There is light at the end of the tunnel for lifelong learning, but not for the reasons you may ... [+] think.

We are now closer to the year 2050 than the year 1990. Let that sink in for a bit and along with it try to contemplate the massive talent development revolution we will face in the next 30 years. With rapidly changing technology, the speed at which businesses must operate to be competitive in a global economy and with human life expectancy rising steadily, its clear that lifelong learning will become essential for humans to remain relevant in the workplace. The bad news is theres little evidence that lifelong learning can be taught and that any organization thus far has mastered it for their own human resource needs. The good news is that those hard truths might not matter anymore simply because lifelong learning will be thrust upon us as a staple of everyday work life. It will no longer be optional or aspirational; it will be a necessity and ubiquitous.

Weve already heard some of the statistics that project people will have as many 15 different jobs over their working lifetime. And we know the shelf-life of technical skills, such as software development, are getting shorter and shorter. Then theres the recent IBM report that predicts more than 120 million people will need up-skilling or re-skilling in the next three years and that the average length of training needed to close skills gaps has increased from 3 days to 36 days in just five years time. On top of the fast-changing marketplace of jobs and technology, theres also the coming impact of human longevity. Projections from a 2015 United Nations report indicate that average lifespans in the U.S. will reach 95 years for females and 90 years for males in the U.S. by 2050. Another report from 2012 indicated that 1/3 of babies born that year will live to 100. If it becomes common for people to live to 100 (or beyond), it will also become common for them to retire in their 80s extending their working years dramatically.

How will we grapple with all this? Its hard to fathom. But whats clear is that we need to build and operate a talent development system that is closer to the 2050 version than to the 1990 (or dare I say 1890) model we have now. Lifelong learning has long been a stated ambition of colleges and universities. The words lifelong learning are among the most commonly used in college mission statements. Given that, we ought to have ample outcome measures that demonstrate how graduates become lifelong learners. The truth is, we dont. Searching for evidence of lifelong learning is a little like the search for evidence of life on Mars; many scientists believe well eventually find it, but so far we havent.

Through an analysis of responses from more than 250,000 U.S. adults conducted by Gallup, there was no difference in the likelihood of respondents saying they learn or do something interesting each day across high school drop-outs, high school graduates, associates degree holders and bachelors degree holders. The only group that was statistically more likely to say so were those with post-graduate education. Other Gallup research arguably its most profound and influential of all on innate talent and strengths-based development, makes a strong case that some humans are born with learner talent. That is, learning comes more intuitively and naturally to them than it does to others. My current thesis about why post-graduate degree holders are more likely to report lifelong learning is two-fold. First, they are simply more likely to be those innate learners. And, second, post-graduate education involves more applied learning and in-depth research work than the typical undergraduate education.

If its the case that not even bachelors degrees are guarantees for becoming lifelong learners, how will we ever get our entire workforce there? The answer is a hopeful one because the question has rather suddenly been rendered moot. A quick look around our world today and a peek onto the horizon of 2050 tells us so. The expression necessity is the mother of invention is rather apropos here. Well bring the invention of lifelong learning to fruition once and for all because of outright necessity.

Colleges, for example, can no longer hope that lifelong learning magically happens for graduates after 4 years of study; they have to extend their roles by getting directly involved in delivering it for graduates next 40 to 60 years of their careers. Employers can no longer assume that a sprinkling of compliance training, some occasional professional development and some sporadic technical re-skilling will turn their human capital into lifelong learners. It will require them to transform everything from how hours are spent during the workday to how continual learning and education will be financed. What every CEO will soon realize is that business transformations require human capital transformations. And once that realization sinks in, we will all become lifelong learners whether we like it or not.

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The Really Good And Really Bad News On Lifelong Learning - Forbes