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Owen Holt is a skilled training and development professional experienced in instructional design, course development, and training delivery. With a passion for creating learning programs, Holt has a proven track record of success in various leadership positions at Dell, Lithium Technologies, Samsung Austin Semiconductor, and Q2. He is an expert in training technologies; is a frequent conference speaker; and excels at developing employees, managers, and L&D professionals.

Owen Holt

July 2023 - TD Magazine

With the proper prompts, integrate AI dialogues into your content development toolkit.

Brainstorming With AI

July 2022 - TD Magazine

Straight Talk: Influence Skills for Collaboration and CommitmentRick BrandonMatt Holt Books, 272 pp., $25Brandon, who has 30-plus years of experience designing and delivering leadership and professional development training on influence skills, calls Straight Talk a workshop in a book. "Its mission is to help you to turn off autopilot and become more aware and accountable around how you're living and relating with others," he writes. The book is divided into three parts: core communication skills, "smooth sailing conversations" such as when advising and recognizing, and "rough sailing conversations" such as disagreements. Brandon explains that honest and direct speech enables individuals and organizations to thrive, counteracts miscommunication, and enriches virtual communication.The Restart Roadmap: Rewire and Reset Your CareerJason TartickHarperCollins Leadership, 208 pp., $24.99If you're ready to make a change in your job, career, or life, follow the eight steps Tartick presents in this book. Start with being honest. He says that honesty is a requirement in "taking a good, hard, accurate look at your life right now." Tartick himself went through a career and life overhaul, and he uses that experience to counsel readers on how to break free of the blueprint, get unstuck, and pursue a life of their dreams. Each of his steps has a dedicated chapter that guides readers through the process of finding the career or lifestyle that is right for them. "You can write your own script," he writes. "Finding a healthy, fulfilling career means doing it your way."

Book Capsules, July 2022

One of the issues to consider when designing instruction is how much instruction to provide. This question isn’t always considered, though, and we either provide too much instruction (or not enough).This brief story will emphasize one aspect of this problem.Joanna, a new hire in food service at the local hospital, is using an online course in hand washing. The course contains key facts about germs and how hand washing destroys them, but also statistics about hand washing, facts about different types of hand sanitizers, and the history of hospital-acquired infections and how they spread. The primary message is that feces contains life-threatening germs and that tiny amounts often get onto hands after using the bathroom or handling objects that others have touched. People in the hospital often have compromised immune systems and if they come into contact with these germs, they can get very sick or die. Hand washing can prevent spread of these germs.The problem: There is so much other information in the course that Joanna doesn’t get the seriousness of the message. She mostly comes away understanding that it’s a “very old issue.” Joanna passes the quiz but misses the critical message.Consider people handling the following work tasks:Situation A: an accounting clerk in an accounts payable department has a vendor on the phone with a question she doesn’t know the answer toSituation B: an armed guard at secure military facility gate is talking to a driver who is acting aggressively and trying to hand him a wrapped package to deliverSituation C: an air traffic controller sees two planes on the screen who will shortly be in each other’s air space.We often build training as if everyone needs to know everything about everything. And it’s easy to overload working memory and make it so people learn less than we want them to.We say it’s the SMEs fault. They gave us too much content. But that’s like saying a poor building design is the architect’s fault. Oops it is! And in this case we are the architect. We need to make sure people learn what we need them to learn.Cognitive OverloadOne reason why we need to provide only what people need is explained by “Cognitive Load Theory.” Cognitive load theory states that we have mental “bandwidth” restrictions. In other words, our brain can only process a certain amount of information at a time. And one of the things that can cause overload is too much information. Figure 1 is a diagram that shows the three types of cognitive load.Figure 1. Three Types of Cognitive Load (Source: Patti Shank and Cecelia Munzenmaier, Writing Better Learning Content)When Learners Don’t Need to Know EverythingDo we need to train the accounting clerk in situation A on every answer to every possible vendor question? Probably not. For that matter, why shouldn’t we train everyone on everything?People don’t have unlimited time.The important information will be drowned out by the “just-in-case” information. See the example of Joanne’s hand-washing training. And no, it’s not because they remember 10 percent of what they read, 20 percent of what they hear…If there’s too much information, it’s easy to get overwhelmed (see Cognitive Overload section).I hear you asking, “Where will they get other information if they need it?”  This may be non-obvious, but they’re probably not going to go open their previous training materials to find the answers they need. So build performance support materials (or have them do it). Let people get help from their social network.But Some Workers Do Need to Know EverythingOn the other hand, the workers facing the issues in B and C don’t have time to look up or ask someone the proper response. They need to know what to do in these situations, and how to do it effortlessly--even if these situations don’t happen very often. We call this “automaticity.” Automaticity is the ability to do a task effortlessly without any conscious effort or attention. Making something automatic includes accuracy and speed. Automaticity frees the mind to do other things, such as assess the situation, determine what is important, and find alternatives. Benefits of automaticity seem to be consistent across cognitive, perceptual, and motor tasks. But methods for training to automaticity for these different types of tasks are different (see resources). And training to automaticity requires a lot of work for the  training designer and the learner.We make fun of rote learning, but in some cases, it’s required—especially when dealing with the need for automaticity. The alphabet is an example of where rote learning is required in order to move on to more rote learning for reading proficiency and fluency. Not many tasks require the kind of automaticity described in examples B and C, but many do require the capability to recall information quickly, such as answering guest questions at a hotel desk while others are waiting or medical staff helping patients and families during pivotal moments.Imogen Casebourne wrote a good Science of Learning blog post about supporting the learning and remembering of this type of information.Key Point: If the task doesn’t require quick recall or the worker has time to look it up, it may be a waste of training time to add the additional recall practice.ReferencesThalheimer, W. (March 12, 2015) Debunk This: People Remember 10 Percent of What They Read, ATD Science of Learning Blog.Holt, B., & Rainey, S., (April 2002). An Overview of Automaticity and Implications for Training the Thinking Process, Western Kentucky University.Casebourne, I. (January 27, 2015). Spaced Learning: An Approach to Minimize the Forgetting Curve, ATD Science of Learning Blog

Science of Learning 101: The Case for Less…Generally

Elaine Biech and Katherine Holt were named the first ASTD Certification Institute CPLP® Fellows at an awards ceremony held during the ASTD International Conference & Exposition in Denver, Colorado this month. The women were recognized for their thought leadership in the learning and development field and for their support to professionalize the industry.ASTD is the world’s largest association dedicated to the training and development field and the ASTD Certification Institute (ASTD CI) was formed to take the lead and set professional industry standards for the profession. ASTD CI oversees the credentialing process for practitioners who seek to earn the Certified Professional in Learning and Performance® (CPLP) credential.Elaine Biech is a self-proclaimed lifelong learner and a 30-year practitioner in the training and consulting field. She has worked tirelessly to improve and define the profession. Her efforts have benefited ASTD and the profession on every level from her early and enthusiastic advocacy for professional certification, to her help shaping the CPLP credential through her research for the ASTD Competency Model. She has volunteered hundreds of hours to ASTD and her reputation for supporting others with resources, advice, or an inspiring word is known by many.Dr. Katherine Holt has a 32-year history with ASTD starting when she became a training manager and joined her local ASTD chapter. Katherine went on to serve on the ASTD board of directors from 2000 to 2002. She was extensively involved in establishing the foundation for the CPLP certification, providing thought leadership while championing innovation and high standards throughout the process. Dr. Holt has shared ideas about human development and performance around the world, promoting ASTD publications and membership at every opportunity.As the inaugural ASTD CI Fellows, Biech and Holt will have lifelong tenure in their roles and will conduct educational and networking programs for CPLP credential holders.Nominations for the 2013 ASTD CI Fellow program are now open. Applications for the CPLP Employer Award are available also.

ASTD Certification Institute Recognizes First CPLP Fellows

Note: This is a guest post from Michael Boyette from the Top Dog Sales Blog. Want to contribute your own guest post? Let us know! Trigger events are the silver bullets in sales, because they allow you to get in front of the right person at exactly the right time. Sales coach and author Craig Elias points to three types of trigger events. Each trigger signals a high probability that the company will eventually purchase new goods and services.Trigger #1: Executive movesExecutives are typically hired to make a difference. And since top executive tenure tends to be short, they want to make their mark fast.They need to buy solutions and services in order to make that happen. And they need something new, because if the old stuff was working they wouldn't be there. It's also easier for new management to change suppliers. They can say that a previous vendor was a poor choice made by someone before them.Trigger #2: New fundingStudies show that companies with new funding are up to eight times more likely to buy services than comparable companies that haven't had a similar funding event.Funding is meant to drive growth, which means purchasing new solutions and services to help with sales, marketing, product development, operations, and so forth.It's not just that they're flush. Many times management is under pressure to spend new money quickly to show investors they're doing everything possible to succeed.Trigger #3: LaunchesNew products create demand for supporting products and services that fuel sales growth for the new product, such as marketing services, sales training, and e-commerce.New products often spawn the departure of personnel and other changes as people move on to newer projects. Product launches therefore create secondary trigger events, such as new funding and executive changes.Hitting the TrifectaCorporate acquisitions, by their very nature, involve changes in executive roles, which often ripple throughout the entire organization.They also involve changes in funding, with some groups doing better under the new regime and some doing worse. Like any other major organizational change, a merger creates multiple trigger events, each of which can be leveraged into a sales opportunity.How to CapitalizeUse something as simple as Google Alerts to search for product launches or LinkedIn to follow changes in executive staffing.One Sales 2.0 application for this purpose is iSell, from OneSource, which informs you of the trigger event, and also provides context, such as information about the industry and the prospect's competitors. The application provides you with enough information to have a relevant conversation the first time you talk to the prospect in response to the trigger.Michael Boyette is the managing editor of Selling Essentials newsletter and editor of the Top Sales Dog blog (http://rapidlearninginstitute.com/top-sales-dog). He's also managed marketing/PR programs for DuPont, Tyco Electronics, and US Healthcare, among others. In addition, he's authored ten books on a variety of subjects for such publishers as Simon & Schuster, Dutton and Holt. Contact Michael via email at topsalesdog@rapidlearninginstitute.com.

Guest Post: Smart Moves: Capitalize on Trigger Events and Careful Timing to Win More Sales

 Mergers and acquisitions often cause great anxiety and confusion among the employees of both companies. Corporate cultures are different. For instance, the acquiring company could be very structured, with strict hours, reporting layers, and budget approvals, whereas the acquired company may have a more entrepreneurial style. Clashes will inevitably occur, affecting business outcomes, and key contributors may quit in frustration.Now think about how this culture clash is magnified when the two companies are based in different countries. In these situations, understanding and accepting cultural differences is key to managing change. The learning and development and HR teams should deliver cross-cultural training before any mergers, acquisitions, or partnerships take effect. This shows the employees that management cares and wants to ensure that all employees make the transition successfully.The easiest way to understand our differences is to first identify our similarities. In the following story, I used my familiarity with both American and Indian culture to effectively facilitate a series of workshops for employees of a U.S. company that had been acquired by a company based in India. Note that you can apply my experience to any interaction between diverse cultures across the globe.Open HostilityThe trainer who preceded me in these workshops warned me. In a text, she said her efforts had been met with hostility and stony silence, and she had gone back to her hotel disillusioned. However, I thought the anger might be a front for the employees’ fear of the unknown and uncertainty about the future. While I could not allay their fears of job insecurity, I could address their cultural anxieties.I walked into a room full of people who knew very little about India. Some had never even been to an Indian restaurant. I was dressed in a sari, my standard uniform for multicultural talks to U.S. companies working with Indian outsourcing partners. It helps underscore my role as a cultural goodwill ambassador. Coffee and MuffinsI began by speaking about my experience at my hotel. “How is everyone? You all look like you had a nice breakfast. I am starving; my hotel does not serve food. It made me nostalgic for the blueberry muffins from a sidewalk café in NYC that I used to enjoy on my walk from Port Authority to Park Avenue. And, my morning cup of Chennai kaapi, or coffee, with a froth of milk on top.” My small story sparked a lively discussion about baked goods and breakfasts. Some talked about the biscuits they baked at home. One kind lady promised to bring me some the following morning (and she did). One gentleman asked me, “Hey Mala, what the heck is Sinaai kapi—sounds interesting.” That was when I went into my talk about India, the biggest cultural differences between our two countries, ways of leveraging the strengths of both cultures, and finding common ground for getting along. Hospitality: Our Common GroundWhen I talked about Indian hospitality, a few people in the class who were from the South spoke with great pride about southern hospitality. I agreed and said: “You know, you are so right. This morning our shuttle driver, who is also from the South, brought a lunch bag for me. In it were a couple of muffins, vegetarian sandwiches, and water bottles. He gave it to me saying, ‘I don’t want you starving here, and you have no time between classes. I want you to leave this town feeling good.’ I was touched beyond words. Strangely, I had the same experience in a hotel in Jaipur, India, when I did my workshop there.” I asked the class: Can you see the parallels in both cultures? By mixing culture theory with stories, case studies, and practical application, I was able to connect with those nice people in class. If you ask your foreign counterparts about their birthplace, language, food, and festivals and share similar information, you will get a lot more out of your work together.If we fail to help employees of both companies acknowledge and accept their differences and find common ground, we will create an environment in which even the best processes and leaders will struggle to succeed. Quick TipsAnticipate resistance on both sides.Acknowledge the fears and anxieties behind the resistance.Engage and build rapport.Find common ground to diffuse resistance.Connect to achieve goals.

Cross-Cultural Connection in the Workplace

Unconscious biases and the influence of individual cultural backgrounds are two challenges to strengthening linkages among employees.

Are Your Own Biases Holding You Back?

I once had a nurse manager come to me and ask, “How do I tell a master’s-prepared registered nurse that sleeping at their workstation is unprofessional? In many of my previous management jobs, finding an employee sleeping at their workstation was a fireable offense. In this environment, the employee appears to see no difference between sleeping in a designated break room and sleeping at their workstation.”While it may not always be an employee sleeping on the job, managers in all sectors need to address a variety of unacceptable behaviors. But how can you do so without causing drama?When I ask people what feeling comes to mind when I use the phrases “talk about a problem” or “address an issue,” the most common response is “Ugh!” – which isn’t really an emotion, but you probably get the idea. So, first tip: recognize this as a simple gap between what you were expecting and what you are observing. Your job as their manager is to describe the gap and partner with the person to close it. Here are three suggestions for how to do that:Master Your StoryYou will be far more effective at holding this conversation if you can suspend judgement. For example, even if you believe everyone should know that sleeping at the workstation is unprofessional, hold open the possibility that maybe this person was trained or taught differently. Or maybe, just maybe, they slept at their workstation all through school and no one ever got up the courage to give them feedback about it. After all, it is easy to mistake silence for approval.Catch It EarlyThe time to talk about the bad behavior is the first or second time it happens. Imagine how easy it would be, the first time a new employee falls asleep at their workstation, to gently shake them awake and kindly say, “We want all our nurses to sleep in the breakroom, not their station. Let me show you where it is.” When you catch it early, you are kindly onboarding a new employee and making sure they know what they need to be successful.When you let the poor behavior go on for a while without addressing it, two things happen. First, your own irritation likely builds, fueling your negative story. Second, you make the issue bigger. Now it is not just once or twice that this has happened but months’ worth of bad behavior. When you make the issue bigger through delay, you are more likely to create embarrassment and subsequent defensiveness in the other person.Have and Share a Good IntentIf you use the first two tips, it will be much easier to use the third one. Before any gap conversation, stop and ask yourself: what do I really want for this person? For them, not from them. Asking and answering this question will require you to flip your perspective 180 degrees. After all, we step up to gap conversations because the gap is causing a pain or problem for us. We are acutely aware of how their behavior is affecting us. The question you must ask is: How is it affecting them?What do you want for them and how will sharing this help? It can be as simple as, “I want you to be successful here and that is why I want to talk to you about this.”When you care about someone, and they know you care about them, gap conversations become about improvement, not reproof.

3 Tips for Addressing Unacceptable Behavior in the Workplace

Did you have any key mentors or people who deeply influenced who you are, what you believe in, and what you’re committed to in your work and life? Tell me about them.I have been fortunate to have several great mentors throughout my life. There is an interesting common thread around how each of them came about. They were all previous bosses. We remained in touch after either they or I left the organization, and our relationship organically morphed into a mentor relationship. It’s funny because “mentor” was never used any of the relationships. In each case, it had been an informal mentorship. There were no structured meeting times or agendas. Our conversations were driven by a combination of personal interests and specific business challenges or needs. For some, we have kept in touch nearly 20 years. And the relationships have morphed quite a bit. Early on in each relationship, they saw something in me that I didn’t quite see in myself. They challenged me, asked a lot of questions, and encouraged me to take some professional chances—to take on challenging projects and roles. Over the years, a couple of them have even sought my advice on a variety of topics.How and why did you end up working as a vice president of franchisee onboarding and learning at Choice Hotels? What led to this job?One word—relationships. I was already working in the hospitality industry and had built my career in various learning roles across multiple industries. I had an opportunity to get to know the head of human resources at Choice while working on a hospitality education committee. We worked together on the committee for a couple years, so I got to know him well. I was really struck by his insights and approach to the business. Timing worked out where they were looking for someone to lead their franchisee learning group, and I was ready for my next opportunity. It has been the best move and best organization to be part of.What would you say most motivates you to do what you do? What are you most excited or passionate about?My mission is to provide opportunities that help people reach their greatest potential. I’ve been fortunate to be able to do this via multiple outlets. My work is completely dedicated to this—including our franchisees as learners and helping them open their hotels and run their businesses as effectively as possible and leading my team—providing challenging opportunities, feedback, and coaching. The two leadership books I’ve written help me reach an even wider audience and connect with people in a different way. The books have also opened the doors to speaking and coaching opportunities, which are other outlets for helping people elevate their leadership. I’ve also reinforced my mission as an adjunct faculty member, teaching undergrad, grad, and executive education classes for more than 20 years. In that environment, it is focused learning so easy and rewarding to see the “light bulb go off” when people learn something new.What are you most proud of accomplishing?Professionally, my accomplishments are due to working with a great team, so I need to start there. I am proud and fortunate to be a part of and represent my team. The two biggest accomplishments we achieved is a ChoiceU transformation, which included a major transformation of learning functionality and content. The other was the development of the Opening portal—a custom-built learning and project management tool that provides greater transparency and educational resources around the hotel opening process. It is a first in the industry and greatly helps our franchisees.Personally, there are a few accomplishments I am proud of. Earning my doctorate degree is something I never thought I would or could do, and it has completely shaped how I approach business challenges. I am proud of having written two books on leadership and that both have exceeded expectations. And I am proud that I have finished 10 IRONMAN Triathlons. All of these are a reminder that anything is possible with the right effort, focus, and determination.What would you do differently in your career if you had a chance?Have the confidence to ask more questions earlier in my career. I am naturally inquisitive, but when I was just starting out in my career, I always felt like I had to have more answers. I think I put that pressure on myself. It wasn’t until later in my career that I developed the comfort and confidence to ask questions. I often seek input from peers as well as at every other level of my team. I’m always impressed with how knowledgeable they are around the work they do, and I am always learning something from them. A footnote to this is that it is important to distinguish when to ask questions and the type to ask. For example, as a leader, at some point you need to be decisive and take action.

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