Training Industry Quarterly - Fall 2009 - (Page 36)

CLOSING ARGUMENTS | TIM SOSBE WHAT HAPPENED WAS NO MIRACLE, IT WAS SIMPLY GOOD TRAINING. W THE ‘MIRACLE’ OF GOOD TRAINING ith this issue we’re drawing closer to the end of 2009, and we’re about to start what I’m sure everyone hopes will be a better, brighter year. In that spirit, as we look forward to 2010, now is a good time to review the top training story of 2009. It’s tempting to go with the knee-jerk reaction and say “it’s the economy, stupid.” Nothing else has dominated discussion this year, at webinars, conferences, social media sites and all the more traditional ways of talking. It’s true that this year’s course was determined by economic needs, and there are far too many unemployed people out there who can attest to this fact. But forget all that. As important as the economy was, it was simply a reactive element, something we all had to adjust to, live with and move past. Here’s what I’d consider to be the top training story of the year … and it came just 15 days into the new year: Jan. 15, 2009: A US Airways jet strikes a flock of geese after leaving the ground in New York City. With sudden engine failure compromising the ability to fly, the flight crew, led by Capt. Chesley Sullenberger, is unable to return safely to any of New York’s airports. So, the pilots gently guide the plane into the Hudson River. In what’s become known as “the Miracle on the Hudson,” all 155 people on board escaped safely from the plane, with only minor injuries reported. Let me explain my selection of this story as the year’s top training moment in one simple sentence: What happened was no miracle, it was simply good training, properly applied. Everyone on that plane could easily have been the victims of every air traveler’s worst nightmare, but Capt. Sullenberger and his team didn’t panic. They remembered their training, they improvised (as they were taught to do), and they applied all the proper lessons to ensure the desired outcome. And they did all this in a matter of minutes, at a time when the stakes couldn’t possibly be higher. As trainers, it’s easy for us to get lost in conversations about social media, learning methodologies and measurement. Those are all important elements of our business, to be sure, but the Miracle on the Hudson reminds us that training is about more than new-hire orientations and coaching. Whether it’s the life-or-death decisions of pilots, soldiers and medical personnel, or more commonplace business-as-crucial training, it’s important to remember that lives, livelihoods, careers and companies are on the line. It fortunately doesn’t take a failed engine to remind people of what’s at stake, but when those engines do fail, everyone better be prepared. As of Oct. 1, Capt. Chesley Sullenberger has returned to the cockpit, and is now in the air again. He’s also joined the US Airways flight operations safety management team, where he can proactively help avoid the kinds of conditions that he so skillfully mastered. Not every training story ends as happily as this one. But they should. Tim Sosbe is editorial director of Training Industry Quarterly and general manager of webinars for Training Industry, Inc. You can e-mail Tim at tsosbe@trainingindustry.com. Training Industry Quarterly, Fall 2009 / A Training Industry, Inc. ezine / www.trainingindustry.com/TIQ http://www.trainingindustry.com/TIQ

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Training Industry Quarterly - Fall 2009

Training Industry Quarterly - Fall 2009
GeoLearning
From Where I Sit
Contents
Ad Index
Partnering for Performance Conference
At the Editor’s Desk
Raptivity
Winning Organizations Through People
The Training Associates
Learning Technologies
TrainingIndustry.com
Performance & Productivity
Adobe
The Power of User-Generated Learning Content
Training Industry Quarterly
Upside Learning
Designing Learning Games to Meet Business Goals
General Physics Corporation
Creating Effective Learning Measurement Dashboards
University Alliance
Managing Innovation in Corporate Training
Coldwell Banker: Managing Opportunity & Change
Organizational Enablers of Good Measurement
Closing Arguments
Learning Content Network

Training Industry Quarterly - Fall 2009