Leading Change to full adoption implies that we not only manage Change to deployment, we must continue to lead Change through implementation…and beyond to the desired goal of full adoption.
Tag: performer support
At the recent Learning Solutions 2014 conference in Orlando, the Guild added another concurrent conference to the venue – Ecosystems 2014. Amazingly, at an additional cost there were over 200 participants attend the extra breakout sessions. While there were most questions surfaced than answers, it was clear that the concept of address the Learning & Performance environment as an ecosystem was a hit…and more questions than answers.
Embedded Performer Support [EPS] is the discipline we so desperately need to integrate into our Training efforts. Notice that I did NOT say we should walk away from or stop Training. We still have a need to train our people, and always will, but when training only serves as the primer, we have to consider there are still coats of paint that must be applied after the primer has dried.
Building competency is a journey. It is a journey that extends well beyond the formal learning event [Training] and into the post-training work context where there is no longer any safety net. Mistakes at this level cost money. Mistakes are part of learning. How much learning can one afford at the hands of mistakes?
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AGILE Is As AGILE Does
As with earlier conferences that I’ve spoken at this year, there is once again a lot of buzz around the concept of AGILE. AGILE what? That is a key question to ask because from what I’m seeing, not all AGILE approaches are scoped equally when it comes to learning and performance solutions.
Implementing Embedded Performer Support [EPS] can be as daunting a task as eating an entire elephant. Not sure I’d ever want to eat an elephant, but if I did, it would be one bite at a time versus scarfing down the whole thing. One bite at a time rings true for implementing EPS as well. Keep in mind that EPS is not a technology [though technology may well be part of the effort]; EPS is a discipline.
In my current role, I work in a virtual environment that is strategically located between corn and soy beans in the rolling hills of southeastern Indiana. Driving narrow, rural country roads to breakfast at the local truck stop this morning, I encountered numerous other pick-up trucks. Yes, I drive one too, but no rifle rack, nor is there a confederate flag in the back window. You might be asking yourself what any of this has to do with performer support. Answer: Plenty
Knowing what to do…and being equipped [supported] to effectively do what needs done… are the equivalent of comparing great training to the effective application of learning. We train the former…and we support the performer on the latter. This distinction becomes a liability when we treat performer support as an add-on to training or as an after-the-fact development cycle rather than including it as part of our core design discipline.
We were eating lunch on a Wednesday when the elevator music was disrupted with an urgent announcement, “This is a code yellow alert – Repeat – This is a code yellow alert!” My colleagues all went to the laminated cards that hung around our necks The appropriate response needed to be timely; needed to trigger agility, and needed to be acted upon flawlessly. Or, as in my example…some knucklehead just spilled something that could kill us all…so run like hell…NOW! That was perfect EPS.
Last week [October 25th] I had the distinct privilege of sitting in on the Tin Can API break-out session that was presented by Aaron Silvers of ADL. I’m not sure of his exact title, but his role was in a leadership capacity on the Tin Can API project. His business card says “the Beard”…and while that was accurate, I still don’t know his real title. Given ADL was also the birth mother of SCORM, I walked in and sat down with a preconception or two that this was SCORM in a new dress. Wow, was I wrong!