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The Other Side of Learning: “Performance is Everything”
HaroldS. Geneen was CEO of ITT from 1959 to 1977. While CEO, Geneen grewthe company from $765 million in sales in 1961 into a multinationalconglomerate with $17 billion sales in 1970. One of the fundamentalprinciples that governed Geneen’s remarkable leadership was this:“Performance is everything. Forget everything else.”
Isit possible that we have forgotten this principle in the realm ofteaching and learning? We’ve made great progress on the formal sideof learning – when people are learning something for the first timeand when they want to learn more. We have rightly broadened ourapproach from the traditional classroom to include other formal meansto help people learn quickly and effectively. We have employedinnovative technologies to make these learning opportunitiesavailable anywhere, anytime.
Buton the whole, we have been negligent in addressing the most criticalmoment in any person’s individual learning process – their momentof “Apply.” Preparing learners for the vital moment when they arecalled upon to perform should have always been at the heart of ourefforts. This is when learners meet the realities of what theyactually learned, what they didn’t learn, what they have forgotten,what they have misunderstood, the unanticipated nuances, and thechallenge of a constantly changing performance landscape.
YogiBerra, who played for and managed the New York Yankees is reported tohave said to his family while driving to Cooperstown, Pennsylvania,“We’re lost but we’re making good time.” In many ways, hisstatement seems to describe how we are approaching learning today.We’re building great event-based learning solutions in less timewith fewer resources. At the same time, we continue to be a bit lostin the context of taking learners on the journey to sustained,successful on-the-job performance.
Weseem to be unable to shake the formal learning event paradigm fromour collective mindset. Our core mission is to develop learningsolutions that ensure people can perform effectively when they arecalled upon to act. Think about how your organization is approachingtraining today. Are your sights squarely on the “Moment of Apply”?In the past we might have been able to ignore this vital moment andstill somehow stumble into successful on-the-job performance. Thenature of the world today simply won’t let us do that. It demandsthat we focus squarely on Apply.
Whatis more, today’s work environment doesn’t tolerate learnersstepping out of their workflow to learn unless it is absolutely vitalto do so. And the actual nature of 21st century learners is resistantto learning options that are delayed and removed from the here andnow. They are self-directed, adaptive, and collaborative in theirapproach to learning. These kinds of learners will ultimately abandonoutright our formal learning solutions if what we provide them failsto efficiently prepare them to effectively perform at their momentsof “Apply.” Why? Because when facing a traditional course thatfails to do this, today’s learners are predisposed to simply walkaway and look elsewhere for the shortest path to successfulperformance.
GloriaGery pioneered the initial ideas and practices of “PerformanceSupport.” Unfortunately, it only survived a short period ofadulation and then waned because of technological challenges (which,by the way, no longer exist.) Oh, over the years some have given lipservice to performance support by developing a few job aids, butother learning practices and technologies have overshadowed Gloria’svision. This has been a grave mistake – literally. Today aninexcusably high percentage of learning outcomes are dead on arrivalat the moment of “Apply.” What a terrible thing. Can we feel okayabout investing time and effort to create events that fail to deliversuccessful performance when it really counts? Where’s the returnon that investment?
Itis irresponsible of anyone in our profession to design, develop, ordeliver a learning solution that fails to take into account thesupport infrastructure needed for learners to perform successfully intheir work whenever and however they are called upon to do so. Itisn’t acceptable to simply throw learners over the classroom wallinto the workflow and then just hope that what we did during theevent is enough. It’s not. We know full well that learningdoesn’t stick unless you make provision to support performance inthe workflow. We also know that the success that does occur isn’tall that could occur if we attended to the principles and practicesof “performer support.” And the good news is that doing thisdoesn’t require more effort than what most are doing now. It does,however, require a mindset shift. It also necessitates our learninghow to redirect current efforts to bring about this alignment.
Thisisn’t a proposal to overthrow formal learning events or to diminishthe vital role trainers play. But we need to move much of what we doas far into the natural workflow of the organization as possible; weneed to avoid, when we can, pulling people from their work for largeperiods of time to learn. There has never been a time when we havehad greater capacity to do this than now.
Five “Moments of Need”
Here’swhat we need to do: we must redefine our work to embrace the entirejourney performers make from the beginning stages of learning throughthe full range of challenges that can occur at the moment of apply —when learners are called upon to actually perform. There are fivefundamental moments that comprise the full spectrum of performancesupport needs. These “Five Moments of Need” provide anoverarching framework for helping learners become and remaincompetent in their individual and collective work.
Herethey are:
When people are learning how to do something for the first time (New)
When people are expanding the breadth and depth of what they have learned (More)
When they need to act upon what they have learned; which includes planning what they will do, remembering what they may have forgotten, or adapting their performance to a unique situation (Apply)
When problems arise, or things break or don’t work the way they were intended (Solve)
When people need to learn a new way of doing something; which requires them to change skills that are deeply ingrained in their performance practices (Change)
Thepeople we train and support (our mission) deserve “intuitive,tailored aid” that will “ensure the most effective personal andcollective performance” during all five of these moments of need.
What is the role of performer support at the moment of “Apply”?
Thisis the sweet spot of performance support. There is much that can andneeds to occur here. And today we can do more than we have been ableto do in the past. When people are at this moment, when they need toactually perform on the job, they need instant access to tools thatwill intuitively help them do just that — perform. This help mustbe immediate and tailored to the role and situation of the performer.The aid needs to allow the performer to dive as deep as necessarydepending upon his or her need to plan, remember, adapt, or referenceinformation required for successful performance.
Also,we know that at the “Moment of Apply” performers can requiresupport at three phases of “Apply”: before “Apply”, during“Apply, and after “Apply.” (Figure 1)
Figure 1. Performers can requiresupport before, during, or after the moment in which the job demandsthey apply what they have learned.
Before “Apply”
Sometimes,waiting until someone is in the midst of performing to providesupport is just too late. There are times when it makes more senseto help learners prepare just prior to when they are called upon toactually act. For example, prior to walking into a meeting with anupset customer, the account manager might want to review the “FiveSteps for Resolving Customer Problems ” which she had learned ayear earlier in one of her sales courses. The performance supporttool she would use to access, review, and then plan her meeting withthe upset customer would be called a “planner.”
During “Apply”
Clearly,this is the traditional spot for performance support. Here we createsomething Allison Rossett calls “Sidekicks.” A sidekick isanything we create that supports performance right at the moment ofperformance. A GPS (Global Positioning System) is a perfect exampleof a sidekick. It coaches you as you drive along helping you makethe correct turns and arrive at the correct destination.
After Apply
Thisthird and final phase is a new player in the realm of performancesupport. In the discipline of instructional and learning design, wemost often view evaluation as something we do to determine iflearners achieved what we set out to help them achieve. We measurethe merit and worth of the experience. We work to deduce the returnon investment as a result. This is all fine and good, but evaluationhas much more to offer. It is a principle of instruction not just apractice in the training development process. When we train peoplehow to evaluate their own performance we place them on a path ofongoing improvement. When we provide them tools to ensure that theirself-evaluation is objective and deliberate, we ensure that ongoinggrowth occurs at maximum potential.
Inperformance support, we call these self appraisal components “QuickChecks.” They help performers review their performance, determinehow they could have performed better, and take the steps necessary toperform better next time they are called upon to act in a similarmanner. This is a key practice of performer support.
MichaelJ. Gelb wrote, “Champions know that success in inevitable, thatthere is no such thing as failure, only feedback.” Self-evaluationcan be the most influential form of feedback possible. It ensurespersistent growth. It may very well be the most powerful principle ofinstruction and learning. And it certainly has a vital role to playin performer support.
The role of New and More at the Moment of Apply
Althoughthe first two moments of need (Learn New and Learn More) areinitially satisfied by the development and delivery of formallearning events, these two can also occur at the moment of Apply. Itis highly probable, in today’s work environment, that a performermay need to learn something for the first time or learn more right atthe moment of Apply — when there simply isn’t time to step awayfrom the workflow and “take” a traditional course. Performersneed to learn it in real-time while on the job at the moment ofApply. (Figure 2)
Figure 2. The need to Learn New and toLearn More can occur at the moment of Apply.
What is the role of performer support at the Moment of “Solve”?
Oneof the realities of life is that things don’t always work the waythey’re supposed to work; life doesn’t always happen according toa script. And sometimes, in our rapid pursuit of doing what we needto do, we make the wrong turn and experience those unique learningmoments called road blocks or even failure. In the New Normal, itisn’t enough to know how to do something correctly, it is alsovital to be able to diagnose and solve problems that happen along theway. The situations we call “problems” can be caused byunforeseen circumstances, other people, and ourselves. Regardless ofthe source, these moments of “Solve” require diagnostic skillscoupled with performance support.
Thetraditional organizational bandage for solving problems that arise inthe workflow are “help desks,” and sometimes intentionallycreated support networks — both backed by capable troubleshooters. When life was copasetic with only a few twists or turns along theway, this was a sufficient solution. But, today, this model, alone,won’t solve the “solving” challenge. The New Normal has shiftedthe definition of competence from simply applying knowledge andskills to continually acquiring and adapting knowledge and skills.Competence is now a matter of individual learning agility and themoments of “Solve” are prime contributors to the agilitychallenge.
Learners,today, must be comfortable in their ability to “Solve”unanticipated challenges. They must have confidence in the very actof not knowing. They must be disposed to face challenges beyond theircurrent knowledge and skills. This confidence at these criticalmoments will come from:
a performer support infrastructure that has anticipated their needs at the moment of solve
the training they have received to engage those tools in solving problems
the on-the-job successes they have along the way
organizational acceptance of failed attempts that may happen in the process
Inaddition, social media technologies provide remarkable opportunityfor instantaneous access to the collective wisdom within and beyondthe organizations we serve. Immediate collaboration at the moment of“Solve” combined with the capacity of individuals to resolve thecore challenges that come their way are the scalable resources helpdesks need to meet the demands of the New Normal – a workenvironment in the state of constant flux.
What is the role of performer support at the Moment of “Change”?
Thismoment of need has been the least attended to and yet is the mostchallenging. And since we don’t attend to it very well, it is oftenthe most costly to organizations. Once skills have become ingrainedinto the work practices of people and organizations, replacing thoseout of date practices with new ways of performing is a significantlearning challenge. This need cannot be adequately met by onlybringing performers into formal learning events devoted to teaching“the new ways” of doing things. In addition, these performersabsolutely need job aids that will guide them through the new wayeach time they are called upon by their job to perform. Thischallenge is ultimately resolved over time on the job.
Changeimpacts how we address the moment of “Apply.” Change is afundamental reality in today’s work environment. It is oftenunpredictable, absolutely unrelenting, and, more often than not,terribly unforgiving. Alvin Toffler, writer and futurist, hasobserved that change, today, is “non-linear and can go backwards,forwards and sideways”. He further describes how we must respondto this dynamic change environment, in his book Rethinking theFuture: “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be thosewho cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, andrelearn.”
Thefundamental difference between how we support performers at themoment of “Change” and how we do at the typical moment of “Apply”lies in the requirement change makes of performers to “unlearn”and then “relearn” a new way. Our profession, for the most part,hasn’t provided the support it can and should when performers facethis performance twist. Here are a couple of recommendations:
Take on the challenge of deep rooted change
Yearsago, after completing work for a client, a participant in the projectoffered to provide a ride to the airport to allow continueddiscussion. After a long drive, seeing no planes in the air anywhere,the question was asked, “How long before we arrive at the airport?”As the driver hit his brakes, he turned and said, “I’m almosthome.” Has something like this ever happened to you – where youhave acted in an automated way? The cognitive principle at play insuch circumstances is “automaticity.” Things that we do, over andover, tend to become automated in our skill set – to the point thatwe can do them without conscious thought. And when this has occurredwithin a workforce and the workforce is then called upon to changethat automated performance, organizations face one of the mostsignificant performer support challenges .
Softwarecompanies have paid dearly for their failure to provide meaningfulsolutions to this moment of change — where skills have become“deep-rooted.” For example, it is not uncommon to see softwarevendors force feed newly released software upgrades through theirmarket channels. There is often very little pull from themarketplace. Why? Because with all the hyped capabilities, thesoftware too often lacks the performance support infrastructurenecessary to help people “unlearn” their automated skills and“relearn” how to perform the same tasks within the new software.If these vendors would actually provide this support, the uptake bytheir existing customer base would have not only been dramaticallyfaster (thereby accelerating revenues) but the good will generatedwithin that customer base would suppress competing market forces.
Whenorganizations face any major change initiative, there is highprobability that there are deep rooted skills that requireoverriding. This can best be done with a robust solution thatsupports performers in their workflow, at the moment of apply whenthey are called upon to “unlearn” and “relearn.” Toofew change initiatives adequately make this crucial investment.
Thischallenge of deep-rooted change has been around for a long time. Wenow have the knowledge and wherewithal to address it directly. Wesimply need to understand the realities of deep-rooted change andstep up to it, ahead of it, before it’s upon us.
Grow dynamic learners
Thereis a new era of change confronting organizations today. Thisunpredictable, unrelenting, and unforgiving environment of changerequires organizations to cultivate dynamic learners – learners whoknow how to be rapid, adaptive, and collaborative in how they learn,unlearn, and relearn.
Today’slearners must cultivate a mindset that anticipates change. Thesedynamic performers must also have access to tools to help them detectchange before it is on top of them. Because they live in a state ofcontinuous change, they must also cultivate personal learningstrategies that minimize the probability of their own skills becomingautomated (deeply rooted) unless those skills merit becoming so.
Thesedynamic learners learn on the run and rely on performance supporttools to assist them at every moment of learning, unlearning, andrelearning. And when these dynamic learners see change coming atthem, they know how to assess their current readiness to perform,identify what skills and knowledge they need to cast aside and thendetermine how to take advantage of performer support systems toassertively adapt to the conditions around them. (Figure 3)
Figure 3. Dynamic learners must be ableto learn “on the run.”
Thebottom line? Organizations need a performer support strategy inplace that accommodates all of these moments of need at the moment ofApply – while people are “doing” their job. The strategy mustalso address the three time phases of apply: the time beforeperformance, the time during performance, and the time afterperformance ends.
Figure3 shows how the moments of need can be nested into the moment ofApply. It also shows the three phases of Apply also impacting thiscritical moment of Apply. The elephant in the room here is the needfor organizations to address the challenges performers face at eachof these moments during all three phases.
InTheSun Also Rises,Mike Campbell, Ernest Hemingway’s character, when asked how he wentbankrupt, replies: “Two ways. Gradually and then suddenly.” Thiswill be the case for much of what we call formal learning today –unless we push our efforts more deeply into the organizationalworkflow and provide people the tools and preparation they need tosuccessfully perform at the “Moment of Apply.” This must be atthe heart of all we do. It should always have been the case.Remember “Performance is everything. Forget everything else.”
