Musings on More Training Not Being the Solution
(unless it's for things like Naloxone, accounting, and dogs)
Bertie and Journey, dog training and being their best at the cafe.
Training
There are things where more training is the solution or the wisest response. Things that save people’s lives such as Naloxone, surgery, life-guarding, and so on. Things where there is one correct answer, such as 2 + 2 = 4 (that is the extent of my accounting chops) or the restroom is down the hallway and on the right. Things where a firm “yes” or “no” can make a significant difference, such as no eating your co-worker’s sandwich without their permission or how to support dogs to be their best.*
Training is great for compliance and I’m all for it where it is necessary and beneficial.
But, and this is a really big but, if you feel that things are little off the rails at your board meetings, that staff aren’t quite “getting the message”, or that the management team just isn’t hitting it out of the ballpark, think again about more training.
Or as my grandmother used to say “stop throwing good money after bad” (you know, sunk costs).
Beyond Training
We are complex beings living and working in complex systems. To make a positive difference in this world we need opportunities to develop and learn beyond training.
Sometimes these opportunities are individual journeys where we examine and mature our way of being, our values and priorities, and our ethics.
Other times these opportunities are shared experiences such as when we gather to solve a problem, to dream, to plan, to create, to affirm, to grieve, or to celebrate.
These opportunities are a path of unexpected twists, gratifying and disappointing forks, heart-thumping vistas, challenging terrain, and restful plateaus. The path doesn’t have much in the way of must dos or don’ts and wrong or right answers, but it does have guides (facilitators, coaches, and elders) and signs (the stories, music, and art of the wise folks who’ve been there).
An Opportunity
Next time when you have that feeling that something is wrong or could be better and you are about to react with more training, think again. Perhaps that feeling is an opportunity to lean into our complexity and the complexity around us. Perhaps it is an opportunity to imagine what a learning and development path might open up for you, the team, the board, the organization, and yes I am full on going there, for a better world.
If you want to reach out and muse with me on this, I’m here for it.
Babs
You can find out more about me and why and how I do my work as a coach and facilitator at the Courageous Leaders Project. Use the “Contact Me” on the website and we’ll book a 30 minute no-fee time to just hang out and talk about courageous leadership and learning and development.
*Yes, that was me you saw at the Catina with my dogs late on Saturday evening. And yes, it was me who slipped the dogs a tortilla chip from the table - the only time in their lives that they have been fed people food from a table. And yes, I am now back in training - me, not the dogs.