis. In such teams, feedback comes naturally – not as a mandatory agenda item, but as part of the conversation. Feedback is not seen as a threat, but as a help.
Team members try their hand at different tasks. Role rotation – even short-term – teaches them to think contextually rather than just operationally. Instead of being locked into their section of responsibility, they understand the whole process.
After every major project there is a moment for reflection. What worked? What would we have done differently? What is one thing we can improve on before next time? This doesn’t require big meetings or presentations. It is enough that the team knows that such a conversation is important.
The most thriving teams are those that have permission to take the initiative – and the realisation that not everything has to work the first time.
Human development, or just numbers?
In an age of automation, AI and ever-increasing customer expectations, it is not certificates or systems that determine the advantage of an IT partner. What decides is a team that can learn. Not just from books, but from daily work, from conversations, from mistakes.
