During the many years of working with large technology companies, Tracy Tanner (CEO of Kolena) made it a point to listen to those around her. “It simply gave me a better understanding of their needs”, states Tracy. At one point, she gathered 30 of her colleagues in a conference room to understand why they were unhappy. Ultimately, a small team worked on creating an extensive learning program addressing this aspect of their concerns. Tracy further shares, “Learning and development is no longer always driven by our companies, at least in the same manner as it perhaps once was.”

We are living in a different world. From an educational perspective, it is referred to as the Social Learning Model. You guessed it, what has influenced our incoming workforce is social media. Those who have grown up in this era have easy access to learning, take more initiative for their own development, and learn at any time of the day or night due to family and career obligations. Coupling this with the cost of college, certifications and badges have become the norm and sometimes replace the four-year degree.

Kolena has partnered with the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity to bring you a suite of art lessons to incorporate into your company’s learning and development plan, bringing new and exciting content to your workplace. The Chuck Jones Center for Creativity’s network of artists are diligently working on even more cool lessons for all of you to enjoy. As you may imagine, each artist has their own technique, presentation, and style which allows the creativity to flow. Although the artists will guide you through this journey, we encourage you to add your own flare!

The Dot and the Line Club introduces these lessons as ice-breaker activities, problem-solving or team-building exercises. Joining The Dot and the Line Club gives you access to a community of those like you who want to expand their thinking by taking on new challenges. If you haven’t drawn before…not a problem. If you are a seasoned artist or somewhere in between, we welcome you to share your accomplishments on this platform. Let us know how taking this challenge of learning differently has allowed you to be open to new ideas not only in your workplace but your daily lives. We would love to hear how you have applied your newfound skills. Let’s learn from each other!