70:20:10: Make Your Development Plan Stick

If you’ve ever been on a training course or had an inspiring conversation, you might have found yourself brimming with new ideas and good intentions – only to find when you look back that nothing’s really changed a few months later.

This happens to the best of us, but there’s a reason why: learning doesn’t stick unless it’s applied consistently and deliberately.

That’s where the 70:20:10 model can help. Originally developed by the Center for Creative Leadership in the mid 90s as a result of surveying over 200 executives about their learning, it’s a simple framework that, with a few tweaks can, help a development plan stick. Here’s what they found about where real learning happens:

• 70% from on-the-job experience. That’s where you undertake ‘real life practise’ – putting anything you have learnt into action or trying new things.
• 20% from learning through others. This includes feedback, coaching, or mentoring.
• 10% from formal learning. Training courses, books, conferences, and e-learning fall into this category.

The idea is that training on its own (the 10%) isn’t enough—it needs to be reinforced through real-life application (the 70%) and feedback from others (the 20%).

Why 70:20:10 Plans Don’t Always Work

Even though the framework makes sense, many development plans fall flat. Why? Because while the numbers look good on paper, we don’t account for the barriers that stop us from applying new skills in real life. You might leave a course with great ideas, but back at work, those ideas can get buried under your to-do list or forgotten altogether.

Sometimes this can happen without you realising it. We have two biases that don’t help us apply learning – unless we are on to them! Our status quo bias quietly reassures us that the way we were doing something previously is not so bad after all, whilst our current moment bias means we are attracted to the idea of change – but tomorrow feels like a better time to start it.

Rather unhelpfully, these excuses (or ‘Lies’ as I boldly name them in chapter one of It’s Not Bloody Rocket Science) come with bespoke labelling your brain creates to make them sound to you like reasonable, grown-up, rationales – we are ‘too busy’ to start now or we tell ourselves ‘I’ll try that when I’m fresh tomorrow.’

This is why I’ve included a 70:20:10 development planning activity in my journal, It’s Not Bloody Rocket Science: The Journal – #2. It’s designed to help you identify and overcome these barriers, to think about your thinking, so your plan isn’t just another good idea—it’s something you actually stick to.

3 Steps to Make Your Development Plan Work

Here are three practical ways to make a 70:20:10 model work for you:

1. Be specific about your 70. What’s one real-life situation where you can apply what you’ve learned from reading or training – ideally within the next 72 hours? Write it down or diarise it so that you commit to doing it.
2. Find your 20. Who are the very best people to give you feedback or guidance to help you improve? Whether it’s a colleague, a manager, or a mentor or a connection you met at a conference, make the move – now! Ask them for time and actively listen and apply their feedback.
3. Revisit your 10. Don’t let training notes gather dust or books return to the shelf. As well as making time to learn, also block out time to review notes or revisit material to plan the 70 and so it stays fresh. 15 minutes can be enough to do something really meaningful – so don’t tell yourself you don’t have time!

Final Thought

The 70:20:10 model isn’t just about dividing up how you learn—it’s about creating a balance that helps it stick. By keeping it simple, specific, and actionable, you can make your development plan deliver real results.