“So, what does this have to do with training?”
“My favorite subject,” I replied. Our discussion about positive reinforcement had finally moved to training. “You did some training last year, tell me about it.”
“Well, first, we invested a decent budget. This was a new process we were working on. We spent a lot of time looking at a couple of different programs. We put together a decent PowerPoint, even hired an outside trainer.” Travis stopped.
“And?” I said.
“And, after all was said and done, a lot more was said than done.” Travis chuckled. “I heard that in a seminar once. But maybe it’s true. After the training, some of the people worked the new way, but some didn’t. Over time, the whole process was abandoned. ”
“You know your program really didn’t have a chance. It was missing something critical,” I said.
“I know, you are going to say positive reinforcement, but we all talked it up and everyone got a certificate when the training was over,” Travis defended.
“That’s all very nice, but I am not talking about being nice. I am talking about being effective. In the training you demonstrated a new process. This new process required a new skill, a new behavior.
“Travis, I can show you how to throw a ball, but if you want to get good at it what do you have to do?”
Travis looked puzzled, “Practice?” he said.
I nodded. “Very special practice.” -TF
it became clea to me years ago that what I thought were my good managment techniques were good, but not effective. Then, something dramatic happened to open my eyes on how to be an effective manager. I began coaching a youth t-ball team. Teaching 6 and 7 year olds the very basics of how to play baseball was the single most important managment training course I ever attended. Now, that’s a managment training course!