Have you ever explained something to someone who is either hearing it for the first time or is still trying to get their head wrapped around the concept? You know how they will nod slowly in seeming agreement while looking off into the ether and saying dreamily, “Yeah…” really, really slowly?” That far-off look is confirmation that they are indeed interested and yet remain clueless for the most part. The room was full of those folks in the Tin Can break out session where I heard this new sound bite. I must confess now knowing enough to be dangerous and yet confident in the implications to the point of being way too excited to sit down.
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.
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Scattered and Smothered
Where better than Waffle House can one expect to experience humanity in all its splendor? To get the full impact, make sure you plan your visit around two in the morning or so; that way the experience is flavored appropriately with the salt of the earth…among other spices. When I walked in, the place was packed with the exception of a booth in the far corner from the door, right under the sign that requested reserving booths for two or more. It was 2:17AM. Being careful not to eyeball anyone directly, I contemplated the cast of characters that validated that another memorable mealtime event was soon to be had. All I really wanted was a double order of hash browns.
When Einstein defined insanity as “Continuing to do what we’ve always done and expecting different results”, he was on the money. We continue to train with hopes that some form it…some technology enhanced venue of it…some exotic blend of it…is going to produce sustained capability that produces tangible business outcomes. Does training contribute to results? Sure it does, but does it sustain them? No, it cannot. It was never chartered nor was it scoped to do so.
This is an interview by Bloomfire I participated in almost two years ago that just resurfaced on their blog. I think the relevance is timely and worth sharing again for those who missed it. The basis for this dialog centers around how the T&D role is being stressed to meet the new learning demands of business and some thoughts on what to do about it.
Moments of need are either triggered by an issue or challenge where the knowledge worker is confronted with either remembering what/how to do something and then are forced to rely upon recall knowledge. Where we would like to be is giving them an efficient resource where reference knowledge is readily accessible. Given the amount of information we all have to deal with daily and the documented loss of up to 85% of knowledge gained from training within three weeks, it is no wonder mistakes happen. Yet, we continue to train our people the same way over and over and expectantly wait for different results. I think Einstein defined insanity using a similar example.
With all the recent press performance support is getting…make that positive press…I’m noticing that we could easily slip into a best practice of admiring the problem of what to do about it. To be a bit less sarcastic, I must clarify that admiration of the problem is NOT a best practice, but it often seems like we manage to do it best.
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.
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”.