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Learning Culture: Is a Product of Convergence

Updated on August 23, 2022 because the more things change the more they stay the same. Yeah, this might be rant-like and I hate to disappoint, so apologies upfront. Are there "performance components" essential to establishment of a sustainable, thriving Learning Culture? You bet there are! Performance by whom? By L&D? From senior leadership? Road warrior trainers? ID/DEV team members? Operational stakeholders? HR/OD specialists? Individual Performers? Ask ten people to define a Learning Culture and expect ten answers, and they will all likely reflect a truth. That 'truth" will be…

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INTENTIONAL DESIGN: It’s About Providing Support Under Fire

This choice of title may be an indication I’ve been reading too many Alex Berenson novels, but it rang true this morning, so it is what it is. Intentional Design has nothing to do with “black ops” or covert military or clandestine operations: but I must confess there may be elements best executed more “covertly” than “overtly” at least until adoption has proven its worth with evidence of sustained impact. Intentional Design is NOT a new design methodology. We have plenty good ones…like 5 Moments of Need, 70:20:10 and SAM…

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Chasing Productivity or Accelerating Productivity?

We (L&D) spend a great deal of time and resources to transfer knowledge and boost workforce capability through training solutions. We scramble to innovate; to build more, better, faster solutions that can only be consumed at a standstill...off-task...out of the workflow...restraining the very thing we chase - Productivity. Accelerating Productivity implies forward motion and the context where this motion should occur is where Productivity is optimized - Point-of-Work. (more…)

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Old Dog with New Tricks?

It’s always amazing to me where my posts come from, and this one is no exception. I’ll blame this one on @Brandon Carson in his recent LinkedIn feed contribution where he referenced tiring of the phrase “30-under-30”. Needless to say, comments flew from the ether positioning for and against, and the dialogue got me thinking about my own career…and my status of being an “old dog”. Methinks it’s not so much about the age as it is about the “tricks” that are brought to the table...and the underlying passion fire…

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Why Adopt Point-of-Work Assessment Methodology?

At conferences where I speak I always begin by asking, “How many of your organizations have a dynamic learning performance ecosystem in place today?” Rarely does a single hand go up. Some participants don’t know. Some are unsure. Some don’t want to embarrass themselves. And others simply think its BS jargon and suspect it’s a trick question. They would be correct…that it’s a trick question…not that it’s BS HR/L&D jargon. And then I share the following fact: (more…)

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POINT-of-WORK:  Performance Is as Good as the Support…Not Just Training

Recently, I’ve had the benefit of participating in several threads with colleagues who have an extended military background. With my momentum regarding performance support at Point-of-Work they are quick to defend the importance of training, and I don’t disagree for a second. But there is more to their story that must be pointed out. Training alone is not enough. Gaining competency is not accomplished during a training transaction – by itself, it is not enough! (more…)

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POINT-of-WORK – Step Away from the Hammer!

Have any of you responded to a training request by nailing down an awesome blended solution only to experience post-training performance outcomes being less than desired? I must confess to having been party to this kind well-intended request…and more than once. But hey…the training product was awesome! Not to spoil a good mood…but I’m sure you’ve heard some variation of the phrase, “If Training is a hammer, then every performance problem is a nail” at some point in the past. That's a dangerous paradigm. (more…)

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PERFORMANCE SUPPORT: Questions, Questions & More Questions

Momentum to accept the validity of performance support has been a long time coming as evidenced by a dramatic increase of articles advocating more L&D attention targeting performance outcomes. Unfortunately, the attention given is still largely skewed toward innovative learning solutions in the training environment. That’s not altogether a bad thing; however, it’s not enough when the measurable results we seek are found at Point-of-Work where the key driver is effective application of performance support. Methinks part of that dilemma is a result not of the discovery questions asked, but…

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PERFORMANCE SUPPORT:  Start with a Point-of-Work Assessment – PWA

Learning Performance Ecosystem

This post is a bit different in some ways. The topic is still Performance Support at the core, but I’m responding to the many comments and questions I receive about how to adopt a Learning Performance Paradigm. The Point-of-Work Assessment (PWA) is a methodology designed to move beyond traditional Training Needs Assessment and evolve downstream to the Point-of-Work where bona fide business value generation is on the line. Before jumping in the paradigm boat and rowing downstream there is a strategic re-think to accomplish first…followed by some tactical skill brush ups.…

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PERFORMANCE SUPPORT – Converging Learning with Point-of-Work

Performance Support is a term that often causes confusion, and in some cases, outright fear in the hearts of my HR and L&D colleagues. This post will attempt to clear up the confusion surrounding the tactical implementation of performance support. The fear quotient? To my knowledge, no L&D ISDs, developers or facilitators lost their jobs or were harmed in any implementation of performance support that I’ve been involved with to date. In fact, those very skills are critical to the success of sustaining performance support solutions. The real fear should…

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