TIME TO REWIRE Making changes in the workplace to incorporate these motivators and reduce the demotivators is likely to improve the work environment for employees of all ages. Click here or on image below to download the article.

If you’re a Millennial manager, the odds are good that you’re leading a team that looks like a four generation family reunion. According to Pitney Bowes, 20% of mid-level corporate employees report to a boss who is younger than they are, but only 5% are perceived as ready to lead. As a Millennial manager, what can you do to change the perception about your readiness to lead? The Learning Cafe’s field research about successful (and unsuccessful) Millennial managers identifies nine simple actions to accelerate a new or younger manager’s credibility. These items are the lessons of time and experience that, when deliberately implemented early and often, help Millennial managers settle into their roles with calm and maturity. Check out What Every Millennial Manager Should Know and see how easy it is to build a good rep with every generation. New managers can find comfort in Tip #3 and need to pay special attention to Tip #5, a frequent pitfall. Use the quiz to see how you’re doing.

Harold Stolovitch has sold more training books than anyone else with one simple message, "Tellin’ Ain’t Trainin.’"  We know it’s true. We know we really don’t actually learn much by listening or by reading. Reading, listening or watching a short video can work well when used in context as performance support. But for actual learning, nothing takes the place of real experience, trial and error, and self-discovery.  I remembered this lesson while I was working with scuba students last weekend.  Let’s go back to the scuba instructor laboratory again.  Learning to scuba dive is a pretty complex skill, and fairly critical. It’s a relatively safe sport, but good skills can save your life. When we begin to teach skills in the pool, we can overload students with too much to remember at one time. For example: swim horizontally not vertically; don’t exhale through your nose; don’t bend your knees, kick from your hips; breathe all the time, never hold your breath; ascend slowly and in control. Well, you get the idea. Truthfully, the last two items in this list are the only two important ones. They are the only ones that can get you hurt if you forget them. Unfortunately, this happens all too often in corporate learning. We overload people trying to make them perfect in their first class. And we create those e-learning programs where we overload learners with reading and listening and details without real experience or practice or feed-back. We put a check in a box, but have we spent our organization’s training dollars wisely? No matter how much my students struggle through their first pool session, I don’t over-correct them. I find something they did well and praise them for it. They come back the next week a little more fearless and a lot more enthusiastic. By their fifth pool session they are ready for the real world. Learning is a process, not an event. As a learning professional, you know what works. Explain your plan to your client. Tell them you want to spend their money wisely on what works. I bet they’ll trust you.

I’ll see you at the ISPI Conference in April.  Here’s the announcement. Dick Handshaw to Speak at ISPI Chapter Leader’s Workshop Charlotte ISPI chapter President Dick Handshaw has been invited to speak at ISPI’s annual conference.  "The Performance Improvement Conference 2010" will be held in San Francisco, California from April 19th - 22nd.  On April 19 the Chapter Leader’s Workshop includes an hour-long presentation on Chapter Leadership by Dick Handshaw. The Charlotte chapter of ISPI gained national attention for its successful start-up, rapid growth, and ability to attract high caliber speakers in its first year.  In his workshop presentation Dick will tell the story of the Charlotte chapter and will share ideas and strategies with other leaders for improving or stimulating growth in their own chapters. Dick has an extensive background in forming and leading new ISPI chapters. In 1992 he was the founding president of a Charlotte chapter that existed for over three years. In 1999 he became founding president of a statewide chapter, called Carolinas ISPI, which maintained a presence in NC for ten years.  In addition to being an ISPI president for six years, Dick also served as Vice President of Programs for Charlotte ASTD for seven terms. "Ongoing professional development is necessary in our field," says Dick Handshaw. "Unfortunately, many of our colleagues can’t gain access to conferences and workshops as often as they would like due to travel restrictions and budget cuts. Our goal with Charlotte ISPI is to give people access to the best thought leaders in the Performance Improvement field here in Charlotte at a price anyone can afford." This focus is the goal around which the Charlotte chapter was founded and the vision Dick will share with other chapter leaders at the ISPI conference in April. Visit www.ispi.org for additional conference information and registration.

I recently had the pleasure of speaking to 39 ISPI chapter leaders at the Chapter Leader Workshop held the day before the 2010 Annual Conference in San Francisco, CA. The number and membership in ISPI chapters, unlike many other professional organizations is in decline. In an effort to reverse the trend, our discussion centered around best practices of successful chapter leadership. We cited just two basic principles of chapter leadership. First, having a clear, easily definable vision, and living that vision. In the case of the Charlotte, NC chapter that vision is "high value programs that will attract high volume attendance at a low cost to the participant". Secondly, staying focused on that vision and not becoming distracted with other lower value activities. Sustainability was also a key topic. Early succession planning with a large Executive Committee to spread the workload and to create experienced replacements for senior committee members are two strategies of the Charlotte chapter. In identifying why chapters fail, again only two principles were cited. The first was lack of leadership with a clear vision. The second was loss of focus and giving in to too many distractions that took away from the core vision. In other words, re-read the previous paragraph. We listed several key principles for execution from the Charlotte chapter: Pick your Executive Committee carefully Design succession planning early Be prepared to develop underperforming VPs or move them into committees Recruit new leadership constantly Survey membership for program preferences Give them the programs they asked for Organize the Committees Spread the workload over many volunteers Don’t try to do everything at once Be realistic, stay focused Finally, since our chapter vision is centered on programs, we listed some principles for maintaining high quality programs that are perceived as high value by the membership, not necessarily by the executive committee: Recruit the best national thought leaders Spend money on travel, not food Give free speakers lots of free publicity Publish speakers’ articles in our newsletter and journal Use virtual meetings if travel is too expensive Protect 90 minutes of time for each speaker

I recently went to the 80th birthday party of friend of mine who, since I met him in 1995, has become my mentor and my inspiration for the remainder of my career. He retired less than a year ago. I guess he just didn’t have that much stamina after only fifty some odd years. He never worked that hard anyway, only about three times as hard as I do on my best day. Having him leave the working world has nagged at me ever since. He was both selfless and tireless in the way he poured his soul into teaching as many people as he could what he had learned about our profession in his long and remarkably successful career. I can still quote him and I can still refer people to his books, but who do I send them to for the amazing lessons he has to offer?  I keep drifting back to my favorite Ghandi quote; you know the one, "Be the change you wish to make in the world."  It’s so annoying because it’s so hard to do and at the same time it’s so true. I can never be him—not Ghandi of course, my friend. But there seems to be a void and in some way I need to fill it. A wise person recently pointed out to me that I have been sitting on 30 years worth of good content for a blog and it’s time to uncork the bottle. So here is my commitment.  I will use this space to share as many of the lessons I have learned in the last 30 years in the learning field as I can possibly remember. I will always focus on the practical results from actual experience either of mine or of the colleagues with whom I work. Most of all, I will strive to be as unselfish and as honest as my friend and mentor Jim Robinson. Because, I know if I don’t, I’ll be hearing from him.  Won’t I, Jim?

On Friday June 4th, I had the pleasure of attending Dr. Ruth Clark’s Evidence-Based Training Methods workshop presented by the Research Triangle ASTD chapter. Having been a fan of Dr. Clark’s work since the 80s, I jumped at the chance to see her in my home state. The experience was well worth the short drive from Charlotte to Raleigh. As Dr. Clark pointed out in the beginning of her session, it is often difficult for us to convince clients to follow our advice because many of our clients don’t view training as a profession.  She notes that our clients all went to school and therefore presume to know as much about learning as we do. She also points out that we, as busy practitioners, rarely have time to read the latest research that might help us make decisions about training design. If we use empirical research to help us in our daily decision making, we may be more successful at influencing our clients.  I agree with Dr. Clark and make time to attend workshops, read books, and review data provided by my current clients to remain up-to-date in the field. It is really important for us to separate the latest fads and vendor-speak when deciding what information we should actually use in our regular work. Dr Clark has done that for us in her newest book, Evidenced-Based Training Methods: A Guide for Training Professionals. If reading a book is not your thing, she also does webinars through ISPI. I really recommend you go see her live in one of her workshops. She is superb in person. The workshop moves rapidly, keeps you engaged and will change the way you make decisions about your work. When Guy Wallace and I started the Charlotte chapter of ISPI, one of our goals was to only have programs that were of proven methods based on actual practice or research. Dr. Clark’s work epitomizes that goal. Maybe she will find the time to visit us in 2011. I know I’ll be there again. Thank you, Dr. Clark.

I have had an inspiring two weeks lately—Ruth Clark two weeks ago and Darryl Sink last week. Darryl was kind enough to speak at the evening meeting for Charlotte ISPI and presented at the full day workshop the next day.  For the past ten years there has been a debate raging in the learning world. Is the ISD process as we know it obsolete or is it still useful and relevant?  Darryl helped me resolve that debate, at least in my mind. The answer lies somewhere in between. The actual model that you use is not as important as the how you use it. In listening to Darryl talk about his experiences, it is clear that he approaches each new project differently.  He decides which steps in his process he will use for the specific set of circumstances in each new opportunity. There is no one process that meets the needs of every new project. There is no silver bullet, just good planning and intelligent choices. Sure, instructional design is based on good science. But sometimes, how we use it is part art and part science.  As always, Darryl places a strong emphasis on good analysis. He knows this is the only way to develop learning that gets results and prevents the development of learning that isn’t needed. This not only contributes to quality, but saves time and money. Another aspect of Darryl’s process that I particularly like is what he calls Developmental Testing. This is the practice of developing a prototype that represents your overall instructional strategy and testing it with a small group of sample learners. You use the data to verify that your strategy achieves its intended results. The data are also used to make revisions as you continue the iterative instructional design process.  If you would like to resolve the debate about the obsolescence or relevance of the Instructional Systems Design process, go catch Darryl at any of the national conferences.  And thank you, Darryl, for your visit, from all of us in ISPI Charlotte.   

Scuba diving is a relatively safe sport, but it is a sport with risks, so scuba training and certification is a fairly serious business. We have a saying around our shop, "It’s only life support!" With this type of critical skill, performance-based training and measurement strategy are a necessity, especially for a meaningful certification. Like many things, there is a need to present information (content) but there is also a need to practice skills in a controlled or simulated environment (context). Sometimes our information presentation is in the form of a book or lecture with slides or an online course. Sometimes our skills practice is done in a pool to simulate open water, and sometimes it’s done in shallow open water under controlled conditions.  In today’s terminology we call this blended learning. Measurement is for the most part performance-based as well. The information or content portion is measured with a written test of 50 multiple choice questions. Not ideal in my opinion, but better than nothing. The performance portion is measured in open water with a check list graded by a certified instructor. Regardless of some criticisms and imperfections, it is, if implemented properly, a good system with valid standards, well-designed instruction and valid and reliable measurement. The cost for all this? Around $200 to $300 per person, including materials!  Matching that cost would be quite a challenge for those of us in the corporate world. But with the money we do spend, we should be able to design performance based learning with valid and reliable measurement. It may be time to leave those page-turning e-learning programs behind. The biggest take-away from my scuba training that I apply in the corporate world is simply this: "We just need to teach our learners how not to die while they learn to do their jobs." The rest, they will pick up on their own. So, keep your learning performance-based, provide information and practice in context and as my professors at Indiana University used to say, "Teach them everything they need to know, and don’t teach them anything they don’t need to know."

In the learning world, measurement is a lot like the weather, everybody talks about it, but nobody does anything about it. I have a hard time understanding why the people who pay us thousands of dollars to develop learning solutions aren’t more interested in measuring the results. I want to focus on a type of measurement that costs very little and becomes a great development tool for instructional designers. I’m talking about Formative Evaluation, or what Darryl Sink calls Developmental Testing. First, it’s important to understand the difference between Formative Evaluation and Summative Evaluation. I’ll defer to the first person to write about Formative Evaluation, Dr. Robert Stake, for a definition, "When the cook tastes the soup, that’s formative; when the guests taste the soup, that’s summative." Stake suggested two levels of Formative Evaluation. He called the first level a Learner Try-out. This is an informal test of a prototype of the learning solution conducted with a small group of learners. Its purpose is to verify that the instructional strategy enables learners to master the learning objectives. He called the second level a Field Test. This is a more formal test of the entire learning solution under conditions that simulate the real learning environment as closely as possible. The clear goal of both of these tests is to measure the success of the learning design and implementation, not the learners. The goal of both tests is to generate data that can be used to revise and improve the learning solution until learners demonstrate that it will enable them to master the learning objectives. I remember my professors at Indiana University calling Formative Evaluation the "all purpose magic" of instructional design. If you use it properly, you really won’t ever release a bad product or have any unpleasant surprises on implementation day.   1/8 of series