Squeezing the juice out of training

I consider myself a ‘learning machine’ first – and a ‘teaching machine’ second. In fact, I doubt it can ever be the other way around – not if I want to ‘do the job’ properly. Teaching well requires that we continually ‘problem solve’; that we continually look for creative solutions to both teaching and learning problems. Every day is an exercise in experimentation, trial and error, analysis and formulation – I find it at once both demanding, exciting and always surprising – new ways to deliver old ideas – old ways to deliver new ideas – it never ends. A week rarely goes by where I don’t find a better way to deliver an idea, concept or technique – I am always on the lookout for ‘better outcomes’ – my wife says I am more than a little OCD with regard to this – but I couldn’t have it any other way – in fact, some organizations are paying me for that exact ‘quality’.
Fast-track learning is what I am always focussed on - never to the point where the quality of learning is compromised, quite the opposite in fact. Better and faster skill acquisition is one of my teaching tenets - I get a great deal of satisfaction in teaching people to acquire a skill in a single session, that ten years ago, would have taken me ten sessions to achieve. I do it for the ’challenge’ of doing it – a side-benefit is that people respond very positively to the Fast-track learning process because they have a greater sense of the value of their ‘time’ nowadays. If someone only has a few hours a week that they can devote to training, it becomes even more important to streamline the teaching/learning process – for those who have more time (professionals) then obviously, they achieve even favourable outcomes.
Apart from the teaching and learning models that I have developed over the years, there are lots of ways people can improve their training outcomes. One is to build a culture of efficiency in their classes. When I look at the way people train, I can almost always see ways to get the same results they are getting in nearly half the time. The way people ‘change-up’, ‘get ready’, ‘recover’, ‘deliver instruction’ and ‘respond to instruction’ can all usually be improved. Time is precious – manage it well and achieve better outcomes.
Train well – train smart.
JBW