A License to Practice Performance: Solving training problems and delivering results

Let’s say you work in a company where your front-line employees provide a variety of services, including assembling widgets. Some employees are struggling to assemble the widgets and then comes the infamous phrase…

WE HAVE A TRAINING PROBLEM!

If you are a talent development (TD) professional, this phrase is a rite of passage. Until you have heard it a thousand times, can you even consider yourself a TD professional? (Kidding of course) If you are in any other arm of the business, you might find yourself frustrated by how many times this seems to be the case. For both sides, training problem frustration is rooted in the lack of desired performance and the inability to implement a successful solution.

This article is about offering perspective in your journey toward solutions that deliver results. For the business leader, the intent of this article is to challenge logic that could be holding you back and offer you support in your journey ahead. For the TD professional, the intent is to offer you reflection and inspiration to how you can add strategic value to your organization. The TD profession is filled with people who want to help others, but if we truly are to accomplish this, we must take responsibility for being the tactful consultant that helps stakeholders find a performance minded solution. Because after all, leaders deliver results.

Speak about the problem accurately

In the book The Speed of Trust, Stephen M.R. Covey presents a model he calls See, Speak, Behave. The visual is simple but its implications are profound. He states that, “…these three dimensions are interdependent, and whenever you effect a change in one dimension, you effect a change in all three.” In other words, changing the way you talk about a problem is powerful because it can change the way you see it and your behavior towards solving it. If you are a parent, it’s the same reason you have corrected your child for saying, “I can’t do it!” in a moment of frustration with a new task. We instinctively know our words matter, but we often forget this logic when it applies to ourselves.

So, what does this have to do with training problems and driving performance? Well, brace yourself business leader. By definition, training isn’t a problem. Training is one of many possible solutions to a problem. Therefore, when we say we have a “training problem,” what we have actually done is label a problem with a possible solution. And as the See, Speak, Behave model illustrates, when we use this language we should expect that it impacts what we perceive and how we act.

In the book What Every Manager Needs to Know About Training, author Robert Mager gives the examples of a headache that needs to be alleviated, a flat tire that needs to be repaired, and a nail that needs to be hammered into place. We would never say we have an aspirin problem, a compressed air problem, or a hammer problem. These are examples of solutions, not problems. Analyzing performance problems in business may be more complex than these examples, but the point is, if we can’t accurately talk about the problem, then we certainly aren’t likely to think or act in ways that creates sustainable solutions.

To help reframe your narrative, begin with the end in mind. What is the observable output that you expect to occur? In other words, focus on the performance expectations.

So back to our widget “training problem” example. Fully assembled widget is the performance expectation, not widget training. That is not to say that training is a solution that shouldn’t be thoughtfully considered, but if we jump to that conclusion automatically, we skip right passed the possibility of more viable or strategic options.

Stay curious, dig deeper and ask why

Once we are using the proper language to frame the problem, we are now positioned to clearly think about why we have this problem. However, notice we still aren’t getting to a solution yet. We must stay curious and resist the temptation to jump ahead. By definition, solutions solve a problem and we still need to thoroughly understand why we have a problem to begin with.

A skilled TD professional with a performance focused mindset will have a variety of frameworks to dig deeper. There are countless books and resources on the analysis process, and many of them are influenced by pioneers like W. Edward Demming, the father of the Quality Movement, the organizational performance work of Rummler and Brache, and many more. While the work of these individuals can provide great knowledge and help develop this skill, they are far too robust for the scope of this article.

One simple yet powerful technique you could use to dig deeper is the “5 Why’s” made famous by Toyota. The concept dates back to the 1930’s when Toyota needed a simple way to get at the root cause of an issue. This technique helped them, and many companies since, properly analyze issues to ensure solutions treat the issue rather than a symptom. The following might sound obvious, but it is often overlooked. If you only treat a symptom, then you still have the problem, AND you’ve likely created unintended consequences that manifest as new problems. However, if you treat the issue, all symptoms are eliminated and new problems aren’t created. Put simply, a true solution is one that keeps the problem solved.

So back to our example, instead of a training problem, we have a widget assembly problem. Now let’s apply the “5 Why’s” from there:

We have a widget assembly problem.

Why are widgets not getting assembled?

People don’t remember how to do it.

Why do they not remember how to do it?

Because people often haven’t performed the task in months.

Why haven’t they performed the task in months?

Because it’s a service only requested by select clients.

Why aren’t the same people servicing these select clients?

Because it’s not feasible to plan or allocate resources accordingly, so we send the widget assembly equipment to people when the service is scheduled.

Why is equipment the only resource provided to people?

Because we figure that’s all they should need.

The fact that people didn’t remember implies that they were trained and knew it at one point. Had we assumed that they couldn’t do it because they didn’t know the information, we would be initiating something I call the training cycle of insanity -- keep retraining and expecting different results. Unfortunately, this is an all too often strategy and a significant drain on organizational time and money.

The core issue we arrived at was the person had forgotten the information due to a significant lapse in time, which is something psychology calls The Forgetting Curve. All the way back in the 1880’s, and confirmed many times since, Psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus found that people can forget as much as 70% of learned information just one day later. But we didn’t need psychology to tell us that did we? Just try to recite those company policies and procedures you learned in orientation or manager training.

The other issue uncovered was that widget equipment was the only thing provided after a significant gap in time. Assuming it isn’t viable to strategically eliminate or reduce that gap in time, a job aid, coaching, or a refresher course are all potential solutions that addresses the root cause by helping unlock the otherwise dormant information. Not only is that a better use of company resources, Ebbinghaus also found that those review opportunities help the learner too.

The main takeaway is that “5 Why’s” clearly isn’t some sophisticated analytical paradigm, and there isn’t anything magical about the number five (although it is my favorite number). The point is to stay curious and keep asking questions until the answers aren’t yielding further insight. By doing so you might discover you need a strategy to overcome the forgetting curve rather than continue the training cycle of insanity. Lastly, if executing the “5 Why’s” seems a little bit like talking to a 4-year-old, it should. They are really good at asking why and getting to the bottom of things you hadn’t considered. However, the catch is to not annoy the receiver of these questions. That’s where a skilled TD consultant can truly shine by conveying a genuine desire to understand and add value.

Wrap Up

Human behavior is far more complex than ‘because someone knows something, they will act accordingly.’ There are countless everyday examples where this logic doesn’t hold up. I’m willing to bet you know that you should regularly exercise and eat healthy, but you likely struggle to act accordingly.

Leaders must remember that any given situation has a variety of internal and external factors constantly working against our best of intentions. When we are trying to influence the performance of others, to assume anything otherwise is just lazy thinking and will leave you encountering the same problems time and time again. However, if we speak about the problem accurately and then curiously dig deeper and ask why, we can explore beyond the surface to find strategic solutions that drive results.

Keep in mind that doctors get a license to practice medicine, not perfect medicine. They spend a lot of time honing the art of diagnosis, applying various interventions, and then measuring the impact. Give yourself a license to practice performance. Embrace that diagnosis is a skill that must be continuously developed, and like any skill, it’s more innate to some than others. Help yourself develop this skillset by collaboratively problem solving with people from multiple backgrounds. This will stretch your perspective in ways you simply couldn’t do alone. Then act on your best solution and measure performance impact. Remember that your license to practice means that your first solution may not be your last solution and that’s okay. The good news is you now have data that you can compare to your second solution, and you are now one step closer to the solution that keeps the problem solved.

To the business leader…

If leaders drive performance, then leaders are inherently in the behavior change business. As Walt Disney once said, “Progress is impossible without change.” To best navigate this change, remember that anything worthwhile is worth having a coach, and your business results are definitely worthwhile. Leverage the full strategic value of your TD professional who isn’t as close to the problem as you are. Don’t get hung up on them not being an expert in your domain. That’s the value YOU bring. Their value is to be your knowledgeable and skilled TD consultant. It might seem counterintuitive, but their lack of domain knowledge can actually be incredibly valuable to uncover things that you have overlooked precisely because of your significant knowledge. You are too close to it, and a good consultant will help you take a step back. 

Lastly, remember that the purpose of any training is to equip people with knowledge and skills. If the conclusion of your performance analysis does in fact reveal a lack of knowledge or skills as the primary cause, then you now have the perfect blueprint for building effective training. By first defining the expected performance, you created a “finish line” that serves as a clear way to measure training success and its impact on business outcomes. By digging deeper into what is hindering performance, you have created a “starting line” that serves as the target for content to meet the audience where they are. Finally, you are now strategically positioned to build a path that takes the audience on a journey from current state to future state. So even if this entire process just takes you from a “training problem” to the need for a training solution, it wasn’t just a change in semantics and a waste of your time. You are now setup for results, and after all, leaders deliver results.

To the TD professional…

You must actively resist the temptation to be pulled into the self-sabotaging vortex I call the Value Paradox. It’s the idea that after we have encountered repeated resistance when seeking to deliver our value, we start to experience frustration and then resent the very thing we are there to do. The Value Paradox is a function of being human and not exclusive to TD. It’s the leader whose expectation is to influence others but resents people who aren’t following. It’s the customer support person whose expectation is to help customers but resents the customers needing help. I would argue that this frustration stems from an innate desire to be of value but repeatedly getting a “return to sender” message in the process. When you experience this frustration, pause, take a deep breath, and remind yourself that the mere fact you are encountering resistance is evidence that your value is needed. The obstacle is the way, keep going.

Remember to seek first to understand, then to be understood. Have empathy for the pressures and challenges your stakeholders are facing. Redirect your energy to helping them solve the problem. After all, that’s your role and where you add value. If they could do it all flawlessly on their own, then they wouldn’t need you. Whether they know it or not, you are their professional coach. Your value is to help them with these performance challenges, and it will often be a long journey, not a quick fix.

Lastly, don’t rush to provide a training solution at the first mention of a performance problem. While training is your expertise and you could very likely develop an incredible training, if it isn’t producing measurable business results then have you really added any value? Sometimes the best solution you can offer is to help your stakeholder determine training isn’t needed and that is adding a tremendous amount of value. You have saved them wasted resources, helped guide them away from a solution that was only treating a symptom, freed up your time to projects that are adding value, and perhaps most importantly, earned their trust as a TD consultant committed to driving results. And after all, leaders deliver results.