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Doug Holt

“It is not about what they know; it is about what they can do.”—Bob MosherMany years ago, learning scientist Roger Schank stated “learning is the work.” Today learning in the workflow is getting renewed interest as organizations realize the opportunities new technologies provide to make assets available at the point of need. The nature of work is changing, and therefore the need for access to learning assets is changing. The modern worker wants learning that is personalized just for their needs and available on a variety of devices. They are more adaptive, collaborative, and self-directed than earlier generations of learners. They use smartphones to search for answers at any time, and expect immediate access to information.Several years ago, Conrad Gottfredson and Bob Mosher of APPLY Synergies conducted studies on learning and authored Innovative Performance Support: Strategies and Practices for Learning in the Workflow. Their research identified five unique moments when performers are learning: learn new, learn more, apply, solve, change. The first two are associated with formal training while the last three exist in the realm of performance support. Unlike traditional approaches that encourage learner dependency and begin with a training solution framed by the deeply ingrained assumption that performance challenges are best ameliorated by new learning, the five moments of need methodology encourages independence and launches from the moment of application (when learned skills are applied to the performance of a job task). The corresponding assumption in play is that performance challenges are best addressed by providing performers access to cascading levels of support, from simple (for instance, a reminder of the basic steps required to complete a task) to comprehensive (targeted training oriented around job roles and tasks for which the result of failure is catastrophic).These moments include:1. When people are learning how to do something for the first time (learn new).Example: A first-time supervisor, promoted from within, needs to learn the progressive discipline policies of the organization.2. When people are expanding the breadth and depth of what they have learned (learn more).Example: The first-time supervisor needs to learn how to conduct a verbal counseling session under the progressive discipline policies of the organization.3. When they need to act on 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).Example: The first-time supervisor needs to perform the task of conducting a verbal counseling session (acting on what they have learned). This requires the supervisor to plan the encounter, remember what they may have forgotten, and possibly adapt their performance to a unique situation.4. When problems arise, or things break or don’t work the way they were intended (solve).Example: During the verbal counseling session, the employee presents the first-time supervisor with new medical documentation and notice that legal counsel has been retained.5. When people need to learn a new way of doing something, which requires them to unlearn deeply ingrained skills and relearn to adjust to new practices, requirements, and so forth (change).Example: In response to legal challenges, the organization has significantly changed its time and attendance policies and procedures. The first-time supervisor, formerly a line employee of several years, must overcome familiarity with the way it has always been and internalize the new approach.Learning new and more is the traditional stronghold for L&D professionals. It is what we have done for years and years. Learning used in apply, solve, and change moments is performance support; it is needed when it is needed—just in time, not when someone is attending a class. It is also needed in the right amount, not the amount deemed important for the length of a class.According to Gottfredson and Mosher, all learning needs to focus on application. This means addressing the entire journey performers make, from the beginning stages of learning through the full range of challenges when learners are called upon to actually perform, to use what they’ve learned to take actions. If organizations are interested in advancing employee performance, they must understand the moments when employees need access to learning.The Complete Learning Journey is depicted as three phases—training, transfer, and sustain, as illustrated in this image. Designing for this model requires pairing team members who are certified in the five moments of need methodology with practitioners who are experts in the role for which content is being designed. While in concept this approach is not so different from a traditional designer–subject matter expert collaboration, in practice it becomes more of a relationship between the designer and the larger professional community being served. Approaches differ based on the moment (for example, new is taught differently than more), and content associated with formal instruction is generally limited to those tasks that, if performed incorrectly, result in significant or catastrophic outcomes. Tasks carrying less risk are addressed through instruction or performance support in the workflow.This is a framework that various modalities can easily fit into. For example, there are ways to support the moments with e-learning, microlearning, videos, gaming, and so forth. However, this design requires a complete change of mindset about the learning portfolio and an understanding that five moments of need is not a different version of ADDIE. Some tips from experience to better navigate your “new” moment with this methodology were recently provided to ATD Forum members and include:Invest your time and professional development dollars in getting up to speed holistically on the five moments of need methodology. Allow yourself to be confused as you learn; it all makes sense eventually.Don’t waste your time trying to explain the shift to a performance-based approach. Just assume that the broad community of stakeholders won’t actually get it until you have a no-kidding demonstration product to show them that’s applicable to their work.Target an individual stakeholder in an underserved area of your business as your partner. The underserved are more likely to be willing helpers and will appreciate getting top-of-the-line, impactful learning support in return.Get started, but start small.Work under the radar.It’s much harder than you think. Stick with it anyway and trust the process. As Mae West is quoted as saying, “I never said it would be easy; I just said it would be worth it.”ATD Resources:Technology to the RescuePerformance Support Certificate ProgramScience of Learning 101: When to Build Performance Support, Part 1

Learning at the Moment of Need

During the ASTD 2012 International Conference & Exposition, held in Denver, Colorado, David Campbell, creator of the Campbell Interest and Skills Survey and other psychological assessments, received the Lifetime Achievement Award from ASTD. Campbell was one of six individuals recognized for contributions to the field.The ASTD Awards are presented every year during the association’s annual conference which draws more than 8,000 learning and development professionals from nearly 80 countries. The awards ceremony also recognizes organizations that use L&D practices to advance business goals. This year 18 companies were presented with Excellence in Practice Awards.The ASTD Award winners honored at the conference are:**Lifetime Achievement in Workplace Learning and Performance: David Campbell**Campbell was recognized for his work at the Center for Creative Leadership and the creation of his assessment tools that changed the face of leadership assessment and development.**Distinguished Contribution to Workplace Learning and Performance: William Rothwell**Rothwell is a recognized leader in succession planning and talent management and a professor at the prestigious Workforce Education and Development program at Penn State. He is the author of the bestselling book Effective Succession Planning: Ensuring Leadership Continuity and Building Talent from Within.**Champion of Workplace Learning and Performance: Doug Conant**The Champion award is presented to an individual outside of the learning and development profession who advocates for the importance of workplace learning. Conant, the former CEO of The Campbell Soup Company and author of TouchPoints: Creating Powerful Leadership Connections in the Smallest of Moments, is well-known for his dedication to employee development. While at Campbell’s Conant created the CEO Institute and routinely participated in employee development experiences.**ASTD Certification Institute CPLP Fellows: Elaine Biech and Katherine Holt**The ASTD Certification Institute CPLP Fellow recognition is presented to thought leaders in the field who advocate for the professionalization of the industry and support its only credential, the Certified Professional in Learning and Performance® (CPLP). Elaine Biech and Katherine Holt are the inaugural recipients of this honor. Biech, a 30-year practitioner in the training and consulting field, is President and CEO of ebb associates inc., an organizational and leadership development firm that helps organizations work through large-scale change. Holt is President of Peakinsight LLC, a global network of assessment, coaching, and leadership development associates. She specializes in transformational coaching, working with executives to achieve breakthrough possibilities for themselves and their organizations.**ASTD Dissertation Award: Tomika Wilson Greer**The Dissertation Award is presented to foster and disseminate research in the field of workplace learning and performance. Greer’s dissertation “An Investigation of Role Salience and Linkages to Work-Family Conflict” was successfully defended while she was a student at Texas A&M University. Now a professor at the University of Houston, Greer’s research has implications for employers who want to better understand how to holistically value employees and address work-family issues to drive workforce performance improvement.More information about the ASTD Awards and Excellence in Practice winners can be found on the Awards page of www.astd.org.

ASTD Honors Six Individuals for Contributions to the Learning and Development Profession

In a recent SalesGlobe survey we asked, “How often are new ideas brought up within your sales organization?” Overwhelmingly (71 percent) people answered, “People bring up new ideas when they feel like it’s safe to do so.”Safe.Innovation is never 100 percent risk-free, and failure is almost always part of the process. As an inventor, Thomas Edison, made about 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb. When a reporter asked, “How did it feel to fail 1,000 times?” according to PlanetMotivation, Edison replied, “I didn’t fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps.”So how does your organization’s culture support creative thinkers? Are new ideas encouraged? What happens when ideas fail? Is the person punished? Reprimanded? Or congratulated for thinking outside the box and encouraged to try again?Encourage Creativity …Sales innovation needs leadership with vision. A nervous manager will often reject a new idea out of aversion to any departure from the norm. That person may feel responsible for the ultimate success or failure of the solution, and want to only deal with the tried and true solutions. But, if an organization has an innovative leader, he or she will probably—intentionally or not—create a culture that encourages new thinking.Of course, companies can’t be expected to endlessly fund failures. While Manpower Group promotes a culture that encourages new thinking, it’s not willing to implement every new idea. Doug Holland, a director at Manpower Group, sees rejection often because their industry can’t absorb the cost of mistakes as easily as others. “It's very challenging, especially in a low-margin business like ours, to feel really comfortable saying it’s okay to make a mistake,” says Holland.… But Request a Reality CheckSo Manpower Group asks for a reasonable risk assessment before innovative ideas are approved or rejected. According to Holland, “What I see the most is not so much that ideas get rejected because they’re threatening. An idea might get rejected because the proof of statement isn’t behind it. We want the sales person to effectively articulate the predicted outcome and the benefits to the organization. Sometimes a creative solution might require a different type of investment upfront. The rep needs to be able to show if we do this, here’s the ripple effect and here is the return based upon our best estimates.”Holland adds, “When you have a good idea in this company, and you can show what the end game is going to be and you can articulate it really well, our leadership will go along with it. When they don’t go along with it is when you can’t articulate what that benefit is.”How does your sales organization balance a culture that encourages innovation with the real costs of failure?

Doug Holt

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