Training Industry Magazine - Summer 2022 - 13

SAM SHRIVER & MARSHALL GOLDSMITH
BUILDING
LEADERS
DESIGNING TRAINING FOR
BEHAVIOR CHANGE
IS LIKE FINE DINING
There are some things that the term
" dinner " has in common with the term
" fine dining " ... but for most of us,
those words conjure up drastically
different imagery.
" Dinner " is a comparatively informal
event. Many of us make daily decisions
about dinner in the moment and on the
fly. Are we eating out? Driving through?
Throwing something on the grill or in
the oven? Whatever the decision turns
out to be, we usually engage with
modest expectations, and when it is
over, we move on.
DESIGNING FOR
BEHAVIOR CHANGE
REQUIRES EXPANSIVE
FORETHOUGHT.
" Fine dining " is a different deal
altogether. We channel our inner food
critic and scrutinize every aspect of the
food and service. If our expectations
are met (or exceeded) there is usually
immediate,
discernible evidence on
display. We provide feedback to the
proprietors of the restaurant, and we
provide passionate, word-of-mouth
testimonials to others.
To us, the difference between delivering
training and
designing training
for behavior change is akin to the
differences between preparing dinner
and experiencing fine dining. And the
essence of that difference is a function
of the planning that drives expectations
that eventually produces evidence.
PLANNING
Designing for behavior change requires
expansive forethought. The training
experience itself must be both engaging
and relevant (nothing has changed
there). Put another way, the probability
of transfer decreases exponentially if the
learning isn't provocative, inspirational
and instructive.
Beyond that, serious consideration
needs to be given to an extended cadre
of stakeholders. Who will drive the
implementation of new skills on the job?
(Primarily the direct supervisor/manager
of the trainee.) Who will be able to
provide an objective assessment of the
behavior change as well as the impact
that change has produced? (If effectively
assessed, the trainee.)
EXPECTATIONS
You can learn a lot by how someone
introduces themself in a training session.
Consider two hypotheticals in that regard:
* " Just glad to be here and looking
forward to learning something
that might help me become more
effective. " (Dinner!)
* " I'm a recently promoted manager,
and I'm
attending
this
event
for
the express purpose of increasing
my effectiveness with the tenured
members of my team. We have a
critical launch taking place at the
end of this quarter, and it will not be
successful without very high levels
of transparency and trust. I need to
accelerate my ability to build that
with them. " (Fine Dining!)
TRAINING INDUSTRY MAGAZINE - SUMMER 2022 I WWW.TRAININGINDUSTRY.COM/MAGAZINE
When learners initiate with clear
intent, there is a high probability they
have met with their manager prior to
training and aligned on not only what
they are there to learn but why they
are there to learn it.
EVIDENCE
It has long been a challenging
undertaking to directly correlate a
learning experience with a productivity
outcome. So many variables litter the
path of causality.
On the other hand, it is comparatively
straightforward to determine if a
learning experience has resulted in
a meaningful behavior change. We
recommend checking out " The Success
Case Method " by Robert Brinkerhoff.
In essence, practitioners who can
recount specifics six months or more
after a meaningful learning experience
can do so because they have been
applying what they learned over time
(application drives retention).
In the spirit of our analogy, it is
the difference between hearing a
recommendation from someone who
has never stepped foot in a restaurant
compared to someone who has eaten
there every two weeks for the past
three years.
Marshall Goldsmith is the world
authority in helping successful leaders
get even better. Sam Shriver is the
executive vice president at The Center
for Leadership Studies. Email Marshall
and Sam.
| 13
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Training Industry Magazine - Summer 2022

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