Can We Slide on the Learning Curve?

Wednesday August 7, 2013 Have you noticed? In organizations nobody is against learning per se. And no one denies the benefit of training. I have also noticed that the word TRAINING is increasingly synonymous with: • a quintessential technical solution for big problems • a failed technical solution to re-occurring problems Here are a few examples I have collected in the last months from newspapers, the internet and in general public discourse to explain what I mean. Training as the quintessential "technical" solution for big problems Examples of "Training as the silver bullet" for solving big problems. ·         "Better training for teachers" to solve to the nation's failing public schools system ·         "Increased funds for training" to solve high unemployment rates and poor GDP growth ·         "Training" to minimize abuse from caregivers in nursing homes It makes you feel mighty as a trainer, doesn't it? Yet it's interesting how use of the rhetoric of training as the panacea for many problems, hasn't protected training programs to be the first victims of budget cuts and reduced spending. So which one is it? Is training essential or expandable? And of course we are not disputing whether  throwing training at a problem really helps solve it.What if we do? Training as a failed "technical" solution to re-occuring problems Obviously when the use of training doesn't produce the results expected, training is seen as the bad guy. ·         "Poor training" is the cause of failed expensive software implementations across federal agencies ·         "Lack of training of the intervention personnel" is the reason for weak responses to natural disasters ·         "Staff lacking training on the guidelines against torture" is the reason for human rights abuses Do we need a Training Anti-defamation League to respond to these allegations? Or are we facing the difficulty of admitting that training was simply not the right solution in the first place? Maybe the issue was a little bigger than simple lack of knowledge or skills. So What? Unreasonable expectations and lack of accountability or clear definition of the boundaries of training responsibilities can kill the best training work before it even starts. So be careful with training in organizations: it is work highly controversial, highly visible and often not fully understood. As a manager or training provider, what can you do to ensure the success of training? I have three suggestions: • THE PAST Clarify the history of the problem and what has been done in the past to solve it, asking, "Why have past solutions failed to address this problem?" • THE FUTURE Define the issue with all stakeholders, asking them the key question, "What will success look like?" • THE PRESENT Set a meeting for debriefing the training experience and  reflecting on its strengths/weaknesses, asking questions like, "What have we accomplished with this work that was not done before? What is possible now?" Good luck with your training work! Adriano Pianesi | ParticipAction Consulting, Inc.