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John Just is vice president of learning solutions and IT for OpenSketch, a division of MedAssets-Precyse, where he leads custom e-learning services. John is a national leader in e-learning and has provided expert advice to many enterprises across the United States, including large Fortune 500 and nonprofit firms. He has held positions as IT director and web-design instructor at Florida Virtual School, instructional design and technology professor at University of Tampa, chief information officer at Pinellas County Schools, and co-founder and head-of-school at Pinellas Virtual School. John earned a bachelor’s degree from Pennsylvania State University, a master’s degree in instructional technology from the University of South Florida, and a doctorate in instructional technology from Nova Southeastern University.

John Just

How can talent professionals build learning experiences that focus on helping learners to fish like champions and simultaneously stock the pond with what they need to perform?

Are You Teaching Others to Fish or Just Stocking the Pond?

JUST HOW MUCH EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE MATTERS?

Justin Lombardo is one of the first executive learning professionals to successfully reform learning and development and human performance systems and practices in healthcare for greater effectiveness and efficiency. Most recently, he served as vice president for the Learning Institute and Chief Learning Officer for Children’s Medical Center, Dallas, where he centralized education, training (clinical and non-clinical), leadership development, and organizational development. Prior to healthcare, he was part of the early management team at Motorola University. Currently he is a senior consultant with talentRISE, a firm specializing in workforce and talent recruitment. He has served on education and training and development advisory boards at the regional, national, and international level, including a task force on technology education for an agency of the United Nations; Center for Creative Leadership Corporate Advisory Board; Oversight Board for Physicians’ Assistant graduate studies, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University; and the Center for Nursing Excellence. He was also appointed by the governor of Illinois to the state’s task force on workforce development. Mr. Lombardo holds a BA in theater and communications from St. John’s University, an MFA in directing from Catholic University of America, a graduate certificate in theology from St. John’s University, and has completed graduate studies in Western thought from St. John’s College.

Justin Lombardo

Dr. John W. Carter retired from the Navy after twenty-two years as a surface warfare officer, serving on several different ship classes as well as a tour with the U.S. Marines, and on the staff of Joint Forces Command. His last tour of duty was teaching political science at the U.S. Naval Academy, which included the introductory American government course, civil-military relations, political philosophy, and a senior seminar on the political thought of the American founding.After retiring from active duty, Dr. Carter continued his work at the Naval Academy as a class of 1968 Senior Military Instructor where he taught applied leadership to the midshipman. In 2009, he earned his PhD in Politics from the Catholic University of America.From 2011 to 2015, Dr. Carter was a lecturer in leadership at Christopher Newport University, Newport News, VA. He taught introduction to leadership, leadership through the ages, leadership theory, and values leadership. He has delivered a workshop on emotional intelligence for the Hampton Roads Criminal Justice Training Academy and presentations on democratic leadership through the Tea Party Movement, the formation of new leaders, and the heart of the leader (its impact on leadership style and values).Dr. Carter recently finished a project to complete the design of an online master's degree at Divine Mercy University in Arlington, VA. He led the completion of the last five courses in the program, including two leadership courses where he was the subject matter expert.He is principal and CEO of LearningDesignCo, LLC, a learning architecture consuting firm based in Cincinnatti, OH.Clients include the Xavier Leadership Center, Matrix Animation, and White Oak Consulting.Samples of his work are found at www.learningdesignco.com

John Carter

The Public Manager, ATD’s premier publication for federal managers and professionals wrapped up its third successful Government Workforce: Learning Innovations conference in Washington, D.C., last week. Keynoted by three agency directors—Carolyn Colvin, Acting Commissioner of the Social Security Administration; John Koskinen, IRS Commissioner; and Beth Cobert, Acting Director of the Office of Personnel Management—the event attracted nearly 300 federal employees, 25 private-sector sponsors, and 45 panelists representing more than 50 different federal agencies or government working groups. “We’re very proud of this year’s event,” said Ron Sanders, Booz Allen vice president and board chair of The Public Manager. “There was so much enthusiasm on display. It was a real testament to the passion and commitment that government workers bring to their jobs every day.” Government managers and professionals are facing unprecedented challenges, said Sanders, adding that cultivating their knowledge, skills, and capabilities is essential in an environment where engagement levels can be notoriously difficult to quantify. What’s more, building a fully engaged, innovative, and productive workforce in the midst of austere budgets and ever-increasing workload can seem like nothing short of an impossibility for many agencies. Yet every day, dedicated government managers and professionals and their staff come to work, sit down, and do just that, said Sanders. The 2015 Government Workforce: Learning Innovations event put the spotlight on those leaders, with 16 concurrent sessions that examined state-of-the-art human capital and learning practices in the public and private sectors, and covered everything from using workforce data analytics to deliver on agency missions to managing volatility and change to get results. Meanwhile, the release of the new, digital format of The Public Manager magazine was timed to coincide with the event, featuring a cover interview with the conference’s keynote, Acting Social Security Commissioner Carolyn Colvin. “This community of dedicated managers and professionals from federal, state, and local agencies is working to address the public sector’s talent needs,” said Sanders, “and we want this conference and the newly released digital TPM magazine to become two of the essential tools in their toolkits as they tackle government’s many challenges.” (Check out Ron's video detailing the relaunch of the all new The Public Manager.) You can subscribe to The Public Manager magazine today! Click here****, and then click on the September cover image to access the free September issue.

ATD's Government Workforce: Learning Innovations Conference Highlights Best Practices

 A few weeks ago, I wrote a short post, “Do the Right Thing.” For those who did not read the article, by right things I was not merely referring to ethical issues. Of course, acting ethical and appropriate are a given. I was also referring to being encouraging and helpful to others, as well as a great teammate and communicator. In essence (and in spirit), I am talking about being a servant leader and a source of positive energy—and only positive energy.Here’s some of the feedback I received for the post: “The message is inspirational—developing a positive and encouraging environment is planting seeds of success in our workplace, and for our team members, and can produce limitless benefits for our firm’s overall success.” “Fortunately, I am in a smaller company that is very leadership focused. In the past, though, I worked with managers with the attitude: “Just do what we tell you, just comply, adhere to our procedures.” They did not encourage creativity, finding new and better ways, collaboration, and even asking questions. It was just do it.” “We need people who know why they do what they do, are guided by proper values and purpose, versus so many managers who do what they do for money, power, attention, control, title, or corner office.” “We need leaders who have faith, a moral compass, and love to coach, mentor, and help others learn, grow, and succeed. We need leaders whose own satisfaction comes from the satisfaction and success of their people.” “It is true that doing the right thing helps others and helps us to feel good about ourselves. I also have found that doing the right thing is key to overall business success. A focus on personal gain can lead to short term success, but doing the right thing usually ensures the ultimate long term emotional (and financial) returns.” “I love the thought of doing the right thing as it improves morale and the spirit of an organization. Results will improve. Failure to do the right things has the opposite effects; it reduces drive, people won’t go the extra mile, and ultimately turnover, which is a huge hidden cost that management usually rationalizes—rather than taking responsibility to learn from and improve.”There is a saying that “kindness of words motivates others.” Having a sense of kindness in our work, leadership, and relationships in business, including our internal relationships, is definitely doing the right thing! Mara Vandlik of McGinn & Co., asked if women are expected to be more graceful, helpful, and encouraging than men? Granted, we could start a dialogue on that question, but my answer to her is that this is an area where men could learn from women and their natural leadership skills and competencies.Kerry Douglass, a spiritual director and counselor, thoughtfully noted that effective leadership comes through community, not authority.John Kelly of Hanover Stone Partners sent the Do the Right Thing post to two former leaders with whom he worked and respects and states that now when faced with a difficult decision or issue, he asks himself “What would Dick or Ed do?” Then the answer is clear, do what’s right. This is consistent with a recent conversation with Joe Bottari, a sophomore student athlete at Georgetown, whom I have the privilege of knowing and mentoring. When faced with what he considers a life decision, he takes the time to seek the counsel of those for whom he has great respect. Joe also believes in having great relationships with his teammates and focusing on team goals, as then work and football practice are easier to handle well.Andy Funt, CEO of Bio Films Innovations, makes an insightful suggestion that we should bear in mind to always doing the right thing—and also do the next right thing. By that Andy means the first right thing might well be an assessment or decision and the next right thing is our action. An example might be reaching out to someone to help them with their inner-confidence as we pursue our desired outcome.Aaron Spokaeski, a general manager at Billy Casper Golf, a company that definitely treasures its people and consciously tries to listen for their ideas, advice, and feedback, points out that doing the right thing means being “we-oriented” not “me-oriented.” It also means realizing that, as a manager and leader, we are a part of a team and every person is an important member of the team as well, and helping them believe that.We should live to help make lives better every day. That is living in our faith, and isn’t it the way we can be in our business lives?!Yes, surely it is. With that personal mission, we can be exemplary and highly effective leaders and team members—by doing our best work, by being positive, and by encouraging and helping others do their best work. As I finished drafting this paper, I happened to read a wonderful article about empathy. It encouraged me to go back and add this paragraph. Bottom line: Empathy helps us improve the lives of others, as well as our own. Here are just a few things we can do each day: See something at work that needs fixing? Just quietly fix it.Say thank you with eye contact and a smile and not being too hurried so the person feels your appreciation.Grab a coffee or tea with someone who could use a conversation. Conversations are a gift, if we listen to connect. A great way to lead our lives from a spiritual sense is to help make lives of others better every day, and we can have that be our personal mission in our work and leadership. We need to encourage and help our team members and other colleagues have better business lives every day. That is doing the right things and that is servant leadership!

What Does “Doing the Right Thing” Look Like in Business?

You’ve got numbers from your training. Now what? If you find that your data are unclear, or don’t seem to guide your next steps, you’re not alone. Let’s take care of that.Preparation CountsFirst, let’s review how to set yourself up for success with metrics. Here are the key steps to prepare for action:Set measurable goals for the course. For example, start from learning objectives and set goals for how much people should learn. (See” Track Success with Metrics.”)Find the features of the course that impact the goals. For example, use A/B testing to measure the effect on the course of including videos, or making videos of a certain type. ( See “Find the Levers with Metrics.”)If you you’ve done these things, you’ll be ready for your next steps. If you didn’t do these things, and you’ve got a pile of numbers to make sense of, you’ve signed up to be a data miner. Now, mining data is an honorable profession, and if you have a background in statistics and a large volume of data (say, thousands of students), you could give it a try.However, with the limited size of datasets that we typically get from training, it’ll be hard to find patterns that are significant. So, you’ll come out ahead if you have a system designed from the start around measurable goals and measurable features.Course Focus vs. Portfolio FocusDesigning a course around measurable learning objectives may already be part of your design process. We are used to thinking about training in this way. And, this is work that can happen in isolation from other courses. For example, the learning objectives for sales training for Widget X probably have no relationship to the learning objectives for engineering training for Widget Y. This compartmentalization makes it relatively simple work to set measurable goals for courses.To act on metrics, however, requires a portfolio view. To find the courses that need work, and to accumulate insights into what levers work best, is a long-term effort that spans many courses.First, to find the courses that need work, we have to know what an underperforming course looks like. While we will have some external criteria for this, such as “X number of people need to get at least 80 percent of the quiz answers correct,” the best way to address this is to look across the portfolio and find the lowest courses. In other words, establish a baseline, then find the low outlier that should be prioritized for improvement.Next, your experiments to find levers of quality (for example, through A/B testing) will be spread out across many courses. You won’t test every feature of every course, though. In fact, you might test only one or two features in each course to make the job manageable and data easier to interpret. As you accumulate a “bag of tricks” through your testing, you can apply things you've learned from one course to the design and troubleshooting of other courses.Put Best Practices to WorkCongratulations—you’ve set yourself up with some well-designed goals and levers. Now, your next steps are relatively easy.Redesign an existing course: If your data show that a course is underperforming, and it can be adjusted by one or more of your levers, consider redesigning and republishing. This assumes that course will continued to be delivered long enough to justify the investment, which you can ensure by checking your data early in the life of the course. In fact, it’s best to plan for iteration with any course: publish, collect data, adjust, and publish again.Approach future courses differently: Keep track of the best practices that you uncover through testing, and apply them in the planning stage for new courses. More importantly, once you’ve established best practices, you’re going to include them in all of your new courses. What if one of these new courses still underperforms? At that stage, you can have a discussion about the level of investment in the course. Because even with knowledge about best practices, you’ll naturally make tradeoffs between what works best and what you can afford.If the course is a priority for the business and it’s not working well, it may be time to add more high-end features, such as virtual instructors. And thanks to your work with metrics, you were able to point out that it wasn’t working, and you know what to suggest to improve it.Share Best PracticesAs your final action, share your findings with others. When you find what works best for your training, there’s a good chance it’ll be a benefit to other designers. Of course, mileage for a particular design choice may vary. Again, what you find works for engineers in your industry may not apply to another industry or to sales, for instance. So, also keep track of the demographics of your audience and include that information with your report.In the long run, you could help lay the groundwork to make training a leading profession in the data-driven workplace of the 21st century.

Act on Metrics

Winter 2013 - The Public Manager

Moving From "Reinventing Government' to 'Moneyball Government'

As a legendary basketball coach John Wooden once said, “The goal is to create a correct habit that can be produced instinctively under great pressure.” To achieve this goal, he created the eight laws of learning: explanation, demonstration, imitation, repetition, repetition, repetition, repetition, and repetition. His approach underscores a fundamental truth—learning is not a one-time event but a continuous process of practice and refinement. As players repeatedly practice moves and game strategies until they’re instinctive, learners refine their skills through continuous application. In basketball, every dribble, pass, and shot builds toward mastering the sport. Repetition is the bridge between learning and mastery, allowing individuals to build confidence and fluidity in their skills—whether communicating effectively, leading a team, or adapting to new challenges. Wooden’s insights highlight that, like basketball, learning requires consistent effort, strategic reinforcement, and a commitment to improvement—ultimately transforming knowledge into instinctive expertise. Why Repetition WorksRepetition is the foundation for skill development. When skills and knowledge are repeated, the brain reinforces the neural pathways that make those actions easier and more automatic over time. In learning and development (L&D), this reinforcement is crucial. As Wooden highlighted, it isn’t enough to simply explain or demonstrate content; learners must actively engage, repeat, and refine their skills to master them. Only through repetition can individuals work towards this level of perfection. Additionally, repetition enhances knowledge retention. As they engage in these repetitive practices, they build long-term muscle memory and cognitive fluency until they can recite their learning content to perfection. Repetition in Practice With Learning ToolsThe best learning tools utilize repetition to enhance skill development. Video-based coaching, for instance, allows learners to refine their skills through repeated practice, self-evaluation, and iterative improvement. Research by Ericsson, Krampe, and Tesch-Römer (1993) suggests that expert performance primarily results from deliberate practice rather than innate talent, with top performers accumulating thousands of hours of structured training over time. Through asynchronous coaching, learners can record, review, and refine their responses multiple times before submission, helping them develop fluency and confidence in communication skills like sales pitches, leadership presentations, and customer interactions. This iterative process mimics real-world situations where professionals must continuously refine their messaging to drive impact. Furthermore, when learners receive AI-driven feedback or peer reviews, they can adjust their delivery and approach more effectively. Similarly, game-based learning leverages repetition through engaging, interactive challenges that encourage learners to reinforce key concepts while having fun. Research indicates that gamification has a moderate positive effect on learning outcomes compared to traditional methods (Sailer & Homner, 2020). By allowing learners to replay scenarios, tackle adaptive challenges, and receive instant feedback, game-based learning creates an environment where repetition feels natural rather than monotonous. Whether solving puzzles, answering quiz questions, or participating in real-world simulations, learners deepen their understanding and strengthen their decision-making abilities with each attempt, while having fun. Just as repetition is essential in mastering basketball, it is equally crucial in learning. Through structured coaching and gamified practice, learners refine their skills and ultimately prepare them to execute with precision when it matters most. 

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