OK. Ready for a new moment? What if we meet in the middle? I work with you on the left and right and then we meet where we need to. Make sense? Of course not. Here is the thing. I have been working with clients for years and every time I implement some type of training thingy, it only comes from one side. For example, I work with managers for two or four or eight hours and then they go back to the store with their ”shiny new toys”. Then their team gets a mouthful of new tips and they ask themselves, “what the heck? What did boss drink at that seminar?” It got me thinking.
How many times have you been to a training event? It taught you to do “x”, “y” or “z”. Then somehow you made it back and tried all the new tips. Your team received your wisdom and maybe even laughed under their breath. Consider their mindset…”Yeah, this is great. Thanks boss. Are you coaching me? Is this the new thing (for now)?” This is not meant to belittle the learning aspect of management and leadership. It is meant, as my epiphany illuminated, that learning is best served from two sides, not just one. Consider this…I am a manager and go to a session about leadership. Which might create a better adoption strategy? I go and implement all that I can or I go and there is another session for the team to level set everything that happens afterwards? In other words, we both get something and meet somewhere in the middle.
How many times have you had a session or two and then had to fit the learning into the status quo? What if you received a bit of learning and the team who would be receiving your knowledge would also receive a bit of learning? What might happen? Think adoption. Think reaction to a learning objective. My mind has been scrambling at this idea. Learning at two ends instead of just one.
Have you ever been told something before it was supposed to happen? What was your mindset? It doesn’t matter if you liked what was going to happen or not, what happened in your mind? Did your position or reaction to what happened next, was it impacted or influenced in any way? And if so, how? That is my point. When we embark into change, especially when that change is our manager’s behavior, we are better equipped to change when we know what is going to happen.
Imaging this…I am training 25 managers on some leadership principle. They have taken notes and now have a new “toy” to play with. What if the team simultaneously has been influenced by the need for this new toy and the “WIIFM” associated with its result? Would this help the implementation or hinder it? Many organizations look at training and frown, they struggle to find the return on investment. It has been my position for years that the ROI is not in the event, it is what happens after or what happens to reinforce the learning. Meeting in the middle now starts to make a bit more sense when placed in the right context.
I recently met with a peer. She is a coach to me and maybe I am a coach to her. We chatted about a learning concept. She discussed one side and I discussed the other. We both got much closer to the end result because we tackled two different sides simultaneously. It made me think about the many, many sessions I have delivered and not had an adoption result everyone was pleased with. One group had “shiny new toys” and the other had no clue what was happening and why. They just knew someone was trained. That is why I cannot stand the word training…and it is what I do.
The next time you are at a training, stop and think about the person or persons who will benefit from this new-found knowledge. I am immediately thinking of the new Star Trek movie when the James Kirk character says to Capt. Pike as he has Kleenex stuffed in his nose at the bar, “Man, why are you talking to me?” Think “Hey boss, why are you talking to me? What is different today than yesterday? What is different? What is the new tip this time? Why does what I have been doing these last couple of months mean you have to do this coaching thing?” Tough to implement? Yep. What if they had a say in the next implementation step? What if they had some training or instruction in tandem with the store manager, different results?
Just a thought. Meet you in the middle, dude.
Cheers