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Let's Broaden the
Training Conversation
By Rick Nigol
 I really enjoy Donald
Clark's Plan B
Blog. Clark is an Englishman with loads of experience in the
training field. He has an acerbic wit and writes about training in
general, and eLearning in particular, with a refreshing candor. You
may not agree with everything Clark says, but there is no confusion
about where he stands. One of his recent postings about the blandness of training magazines really resonated with me.
I myself stopped all my paid subscriptions to training publications
a long time ago and only flip through the free ones quickly in the
off chance that there may be something interesting and of value.
There usually is not.
Clark thinks that training magazines are so dull,
boring and predictable because they rely on an advertising model for
their existence. Therefore, they go out of their way to be
non-controversial, non-critical, non-offensive, and full of puff
pieces about how rosy everything is everywhere in the world of
training.
Certainly, the advertising model has something to
do with this blandness. However, I also think that part of the
problem is the very insular nature of the training field itself.
Articles in training magazines are, for the most part, written by
training professionals (consultants, academics, vendors, CLOs,
training directors, instructional designers, etc.) to be read by
people just like them. It's much the same phenomenon at training
conferences - training folks talking to training folks.
This is why so much of the dialogue is
self-congratulatory and a little delusional. Every thing's fine.
Everyone is great. There are no problems. All training is of good
quality, useful, effective, and, of course, well worth the
investment of time and money. It is those nasty people not in the
training function (executives, managers, business unit heads, etc.)
who don't understand the inherent value of training and don't give
it the respect and resources it deserves.
Well, working in the "eLearning trenches" every
day, I can tell you that it is not as pretty a picture as is painted
in the training magazines, or presented at training conferences. It
is hard work producing quality learning experiences that meet real
needs. Not everything produced by our field is of great quality, and
results can vary tremendously. Some things work, and others don't,
and we are still figuring things out as we go. It's messy
business.
I think we should be more self-critical and be
honest with ourselves about the state of our field. It is only when
you recognize and openly admit problems that you can begin to work
toward real improvement. The training field could really benefit
from some lively discussions, debates and disagreements about what
we do and how we do it.
Another way to broaden the training conversation
is to invite non-training folks into the discussion. We should be
giving a greater voice to our clients (executives, managers,
directors, and learners) and listening to their
needs and their concerns. We should be hearing more from these folks
in our magazines and at our conferences, and a little less from each
other about how wonderful we are. It can be a real eye-opener to see
yourself as others see you.
Broadening the training conversation will not
only improve the quality of our magazines and conferences, it will
improve the quality of training itself.
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