Leo Bottany explains how peer groups boost learning retention. A single review yields 28% retention after 24-48 hours, a second review raises it to 46%, and discussing with peers gets you to 69%. Peer groups provide both comfort with material and the courage to actually apply it.
Well, one of the things that we identified in the first book and has since been advanced with peer innovation, when we talk about what peer advisory groups can teach us about building high-performing teams, is we find that really productive peer groups have what we refer to as a high learning achieving cycle. What we know is we learn better when we learn together, right? Josh Burson did a study in 2019 that aligns with dozens of other studies out there that basically say, look, on average, if we were to review something, one time, we're likely to remember about 28% of it for 24 to 48 hours, and then it goes down from there, right? If we review it a second time, it goes up to 46%. If, however, we engage others in conversation and share experiences and kind of wrestle with these ideas a little bit together, that number climbs to 69%. The thing about it, though, is that peer groups aren't book clubs. They're not in it together just for simply knowledge acquisition. What they do and what they're really effective at is not only getting people to feel comfortable with what they've learned and have it really feel embedded, but they give one another the courage and the encouragement to act on that learning.
