Want To Waste Some Money?
08.03.2005 | Chris Bailey | Focused on Creative,Work
You know what gets my knickers in a bunch? (No, it’s not a trick question.) It’s when well-meaning organizations decide their people need learning so they enroll them in "professional development." A few months ago, I guest-blogged at Rosa Say’s Talking Story and made a modest proposal for our businesses to stop with all the professional development. It simply doesn’t work. So, please stop.
I’m not against learning. I am truly a passionate proponent of developing a learning culture within organizations. It’s just that the current model is unsustainable and works against actual learning. Worse, it feeds into old assumptions we bring from our institutionalized learning days of youth and fosters a cynicism that adult learning is basically useless in the real world of the office. Don’t believe me? Ask some of the poor unfortunate souls who’ve been to an offsite retreat or workshop in the past couple of months how they feel now. Chances are they were filled with good ideas, buoyant energy, and creative juice. See if they still feel the same way.
I guess what’s spurring this outrage is Don Blohowiak’s recent post on "training derailment." He offers a viewpoint from Daniel Tobin, author of Re-Educating the Corporation. Don’s post hits on many of the things that trouble me, namely how we don’t help attendees plan to integrate their learning into their real-world circumstances.
If you’re planning on sending staff to a workshop or a conference, spend the time helping them design a re-entry plan. And do whatever you can to make sure that the organizational culture is ready to accept them back when they return. Or else, do them a favor and don’t send them at all.
6 Responses to “Want To Waste Some Money?”
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This is one of the great mysteries of corporate life….sending an employee off to a week long seminar or retreat, a simulated environment, and expecting that they will undergo some miraculous transformation that will allow them to return to the exact same environment that they left and be able to change that environment or change the way they have previously operated (and been perceived) in that environment…it just doesn’t happen that way. It has always made me think of taking tennis lessons when I was a kid…..the tennis teacher instructed me on a stroke and then we practiced it with the instructor always hitting the ball right to me until I had “learned” the stroke. The only problem was, when I got out on the court with other people, they didn’t hit the ball right to me and I got a very rude awakening about the real effectiveness of my backhand or forehand.
I am all for “professional development” but I agree with you that the learning has to be integrated into the real world.
Hope you are enjoying your new position!
Marianne
Chris:
I read Don’s blog post and felt some of the same things. On the other hand, I think it’s easy to get a little cynical when you’ve had some of the re-entry experiences that you mention.
Part of the issue may rest on the leadership learner’s expectations upon returning from the event. If they return with a zillion new ideas and implementation strategies, it can leave the rest of the office feeling like they have to sit through Aunt Molly’s three-hour presentation of her vacation slides.
But, as I have learned, if a leadership learner comes back with one (maybe two) key ideas, it may be easier to launch those down the runway (in time, with proper planet alignment). Change can be difficult, but not changing can be deadly. I think the key here is to differentiate the need to learn with the proper timing of initiating and implementing new ideas.
Congrats on a new job. Welcome to Month Two!
tim
I’m curious. Can anyone provide an example of a corporation that does personal development well?
Marianne and Tim, I think both of you hit on some very interesting ideas in the organizational learner dynamic. Part of the educational facilitator’s role is to not only teach, but help the learner find ways to implement their knowledge in the their very own real world. The part of the whole learning dynamic that seems to get missed often is the environment in which the learner operates on a daily basis.
I’m also with Troy…anyone know of a company who really “gets it” and what they do that makes applicable learning effective?
Aloha everyone, you have given me an entry here I cannot resist, for in my mind, you are talking about coaching versus training. The frustrations you are mentioning here with professional development programs are what I’ve tried to build a better, more customer-responsive Business Plan on in my own company, and in our curriculum, Managing with Aloha.
Before I do an MWA program with any company, I meet with the CEO to get his agreement on inculcating a culture change into his company immediately after the program. We choose a culture change that matches up with the values of their company mission, and thanks to blogging platforms, we will often set up an intranet in which the transformative/ learning/ growth effects of the new tool can be discussed in real time and kept alive.
There are several tools we can implement for this culture change, but by far, my favorite is the Daily Five Minutes, for results are near-immediate, and it is a tool for every supervisory and managerial level in a company.
http://rosasay.typepad.com/talkingstory/2004/12/the_daily_five_.html
My intent is not to give you a commercial here: it’s the process that can be easily duplicated. There’s got to be a Next Action, and Defined Outcome for every “Professional Development” program selected. If you have a coach to mentor/ own the program, even better.
A hui hou,
Rosa
Big money is often wasted on such leadership development programs.
And a re-entry plan is a great idea!
In Don Blohowiak’s post, Dan Tobin is right on the money with his critique of most leadership training programs.
What I would add to his three points is action learning. That is, build into the program some real challenges:
- problems that the organization is trying to solve
- or goals that the organization is trying to achieve
Have the students apply the theories and concepts they are learning to these during, and after, the training.
Follow up after the training with measures to see how the solutions are benefiting the organization.
Terry