Informal learning's roots emerged from educational philosophers John Dewey, Kurt Lewin and Mary Parker Follett to theorists Malcolm Knowles and other successive researchers. This paper explores the background and definitions of informal learning and applications to the global workplace. Informal learning's challenges are applied to developing global professional competence, including theory, practice and policy implications. The paper argues that informal learning plays a considerable role in developing professional expertise in the workplace and private life, yet believes no current theoretical model exists to balance conflicts between the role of individual and organizational benefits in a global context.