---
title: Are you forgetting most of what you want to learn?
description: Want to get smarter by improving your knowledge retention? We can tell you how!
image: https://www.mentorresources.com/hubfs/forgetting-curve.jpg
---

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# Are you forgetting most of what you want to learn?

[ Kim Wise ](https://www.mentorresources.com/mentoring-blog/author/kim-wise)

 June 21, 2019

![forgetting-curve](https://www.mentorresources.com/hubfs/forgetting-curve.jpg)

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Forgetting is common for most people. We take a training class or study some new material and before 48 hours have passed, we remember only 20% of what we have been taught.

While there are several points of view as to why this happens, one thing is clear- it is a common occurrence among all people. IQ doesn't matter. How hard we concentrate doesn't matter. We all forget. So, I say to myself, why bother? Organizations spend millions on Training and Development, but if, after a week, only 10% of that content is remembered, we aren't really making much progress. 

When I share this with clients, I'm frequently asked, "Well, Kim, what am I to do? How do we keep our competitive edge? How do we get ahead of where we were yesterday? My people need to learn!!"

![forgetting-curve](https://www.mentorresources.com/hs-fs/hubfs/forgetting-curve.jpg?width=351&name=forgetting-curve.jpg)

So, before I answer this burning question, lets review **Ebbinghaus's *Forgetting Curve.*** The ***F******orgetting Curve*** demonstrates the decline of memory retention in time. Wikipedia states that according to Ebbinghaus, a typical graph of the forgetting curve purports to show that humans tend to halve their memory of newly learned knowledge in a matter of days. You can see in the graph that after the first week, little is remembered of what was taught.

![Cone of Experience](https://www.mentorresources.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Cone%20of%20Experience.jpg?width=313&name=Cone%20of%20Experience.jpg)

**Edgar Dale** shared a similar philosophy. As you can see from his ***Cone of Experience***, we retain only 10% of what we read, 20% of what we hear but 70% of what we discuss with others. Clearly, discussing with others is the quickest way to learn for most people.

So, back to my Client's question. Edgar Dale's Cone of Experience provides a framework to follow. If sharing with others allows us to retain 70% of what we discuss, then the obvious answer to the question is to start or scale a **purpose-based mentoring** program to achieve learning objectives. Mentoring is a natural fit because it allows us to apply what we have learned because we understand it better, creating for our company a better outlook for the bottom line.

To further support the value of mentoring, check out the last line of the ***Cone of Experience.*** Through it, we can understand why Mentors become more and more competent as they share what they know. 90% of what we share with others is retained in the learning process. 

To Close- The case is established for mentoring. This research leads us to the conclusion that a robust mentoring program should be the primary expenditure in developing a strong foundation for knowledge acquisition and learning. Aren't we all happier when we grow in competency and knowledge?

Want to know more? **[Click here](mailto:info@mentorresources.com)** to find out how your organization can benefit from mentoring. 

 

[Social Learning](https://www.mentorresources.com/mentoring-blog/topic/social-learning) [talent development](https://www.mentorresources.com/mentoring-blog/topic/talent-development) [Online Mentoring](https://www.mentorresources.com/mentoring-blog/topic/online-mentoring) [want to be smarter](https://www.mentorresources.com/mentoring-blog/topic/want-to-be-smarter) [Knowledge Transfer](https://www.mentorresources.com/mentoring-blog/topic/knowledge-transfer) [Knowledge Retention](https://www.mentorresources.com/mentoring-blog/topic/knowledge-retention)

## Related Posts

### [December 11, 2019 Was your mentoring program built to succeed? Read our dos and donts.](https://www.mentorresources.com/mentoring-blog/build-an-effective-employee-mentoring-program-boost-retention-improve-employee-engagement-create-company-culture)

### [December 03, 2019 The "Corporate Ladder" has snapped. What modern companies should do about it.](https://www.mentorresources.com/mentoring-blog/the-corporate-ladder-has-snapped.-what-modern-companies-should-do-about-it)

### [February 14, 2020 Is Your Mentor Program Doomed to Fail? 3 Steps to Ensure Success](https://www.mentorresources.com/mentoring-blog/is-your-mentor-program-doomed-to-fail)

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