Most people have different interpretations of the term "learning curve." These include "the amount of time it takes to learn something," or "the degree of difficulty of learning something," or some concept similar to those. A phrase like "he faced a steep learning curve" is generally taken to mean, "he had to learn a lot of difficult things quickly."
Ironically, this is the opposite of the term's original and literal meaning.
Media Usage of "Learning Curve"
Usage of the expression in the media shows that the concept remains fuzzy. Writers use it in different ways, hewing to popular interpretations of the phrase and secure in their knowledge that readers will understand what they mean -- more or less.
Some examples:
"The learning curve, it must be said, was robust." - New York Times
"Improving Your Team's Learning Curve." - Business Week
"I thought the learning curve would be a long, serpentine road." - Writer's Digest
"New players, a new coach and a new system all mean there will be a learning curve as the season progresses." - Sports Network
This approach works. Readers get the gist of the above sentences, even though they all use "learning curve" in different contexts. Incidentally, only Business Week gets it right.
Original Meaning of the Learning Curve
The original learning curve became popular in the field of industrial engineering during the 1930s. Production studies conducted in the aircraft industry showed an inverse relationship between the number of times a task was performed and the time (or cost) it took to repeat that task. The learning curve was simply a graph of the number of attempts needed to produce an item versus the item's unit cost or production time.
As an illustration, suppose the first time a worker sets out to produce a part for an airplane, it takes him 2 hours to complete the task. When he produces the second piece, he does it in 1.5 hours because he has learned from his first attempt. As time goes on, he becomes more proficient at producing that particular part. By the time he gets to producing the 10th piece, he has learned how to do it very well, and takes just 10 minutes to finish the job.
The graph of a good learning curve is shaped like a hockey stick. A lot of learning occurs during the first few attempts at the activity, so the time required to complete each successive attempt shrinks rapidly. As a result, the curve falls steeply.
Then, after several attempts, as the worker becomes increasingly efficient, the rate of learning slows down. The graph begins to flatten.
This means that a learning curve is not something a worker has to face, but something she slides down. And a steep learning curve is something to be proud of, not apprehensive about. It shows that the worker has learned her lessons fast.
Arun Sinha - Thanks for stopping by. I'm a freelance copywriter based in Stamford, CT. I write marketing, corporate and technical communications pieces ...
