Preface

If you were a brand-new baby sea turtle, your odds for survival would be grim: of thousands hatched, only a dozen or so make it to adulthood. From jellyfish to dandelions, this is the way nature works. Thousands of seeds are dispersed in the seas or winds, but only a few are viable survivors.

What seems to work OK in the world of nature is not effective in the world of business. Investments in workplace learning are meant to give birth to new capabilities that employees can use to improve job performance. Odds are better here than for sea turtles, but not by a huge amount. If you wanted a sure bet, your best guess would be 15% to 20% of trainees who participate in the typical workplace learning event ever employ their new capabilities in a way that leads to worthwhile results for the organization.

This book is about how people who beat those odds do so, and it is for people who want to do the same. In the past several years, we have had the privilege to work with training leaders who, despite myriad obstacles, consistently accomplish truly remarkable results. They have not done this by relying on luck or chance. They have changed the way they think about and approach their work, and they have changed the way training works in their organizations. In this way, they have helped their organizations be more successful and accomplish valuable business goals with far more certainty and speed. They have also changed the way they are perceived and valued, moving from being simply training administrators or deliverers to being impactful leaders who have earned respect and recognition.

Their results are dramatic, doubling and often tripling (and more) the return on investment from training initiatives. For the past four years, we worked side by side with these training leaders, talked with them, analyzed their approaches, and otherwise sought to understand what differentiates them from typical trainers. “Courageous Training” is a term we have coined and a model we have articulated to describe how these training leaders have accomplished their results. Why we chose the adjective “courageous” is explained below.

There are two principal components of the Courageous Training model: the Four Courageous Training Pillars (Four Pillars) and the Courageous Training Code. The Four Pillars is a systematic set of concepts, methods, and tools for thinking about, planning, implementing, and evaluating training that, when applied consistently, leads to workplace learning that has an extraordinary impact on business. The methods and tools of the Four Pillars are not based on guesswork or theory alone. They are practical and they have worked in myriad organizational settings, including health care, manufacturing, high technology, finance, sales, and professional services; they have worked in large and small organizations, public and private. They are derived from decades of research and best practices and from the authors’ work with hundreds of companies around the globe developing their High Impact Learning (HIL) approaches. The authors have refined these earlier approaches into a more replicable and scalable process that more than forty leading-edge companies have adopted. In the past four years, these companies organized into a formal user group that collaborates to further refine workplace learning. The case examples in this book were drawn from recent work by some members of this user group.

This book not only examines the tools and methods that these exceptional leaders use, it also explores the second principal component of the Courageous Training model: the Courageous Training Code. Many books provide advice on how to be a better business partner, how to turn training into performance, and how to measure training results and return on investment (ROI). But our guess is that among the thousands of training leaders who have read those books and attended the related workshops, only a handful (back to sea turtles again) have really been able to make those approaches work and to get the great results promised—either due to the shortcomings of the methods or due to a lack of concentrated effort to fully commit to a new approach in the face of resistance and challenges.

So what’s new here? We have refined the Four Pillars and combined them with the Courageous Training Code. We had this revelation when we heard trailblazing trainers tell their stories. Like tightrope walkers, these trainers mustered their resolve and stepped out into a risky space. But it was more than simply taking a daring risk. As we talked with them, worked alongside them, and dug into their experiences, we discovered the principles and code of conduct that these leaders relied on to guide their interactions with senior executives, managers, and other stakeholders. These principles, which we condensed in the Courageous Training Code, enabled them to stay the course and steadfastly employ the Four Pillars. They had the audacity to set and promise lofty goals for their customers. Instead of about 20% of trainees applying new learning in ways that could impact business, they aimed to turn the ratio around, shooting for 80% or more.

The four members of the user group chose to write case examples from four different industries: manufacturing, health care, technology, and public education. Like the tightrope walker on our cover, these training leaders had the courage to step out into a new challenge without a safety net. Like a successful high-wire performer, they relied on proven techniques and practices, and they took their first steps on a small scale that they could master. They did not start out trying to cross the Grand Canyon. But they also faced risk and all acknowledge the fears they had to overcome to try the metaphorical tightrope walk in the first place.

Besides their willingness to follow a bold course, there is nothing unique about the courageous trainers that differentiates them from anyone reading this book for guidance. They are training directors, managers in training departments, chief learning officers, or human resources development consultants tasked with a principal responsibility for helping organizations plan and conduct employee learning and development. The advice and counsel, tools and methods of Courageous Training can be used by anyone who sees a need and has the resolve to make a difference. Those who take this journey will be able to improve training outcomes and raise their personal stock in their organizations.