Witnessing “light bulb” moments during training is incredibly powerful. These moments teach me two things:
Knowledge empowers people, which is why I am dedicated to my craft
All of my hours of preparation were worth it and all of my concerns over whether content would land were unfounded
Altruistic and partially selfish. The desire to be good so that others can be great.
These measures of success equate to flashes in a pan. True impact is gained when learning cascades through an organization. Much can be said of creating and sustaining a learning culture; however, this is the summary effort. I take great joy in crafting learning experiences where I can trace a single program’s impact across a group. This ripple effect is better than its ice cream fudge relative.
Ripple Effect
The impact of learning can move vertically or horizontally across organizations. The approach to vertical movement is a strategic choice. The horizontal impact is more organic but can be amplified through memorable content that lends itself to transmission by word of mouth and observed example.
Vertical
Certain content should be cascaded top down in order to gain buy-in and support. When senior leaders understand a new method and become role models for it, their teams are more likely adopters. This traditional approach is well tested.
However, what happens when the learning objective is already understood by senior leaders or perhaps, they simply “do not have the time?” While counterintuitive on its face, a bottom’s up approach can be productive when well designed.
In my experience, sharing a course summary and specific areas where leaders’ support will be needed pre, during and post training brings them into the fold and enables them to skim-learn the content, digging into areas that are less familiar and glossing over areas they know well. Like CliffsNotes, never underestimate a bite-sized summary tool. The most important element of a bottom’s up approach is providing managers with clear expectations for their role and what support their learner will need in order to glean the most out of the time the manager approved being invested in training. When their role is positioned as caring for their investment and the scope/actions are clear, the necessary support receives higher prioritization and comes to fruition.
Pre-training support often involves sharing why the manager feels this learning opportunity is valuable, what they hope the learner will take from it aligned to specific goals, how excited they are to support and invest in the learner’s development, and how the manager will aid the learner in balancing day-to-day duties to reduce their stress so they are not distracted or worried as they learn. During training, managers can be supportive by shifting the learner’s workload onto themselves, offering encouragement at the start of the course and checking in periodically if the course is over a series of days. Finally, post-training support can take the form of coaching, ample opportunity to apply the lessons learned, patience amidst trial and error, and positive reinforcement to sustain the new behaviors.
Horizontal
When people learn something new, they are likely to share it. This means training one person well can lead to their entire team benefiting. This supportive group become peer coaches and accountability buddies. Learning in community helps the content stick.
Teams do not exist in a vacuum. Stepping outside of their immediate team, learners become advocates and idea marketers across organizations. The insights gained take on lives of their own as if through diffusion throughout the learners’ networks. Cross functional colleagues’ benefit. What once looked like sporadic sprinkles, now resembles a hard chocolate shell (yes, I’m hungry). The impact is solidified and widely adopted.
To the Point
Learning acts like a rock thrown into a still pond. Its ripple effect can be felt upstream, downstream and often across the wider ocean. Keep throwing stones; you may never know whom you will impact.
Double scoop of rocky road, anyone? I’ll split it with you.
Image sources:
Comments