Leading Change as Learning

"...virtually all forces that have an impact on human behavior work on only two mental maps—not two thousand—just two. At the end of the day, a person asks, “Can I do what’s required?” and “Will it be worth it?” The first question simply asks, “Am I able?” The second, “Am I motivated?”

~ From Influencer, The Power to Change Anything
by Patterson,Grenny, Maxfield, McMillan and Switzler

Training is often seen as the end-all, be-all solution for whatever ails an organization. The team isn’t motivated— the team needs training. The product is not selling—the salespeople need training. The customers are leaving—the service center needs training.

The quote above is from the book, Influencer, The Power to Change Anything. Think of how often training is focused on “what”—what the system is, what the products are and what the learner should be doing. Think of how little time is focused around answering the questions for the learner that truly decide whether they will implement what they are “learning”—“Why should I do this?” and “How will I do this?”

As trainers, we are tasked with changing human behavior. On a good day, we get a couple of hours to do this. Balancing the time we spend in exploring these questions is the key to getting the results—the behavioral change—we are tasked with producing.

Happy Holidays,
Jeanine O'Neill-Blackwell
President/CEO, 4MAT 4BUSINESS