Paradigm shift? Methinks this evolution is going to make more noise than a dramatic shift of thinking. My only hope is that training organizations hear the noise and embrace the implications of new skills and integration of learning @ the point of work before they hear another sound – the firing squad blasting away at their training budget.
Author: Gary G. Wise - Author - Grief Coach
Unsupervised, unfiltered, and occasionally undisciplined Writer of Things that thrill readers with engaging stories created by a seasoned storyteller.
Plucking is good. It’s happening at an ever-increasing pace. A technology savvy user population is asking for it by their actions. Isn’t that reason enough to shift our content design, development, and delivery models to match the need for the population that pays the rent on our training cost center? Methinks it is, and our [Training’s] paradigm is way over due for an evolutionary step toward the new ground zero for learning @ the point of work.
A few years ago, I am quite certain, I would have been fighting this “cloud” concept tooth and nail. There was something about having my own staff running my own servers behind my own firewall that provided a sense of security and control. To an extent it did, and the IT staff would be the first to man the ramparts to fight off having anything living outside the firewall – much less allowing anyone outside to get into our systems. I feel their concern, and I respect the need to protect the network and data resources behind the firewall. So does that make a cloud-based LMS a better solution?
We [Training] have been hugely successful selling the idea that improvements in performance can be driven by training. I know there are colleagues who bristle when I discount training’s impact, but my point of emphasis lays well beyond the scope of even the most excellent training product we might deliver. My rant is not aimed at deficient training; rather, it is in the misdirected application of learning. This not about “WHAT” as much as it is “WHEN” and “WHERE”.
I fear the L&D function…or Training…if you choose by another name, are locked into a paralysis of tradition. Tradition yields comfort and familiarity. Comfort and familiarity yield resistance to change…and in some cases even recognition that there could actually be a “change” that offers a viable alternative. There is no denying that some form of knowledge transfer is a requirement…no doubt about it, but the question I am so vocal about follows…and is outside of that field of vision, “Transfer to where?”
So…you just bought a new LMS. The sales dude/dudette left days ago with promises still echoing in your head. Your Help Desk phone rings alomost immediately after GoLive, and some knucklehead wants a report that does not come standard on the LMS. Imagine that. Part of me wants to go…BWAH-HA-HA-HA…but another part of me was the owner of several LMSs at different companies…and the same knucklehead worked at each one. Imagine that.. None of the LMSs report on what you will be asked for…trust me. Phone rings again and again…and again with users unable to find anything on this “bleeping” system. Yeah…and it only gets better. This post is about what the LMS sales pros, regardless of gender, will neglect to tell you. Enjoy a few lessons learned that just might make life easier…
I stumbled across an untitled draft from June of 2012 (T+14 years ago), and the knee-jerk reaction was to blow it up and return to writing fiction thrillers. Some might call that a distracting, crazy, demented, ADHD moment. That may be …but it’s my crazy, and I’m still not in jail. As my finger hovered […]
The point of work is a different, evolving venue for the consumption of learning assets, especially when we could consider mentor/mentee or apprentice/master craftsman relationships as “learning assets”. These different venues can be as “social” as they are downloadable asset-equipped. This evolution is a full 1,600-meter race, and the evolving venue has a ton of implications on the design, development, delivery, and/or accessibility of these assets. In fact, ADDIE needs to shed a few pounds and become more agile…producing content that is a little more nimble…a little more downstream-thinking in order to address the where, when, and how learning assets may be consumed.
Categories
The Hardest Four Years
<God Alert:>This piece is not my usual rant about some aspect of corporate learning. It still is about learning, but is tagged for the Learning About Living side of the Living in Learning blog. Some might ask, “Why combine something like this in a corporate learning blog?” I in turn would ask, “How can God […]
Take heart. Our LMSs are doing exactly what they are supposed to do. Our training programs are as effective as training can be. We are as good on platform delivering training as the best trainers can be. Our Flash programming sizzles with the best, and our Level 1s and 2s speak an undeniable truth and that truth we can defend to the death…or to the moment of an unanticipated down-sizing…whichever comes first. We can honestly say this – “Training delivered!” No puns, please. This is our truth, but it is simply not enough to save our bacon…spoken confidently by one who has recently had his bacon drop-kicked through the window of opportunity.