Stop the Presses!!! We found a Problem. Solution = We need more Training...or something...

Heard this one before? Me too, and then subsequently saw the increase in training. Usually mandated across everyone (and I mean EVERYONE!!!) followed by a low to marginal improvement (yes…for a period of time, the work was a little bit better — that’s good, right?) …well except that then everyone settled back into a new, slightly-better-for-some equilibrium after about 1-2 years with no change for anyone new walking in the door.

Sound about right? This kind of thinking is broken on so many levels. Let’s talk about them.

So let’s fix our training program — well, maybe. First you might want to dig deeper — fix your problem solving process. Training is a solution to solving a problem that is caused by a knowledge / skill deficit in the people doing the work. MOST of the time — that cause has NOTHING to do with why your problem exists in the first place. Too often, the people doing the work know EXACTLY how to do it correctly. The REAL problem is something else.

This is a great example of how some leaders do not understand How to solve problems. I see this over and over and over and over again — Root Cause Analysis is a skill everyone needs to develop. WHY - WHY - WHY - WHY did the problem happen. Then what solution will solve the problem at a much deeper level.

That’s the front-end. Then of course, there is the back-end — How do leaders drive solution implementation? How do problem solving teams implement solutions across everyone involved in the process? How do problem solving teams implement continuous process evaluation, maintenance, and learning? How are new people to the process trained to demonstrate skill before tasked to do the work? I could write an article on each of those alone. Assuming all this is not your problem to why training is broken, let’s look at training itself.

Common Problems with Training

1. Poor Training Quality

2. No Skill Evaluation

3. No Continuous Training

#1 is poor training quality. What is this? Well it stems from our broken Education System — K-12 plus College and University. Most education is structured around the following:

1. Instructor tells a lot of long-winded content

2. Student is expected to memorize content

3. Student is tested on their memorization skills (of the content)

or for the scientists, physicist, engineers, mathematicians, and other technical professionals:

1. Instructor show the mechanics of content

2. Student is expected to memorize and practice the mechanics

3. Student is tested on their ability to work the mechanics of the content

Don’t forget, there’s also a bell curve (averaging results to make the class look better on paper). If you are lucky, after years of real application with deep learning in a practical need, then the individual develops what is really important — SKILL. This is exactly why the running joke is: now that you learned all that ivy league education, let’s get to work, so you can finally learn something important and become a valuable contributor. It is another way of saying — get practical experience so you develop SKILL — deep understanding AND the ability to apply that understanding in similar and new ways on repeat and new material.

So, if we mimic our education system in our training system, we produce knowledge (memorization), not skill (deep understanding and ability to apply). How do you create a real training program? Simple

1. Cut classroom by 70% — throw it out and ONLY do what’s most important.

2. (Watch) Instructor Practice with Instructor Feedback + (Do) Student Practice with Instructor Feedback + (Do both) Student Practice and Student gives Feedback

3. Connect former with current students — enable shared future learning across all performers

4. Mentor & Coaching — at the Plan and during Action

There’s a few more, but if you hit these effectively, that should take care of 70% of your broken training process (I could write another article on HOW-TO setup students to be highly prepared and motivated to learn). Remember, you are developing SKILL — each Feedback is a test of the student’s skill. If they are not passing, send the person back to more Practice + Feedback UNTIL they develop and demonstrate skill. Train to develop the ability to DO something (not just know something). #2 addresses skill evaluation and #3 + #4 address continuous learning (there’s more that can be done here to continuously demonstrate skill or new skills, but only for critical scenarios).

Chris

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