"Is your TRAINING a misnomer? Is it really just Communication or Education on Topics, Skills, Behaviours or Competencies not authentically aligned to the performance requirements of your Learners back on their jobs? And most importantly - is it lacking sufficient, authentic Practice with Feedback?" Guy W. Wallace The title of this blog post and the summary below, is taken from the the thinking and writing of Nick Lawrence   on  LinkedIn. I'd recommend you follow Nick there (or wherever). "Training isn't a tool for solving business problems." Training is a tool to prepare people when their job - or their current job expectations - change Performance problems are symptoms of systems failures : - Unclear expectations (what to produce / deliver / accomplish) and to what standards - Lack of feedback loops that guide or confirm that expectations are being met - Poorly designed processes - Unsuitable tools and  / or data - Poor / unavailable / inaccessible / inc...

"The cause of poor performance is rarely the lack of skills. Knowledge / skill has very little leverage." Geary Rummler Common organisational norms that limit performance but are invisible to leaders: 1. Worshipping individual performance (AKA putting systemic problems that can only be solved by leaders on to individual workers) 2. "Performance" (really) equates to 'level of compliance' 3. Organising for 'cultural fit' 4. Absence of inquiry 5. 'High potentials' ethos 6. 'Working' and 'Learning' viewed as separate entities 7. Processes organised to separate the 'thinkers' from the 'doers'.

"If you want to understand the deepest malfunctions of systems, pay attention to the rules and who has power over them." Donella Meadows The directing, pace setting, mandating mental model creates a reductive focus on control, plans and logistics. These work systems are typically low EQ, bureaucratic and status oriented. Rinse and repeat. This system inevitably enables and rewards particular characteristics of 'high performance': 'Gets things done' 'Drives through change' 'On top of everything' 'Hits deadlines regardless' 'Keeps the team busy'.