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In Conclusion

Published February 2010

Nice Work If You Can Do It

  

  Randall P. White

It's nice to be needed. There’s been an uptick recently in coaching and executive education engagements in South Africa, India, France, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and, ever so gradually, the United States. Organizations are rethinking their business strategies after the financial collapse.

However, ambiguity abounds. There is an obvious tension — as if “nervous” is the new “strategic.” Management wants results quickly, with a heightened financial vigilance and intensified ROI expectations. We’ve watched participants text reviews of our performance during the sessions. One bad day in class and summary dismissal looms.

But it’s also an opportunity for learning professionals to step forward. Just be prepared for the following challenges:

1. As teachers, we are now expected to actually do hard work. There were times when coaches flew in for a “star turn,” which was usually easier if you had recently written a book or two. Today, we have to deliver results. This is a good change.
2. With money so tight, we find that the manager who owns an engagement is more keenly aware of his or her own need for success. There is a “chain of nervousness” about buying interventions that extends all the way down to the learner.
3. Participants are under pressure to improve quickly for job security. Learner feedback is more critical, particularly on how applicable the material is to day-to-day duties. This is an improvement as much as a challenge. We want end users to take their experiences seriously.
4. Everyone expects fresh content. We can’t redo something that worked well last time. We log countless hours on conference calls designing and redesigning programs that may not take place for 12 months. Yes, this inspires innovation, but powerful processes are sometimes jettisoned in the name of “new.” It’s a challenge because much of the best work that happens is an interpersonal process: more dependent on teacher and learner than on a flashy packaged curriculum.
5. Top management has always been dubious about ROI, and leaders are more desperate for results they can see right now. This can scuttle a learning engagement before it gets started or, worse, before it’s finished.

Everyone is suffering from uncertainty. That’s why the pressure is on. It’s also why education, training and development are being called in, the way King Arthur summoned Merlin. But we have to rely on our human powers, with a little help from the social sciences.

Learning organizations can help their companies find strategic responses to the post-collapse economy, but it won’t happen any faster than it did in the good old days. We need to discuss how our haste got us in this predicament to begin with. Businesses were in a hurry to advance people based on very singular functional strengths, such as negotiation, closing deals and finance skills. We allowed executives to test out of people skills and to ignore their weaknesses.