Tag: LinkedIn

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Learning By Living

Draw of the Flame

Who among us have resisted the urge to pass a finger through the flame of a candle? I certainly recall warnings that fire equals hot equals burn equals pain. Were you warned? I am sure you were, and yet, we all had to learn what hot meant by taking the risk, ignoring the sincere warning of one who had already made that same mistake. Is that a weakness? A flaw? Or is it just part of growing up? Unfortunately, as we leave childhood and pass into and through our teen years, risks are not as benign and simple as candles, and often the stakes are much higher…as are the flames.

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Learning By Living

The Power of Choice

Is learning always about improving one’s self? On the windward side of 50 years of age, I would argue it’s not…and…I would argue it is never too late to learn. This post is the first in a new section of Living in Learning. It is dedicated to Learning About Living. For our teenagers’ sake, some of us may have almost as much to learn as they do about living.

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Continuous Learning Rants, Random Thoughts, & Ramblings

Learning @ the Point of Work

When we strip away products & services and the marketing glitz & glitter, what is left that sustains [or not] the viability of a business? My vote goes to – the workforce. Even if we do not strip these things away, I still feel strongly that the workforce is at the root of a successful sustainable business. Obviously, there are other external factors like the state of the economy, cost and availability of money, and other environmental drivers and restrainers, but even including them, the pressures and demands on the business to survive, much less flourish, still is largely dependent on the effectiveness of the workforce. Why then do we insist on training them where direct business impact is not part of the outcome?

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Continuous Learning

Governance: Who Should Come to the Party?

I fell into a discussion on the Chief Learning Officer network early this morning that asked, “What is the most effective governance model?” The second part of the question was, “How do you ensure the governance meets your performance objectives?” Having been up to my hocks in forming and storming through the birthing pains of several governance efforts, I had to shake off the tremors before I could offer a suggestion. It was actually the second part of the question that pulled my trigger. Granted, I did not [do not] fully understand what definition of “performance objectives” may have been implied, nevertheless, the trigger was tripped…and the response went something like this…

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Rants, Random Thoughts, & Ramblings

Selling Change to Training – Please! Hurry!

When do you abandon a vision? How many times can you run into a wall before deciding to stop trying to get over, under, or around it? Have you ever reached a level of frustration that caused you to ask yourself questions like these? Attempting to usher in Change, especially the kind that smacks of innovation can prompt these questions if the Change is not properly positioned. Innovation can feel threatening when introduced as new technology or new methodology. Selling Change successfully redirects emphasis from the solution to the impact anticipated from it.

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Continuous Learning

ROI vs. EOSC – Evidence of Sustained Capability

This return on investment (ROI) thing is getting out of hand. There is no question that valid ROI is invaluable in justifying the decision to make [or not] key investments. I have to ask, “So what is actionable about ROI after justifying/verifying an investment decision?” To get there, we seek event-specific evidence to confirm good or bad investment decisions; I cannot see anything else actionable. Seeking ongoing evidence that we created a sustained capability serves a better purpose. I do not know who said this, but it is so true, “The pursuit of true ROI does not yield a good ROI”. That said, if the concept of ROI falls into the wrong hands, it becomes a knee-jerk, ritualized, abused, and misapplied expectation, ultimately morphing into a ridiculous exercise I refer to as Return on Every Damn Thing (ROEDT).

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Continuous Learning

“LMS Sinks Titanic” & Other Learning Myths

There’s no denying, that for some businesses LMSs are essential, but they cannot singularly represent holistic technology solutions that hope to sustain dynamic learning ecosystems. Any learning technology solution [LMS or not] should support continuous learning and workforce performance in the “work context”. Establishing learning continuum methodology is foundational to both clarify and plot implementation road maps that define discrete technology solutions. Doing anything less is equivalent to re-arranging deck furniture on the Titanic.

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Continuous Learning

Work Context Is Ground Zero for Expanded Role of Training

“How many sales deals do sales reps close in the classroom? How many process decisions by managers prevent creation of material waste while taking an on-line training course? How many impactful customer complaints are resolved in training role-plays or simulations?” If your answers range from “none” to “nada”, then another question looms large – “Why are we still pumping up to 80% of our training/learning resources into a learning context where no tangible business value is generated?” Ground zero needs to be the point of impact for training, and that point exists today, downstream from our traditional classroom and on-line course venues and in the context of actual workflows. Our call-to-action breaks both traditions and paradigms and demands a level of readiness to expand our training role to embrace a holistic learning ecosystem.

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Continuous Learning Rants, Random Thoughts, & Ramblings

Video Editing? Not my yob, Mon!

“Whoa….Mon…maybe it should be.” But then I ask myself – “Self, is that a knee-jerk reaction I alone hold as truth? I think any training organization needs to assess whether it is indeed a knee-jerk or a reality startle moment.

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Continuous Learning Rants, Random Thoughts, & Ramblings

In the Race for Sustained Capability, Training Just Got Lapped…Again!

After thirty plus years in corporate training and cross-industry learning leadership roles, I can say with confidence that the velocity of change has been greater in the world of business operations than it has in the world of training. So…is this an indictment of the training profession? Absolutely not! It is a shot across the bow to forewarn that our job as professionals in the corporate learning space just got bigger than traditions we cling to like flotation devices in a water landing.