ILT development times 2007 vs 2010

Bryan Chapman, Chapman Alliance, provides another great research service for the workforce learning professional in reporting development times across ILT and elearning for 2010. Contrasting this with the 2007 report [note you'll need to scroll down for the 2007 data],  I would have thought that we'd see the average flat versus more improve numbers.

In 2007 "average" ILT ratio was 34:1 (low range 10:1 to 72:1) versus in 2010 of 43:1 (low 22:1 to high 82:1). Note that these are development hours needed for one hour of delivery.

So what's up here?

• Are the training issues tackled in the classroom more complex leading to higher development ratios? 
• Or staff has been cut and drawn too thin leading to the higher ratio? 
• Or something else?

BTW - The 2010 survey had nearly 2 x participants than the past survey.

Lessons: Internal groups should be aware of these studies and certainly have some measures in place that track effort and "explain" variances from this data.

Dead Ideas

Matt Miller's book, The Tyranny of Dead Ideas, is a great book in framing my thinking about the world. His thesis, framed in both politics and economics, are "dead ideas" hold us hostage. His dead ideas are: our kids will earn ore than we do; free trade is "good" no matter who gets hurt; your company should take care of you; taxes hurt the economy and they're always too high; schools are a local matter and money follows merit. (Miller, pp 8-9) I'll leave it others to debate these dead ideas but think of dead ideas from our nation's past - an economy based upon slavery is moral and that a great democracy can exclude women as voters.

When reading I like to identify what appear to be dead ideas. In the September 13 Bloomberg Businessweek, Out of Work, Not out of Oomph, author Diane Brady questions the long held belief that the impact of long term unemployment may be overstated. The premise is that depression and physical ailments impacts mortality. This research dates back to the 70s and 80s. Brady also questions whether skills erode so quickly. Maybe in some narrow technical fields but with access to blogs, social networks, perhaps not so much. My belief is that social media and the ability to virtually network counter this dead idea. When not engaged in project work in my business, I'm active in professional associations and continuing to develop skills while participating in discussions and other online activities like the eLearning Guild's Online Forums. For me, it's important to maintain skill, engagement with my profession and network. With social media, the cost barriers are very low.

So in learning, are learning styles a dead idea?

Classroom handouts / Earth Day 2010

I once was a collector of handouts for training and conference sessions - massive piles of the stuff organized by the event, job or subject. I even had stuff from my Master's thesis in file cabinets, never touched over multiple decades. Sadly in hoarding, I never referenced or used those "assets." I have since recycled what seemed like metric tons of old handouts. Today, I prefer to make notes in a composition book and use downloaded or online presentation materials. These assets are used, better organized and valued.

Last conference I attended was "green," meaning limited paper material for us to tote, handouts were online. Still I heard grumbling about no physical handouts even though the conference provided free and ubiquitous WiFi. Looking at the crowd, many we're my age. Old habits are so hard to break.

When I present or design a course, I think about the handout issue. Is there a better way than just sending reams through the printer? Should the supporting content be online? Should there be only limited material that is strategically chosen? Should we ask the learner about their preference?

In Sunday's NYT supplement EducationLife (yes, we receive and read a physical newspaper daily, old habits), I found an interesting story on debate teams moving from tubs of paper to laptop-based storage and the resulting debate culture change. It's a journey.

Happy Earth Day and consider the environment when printing not only personally but for learning as well.

Are we missing teachable moments with the health care debate?

Don't you wish that this debate could rise over partisan noise. Wouldn't it be great if some mature individual could take up this discussion and transform into teachable moments.

• Is health care a right?
• What kind of society do we want? Do we want health care coverage for each and every American?
  
• What about mature discussions about end of life care and decisions?
• How about approaches to prevention? Prevention costs money.
• Does the current system reward quantity over quality?
• Can the free market provide solutions that will meet societal needs?
  
• Does a government program (Medicare) make it socialist?

Finding the uniquely-American solution(s) should include thoughtful discussion and debate versus insane claims and shouting. We've reduced debates to partisan back and forth talking points with over-charged language.

Anyone? Anyone?

Bueller?

Update 16 AUG 2009
From the NYT Week in Review Sarah Lyall, Health Care in Britain:Expat Goes for a Checkup.
A very teachable moment. Investor's Business Daily published an editorial claiming that administration health care proposals that mimic the British National Health Service, physicist Stephen Hawking wouldn't stand a chance in the UK because his life would be judged "worthless." Hawking suffers from Lou Gehrig's disease. Apparently, the Investor's Business Daily didn't know that Hawking is a British citizen. Hawking subsequently released a statement supporting the NHS.

Teachable moment - the facts (in this case real) and what kind of society do we want? Will costs enter into care decisions?

Update 24 AUG 2009
Jon Stewart and Betsy McCaughey "discuss" the Health Reform Bill. I've read the cited sections of the bill and come to different conclusions that Ms McCaughey.
PART 1

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Exclusive - Betsy McCaughey Extended Interview Pt. 1
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Healthcare Protests

PART 2
At 1:02 in retort to Steward's comment on American life expectancy, she actually says, "when you remove violent crime and car accidents, we're number one (in life expectancy)."

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Exclusive - Betsy McCaughey Extended Interview Pt. 2
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Healthcare Protests

Update 26 AUG
Betsy McCaughey resigned from the board of directors of a medical products company, to "avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest."

Social media growth stunted

From a UK press release, we learn that the business leaders lack of understanding and data security concerns key barriers to use of social media within UK businesses. HR, on the other hand, demonstrates high usage and support for social media. In the survey, almost half of HR and L&D professionals use social networks, such as LinkedIn, to learn and gather knowledge.

Brightwave, who conducted the research, says that business leaders just don't get it. They don't see the value in social networking. In many instances employees don't have access to social networks like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and others.

Data security, wasted time and bandwidth concerns were also cited as key reasons for not using social media.

Lars Hyland, from Brightwave,

“UK businesses are missing out on a huge opportunity to cost-effectively build knowledge and understanding, as well as engagement, across large volumes of employees in different locations. Business leaders must be informed about the real opportunities in applying social networks to business, otherwise they risk alienating their highly networked current and future talent in today’s global workforce.”

Suspect this is the case here. Personally, my participation in the weekly #lrnchat (Thursdays, 8:30 PM - 5 GMT) demonstrate the power of social media for learning. The intelligence and diversity transmitted through the keys enrich me with every session. I even read the transcripts.

I wonder when we'll see the tipping point where some brave organization demonstrates value and blesses these tools. Is there some social media acumen competencies out there? Even Jack Welch uses Twitter now!

H/T to @gminks for the Tweet

On Boarding

Catching up with the reading, June 2009 T+D article, Making New Employees Successful In Any Economy. Good article by Katharine Giacalone about the first 90 days. The first 90 days are critical especially in a downturn and the expense of hiring. As the incoming Atlanta ASTD chapter president, I’ve been thinking a lot about on boarding and reflecting on past experiences.

Giacalone in her article gives us six strategies to make sure your new employees stick:

1. Schedule employees first day when the bosses in the office
2. Have workstations ready for them when they arrive
3. Give the employee the lay of the land – tour of the office, campus
4. Get down to brass tacks – not only the routine policy and procedures but
5. Train new employees within the first week's
6. Check in frequently during the first weeks months and beyond

It's been some years since I've been on-boarded in process. On my last new job I had showed up on the first day and was informed that there had been reorganization and I was now reporting to someone else. I spent my first day following my new manager around and attending three different staff meetings that covered the same topics. That’s my memory of my first day! BTW, no computer, no voice mail, no paycheck in first pay period and my “new hire” orientation, was scheduled in two months.

While I was still in that organization with a different role, the then director of the group had made a new hire. Unfortunately, the director had scheduled herself to be out of the office the entire week. So this poor soul came in on Monday and really had no direction for her first week. I took pity and ran the organizational gauntlet for ID, PC and telephone. Perhaps a better plan would be to have this new hire show up when the director was available.

Back in the 80s I joined a health care system that actually had a very good on boarding system. I went through employee orientation prior to starting my job and then spent the better part of the first week shadowing with other employees in the group. Actually the hospital brought back the former incumbent to orient me to the system, an in-house television operation.

Any on boarding stories to share? Good, bad?

Sex and the cellphone

Fascinating above the fold story in Sunday NYT Styles section When the Cellphone Teaches Sex Education. The Birds and Bees Text line in North Carolina is an attempt to lessen the teen pregnancy rate. NC has an abstinence-only curriculum. Teenagers can text questions anonymously to the line about sex and "receive a cautious, nonjudgmental reply, texted directly to their cellphones, from a nameless, faceless adult at the Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Campaign of North Carolina."

Regardless of your philosophical or religious position, kids are going to be interested in sex, we're hardwired for it as in propagating our species. Adolescents need to be fully and capably informed. If parents are providing that information, great, but if it's from peers on the playground, watch out. I believe that the US relies too much on denial in addressing sex education (see above abstinence-only curriculum, see celebrated teen moms of 2008/2009).

I applaud programs like the NC and hope that politicians will listen to the public health experts and continue funding. Acknowledge that these programs raise issues regarding parental control. My preference is for informed adolescents.

Related
The CDC is providing widgets for use in MySpace, Facebook and other websites as well as twitter feed: CDCemergency. My spouse is a CDC epidemiologist.

April 21-22, Learntrends event

THIS EVENT HAS ENDED

Visit Corporate Learning Trends and Innovation

I encourage you to check out this ning group.

So much for my assumptions about digital natives

I was a guest speaker at a colleagues class at the local university earlier this week. My presentations was use of web 2.0 tools: wikis, shared work spaces, blogs, social networks, podcasting, Twitter; the usual tools. This was less than an hour with the usual class business overhead.

What was surprising to me is that they don't use this tools in aggregate as many of us do within our project work. Communication is texting rather then e-mail. Collaboration using shared work space was very sparse with a few Google doc users. Couple of bloggers and Twitterers. Most of this crowd use Facebook as expected. Shared this article from McKinsey, Six Ways to make Web 2.0 Work. To save you a read, McKinsey found mixed results across the study group, the need for a management champion, management/supervisory and employee resistance to the technology.

Best question, "Does business really see in value in these tools?"

It will be a journey.

One week to go

Down to one week before taking a certification exam. Tying to practice what I've preached in "skilling up" during the down times. I've been focusing my energy on this now unfamiliar process, almost 30 years since I had to apply memorization.

Will Thalheimer survey

Here's a link to Will's Will at Work Learning blog containing a survey of independent consultant/contractors.

SURVEY has been taken down 2 MAR 2009. I was late in catching up with the reading

Lots of chatter about the economy hitting the workplace learning profession hard, especially for independent consultants and contractors. Will is gathering data to see what's really happening.

I've been a reader of Will's work and participant in his "webinosh" web-based seminars. Good stuff available though his site: Will at Work Learning. Check out his catalog for other resources.

Self directed versus social learning

What's the best description? What works best in your organization? Would the term self directed be more supported in corporations?

Elliott Maise's Facebook experiment

Over 1,000 members of Learning Town in the Facebook group and tiny, tiny participation in the discussions. Hmmm? Slow adopters? Lurkers?

Are you and industry-valued asset?

Alexandra Rampy in SOCIALBUTTERFLY, posed this thought,

don’t be an expert. Instead, become an industry-valued asset. The difference? One works for himself and his own knowledge base, the other, wants to be valuable and enjoys collaborative efforts.

Who'd want to be called an expert nowadays? If we believe Malcolm Gladwell and others, expertise (broadly defined) takes 10,000 hours to mastery. By the time you are "expert," the knowledge base has probably shifted. Experts are routinely disparaged by pundits, politicians and loud mouths. I want help from the person who is a collaborator, one who will delve into research, readily help to solve the problem and be that helpful role model. I want to be an industry-valued asset.

h/t Brazen Careerist

Lame Joke = Social Outcast

Dish out a bad one and expect derision, harsh remarks and perhaps a blow. According to Washington State University Applied Linguist and Assistant Professor Nancy Bell in research on failed humor,

“The predominant verbal reaction to failed humor in our study was oriented exclusively toward attacking the speaker,” Bell said. “These were basically attacks intended to result in the social exclusion or humiliation of the speaker – punctuated on occasion with profanity, a nasty glare or even a solid punch to the arm.”

This behavior was noted by those that knew the errant jokester well,

Bell said it’s essentially because – unlike people you work with or know only casually – family and close friends know they’re the ones who are stuck with you.

So those that facilitate multi-day courses beware; familiarity may bring contempt and workplace violence. To test try this on the last day of a long course: There were two peanuts walking down the street, and one was assaulted! I'm here to help.

H/T: Improbable Research

Drinking from the firehose

Spent the past three days in a certification prep course. This course used accelerated learning principles, content chunking and frequent quizzing starting with a pre-test and culminating in a simulated certification exam. My confidence is higher and the study plan leading up to the exam date makes sense. Although pricier than other options, this provider has a good reputation from those in my network and the facilitator was excellent.

As with most certifications, you have to erase reality and think from the pure world of the certifying organization. I'll update as I move through the study phase into exam phase.

Shout out to Georgia companies in Training Top 125

Congratulations to those with home operations in Georgia for recognition within Training Magazine's Training Top 125. Those organizations are:

9. Mohawk Industries, Inc.
27. Scientific Atlanta, a Cisco Company
35. Aflac Incorporated
48. Warner Robins Air Logistics Center Centralized Training and Professional Development Division
49. Gables Residential
70. UPS
74. Shaw Industries, Inc.
83. Orkin, Inc.
88. U.S. Security Associates, Inc.
92. Cox Communications

I'll update if I've missed a GA company. In a former life, I compiled the application for what was the Training Top 50 then Top 100. These applications require a tremendous effort however the data is useful in improving the learning function. Here's where you find the list. Weird that they posted it as a word document.

UPDATE 14 FEB (and sign of the times) You have to buy the chart of winners. In past years you could download. Next week 16-20 FEB, Trainingmag.com will highlight a Top 5 winner each day, They are:

1. PricewaterhouseCoopers
2. KPMG LLP
3. SCC Soft Computer
4. EMC Corporation
5. Wyeth Pharmaceuticals

Learner-focused learning! Elliott Maise

Listened to the CLO webinar with Elliott Maisie yesterday. Our learning systems focus on organizational needs but not the needs of the learner. Elliott was arguing that our learning systems should foster learner engagement, curiosity, social learning and user content/context; e.g., be learner centric. By user content, he proposes that learners can add content to courses as they apply what they learn. Learners should be able to sequence content to meet their needs. Users should be able to go off path and explore the learning concept in practice.

So far I am in agreement although reflecting back in the trenches on how one could implement. Would you want user generated content in business compliance courses: sexual harassment, workplace violence, diversity? Suspect the lawyers would answer NO. I see user generated content content useful in the business skills content including management and leadership.

Elliott cited the use of rogue learning systems in a top company created by the learners to meet a need in certification. This "rogue" system consisted of Google, instant messenger and a bulletin board hosted outside the firewall. My concern with rogue learning systems is integrating that data into talent management. How can you find that talent for projects or product development if they're not in a system? I suspect that performance and talent management (human capital management) is still a work in progress in most organizations and reliant on carbon-based databases as to where the talent is within the organization. Thoughts for another posting.

I did like his concept of "drip" learning, thin intravenous learning, one drip at a time. Elliott asked, who would get a MBA through the "drip" method over seven years?

Anyone out there with rogue learning systems?

Myth-busters

Will Thalheimer (Will at Work Learning) presented a webinar yesterday, 23 JAN 2009, Myths the Business Side Has About Learning: Result of Data Gathering. Sorry I didn't make the time to participate. His top myths are:

Bad Learning Designs are Thought to be Good Learning Designs


Training Alone Produces Improvements in On-the-job Performance

Information Presentation is Sufficient as a Training Design

Training & Instructional Design Require No Special Skills or Competencies.

Learners Know How to Learn

Managers Think Learning & Development is a Low-Priority Part of their Role

I can relate to all of the above especially 3, 4, 5 and 6.

Through happenstance I found Will in 2006 with this post:People remember 10%, 20%...Oh Really? In it he debunks the we-remember-10%-of-what-we-read, 20%-of-what-we-hear, and I'll pause while you chant the rest.

Just heard this old chestnut at an ASTD local function this week.

SHOUT OUT

To Tom Peters (irony intended) for #151 in 100 Ways to Succeed.

"An unstinting commitment by all of us to accelerated lifelong learning."

Look at the past years in both business and government and the failure in learning while championing projects and initiatives since we "know." One characteristic I look for in leaders is the ability to learn, to grow and admit it.