CIASTD Monthly Newsletter

I called on a potential client yesterday and as part of the discussion I asked what was going on in his world. He mentioned that they were getting ready to begin their strategic planning process. I have an observation and a question regarding that process. First, my experience has been that in many companies “strategic” planning meant putting next year’s operational plan together. There’s a message in that concept on how short-sighted many organizations are.

It also made me think about what would be appropriate for my item this month in the Facilitator. In the back of my mind popped the image of Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner when I was growing up. I would not be surprised if many of you had this same situation. When the family gathered together, there were clearly two classes in the house: those who got to sit at the “grown up” table, and those who had to sit at the “kids table.”

It struck me that this analogy frequently carries through to Corporate America. There are those who have the seats at the strategic planning table and those who sit at the other table and react to what happens at the grown up table.

I’d now ask the question, which table are you sitting at? The common theme this year in my monthly column has been the transformation from trainers to Workplace Learning Professionals. Foundational to that shift is becoming proficient at the Business Acumen competency I discussed in an earlier column.

When we truly become proficient at business acumen and can talk the language of the business leaders we will be able to make the move to the “grown up” table (in the perception of business leaders) and won’t be referred to as the “training folks” who are viewed as expendable when budgets get tight and senior management starts looking for places where “fluff” can be eliminated and quick, harmless cuts in expense can occur.

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August CIASTD Meeting

Sales Training: Driving Results
Friday, August 26

Compiled by Eric Denney, Facilitator Staff

Join us for the upcoming August meeting as Sales Trainer Tim Roberts presents “Sales Training: Driving Results.” Registration starts at 8:00 a.m., and the program will run from 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.

Creating the right training environment means only one thing for Indianapolis Sales Trainer, Tim Roberts: Positive Energy. This program will demonstrate how Tim sells sales training everyday to CEO’s, presidents, and owners of Indiana businesses. This fast-paced, interactive program is intended to leave you laughing, confused, stunned and changed.

Tim Roberts is the founder and president of Effective Selling Methods, Inc., an Indianapolis-based sales training and consulting company. In addition, he has served his community on numerous boards and committees including the Indiana Psychology Commission, the Indiana Judicial Nomination Commission, the Indiana Commission on Judicial Qualifications, and the Board of Directors for The Rainmakers. He is also a proud sponsor of the Indiana Blue Chip Business Awards and CEO-net.

Cost for the program is $25 for members, $35 for non-members, and $15 for students. There is, however, an additional $5 fee for walk-in registrations. You can register at the CIASTD website by clicking on the following link:

https://secure28.nocdirect.com/%7Eciastdc/secure/ciastdregister.htm

The meeting will be held at The Marott Apartments, located at 2625 N. Meridian Street, near the intersection of Fall Creek Blvd. and Meridian.

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Ask the Doctor

Tips and Thoughts for Training
By Linda Edington, EdD, Facilitator Staff

Training, as for any learning experience in developing new knowledge and skills, is about change. As professionals, we have a responsibility to be aware that these opportunities are sometimes met with ambivalence and possibly fear and trepidation.

I was on a teleconference this week with the Provost for the University of Phoenix hearing again that learning is a continuous cycle of action and reflection, organizational change is a result of understanding how people learn and theory and practice are intertwined. After reflecting on this, I have three particular thoughts.

The first thought is that to successfully navigate the cycle one must be change ready. Being change ready requires the learner to be balanced with resources and challenge. If the learner is challenged without sufficient resources and support, the zone is called panic. If the learner is not challenged and has more then enough resources, the zone is called bored. Being mindful of the challenge and resource balance, we can create a safe learning experience where the learner can take reflect and take action. This is from Sacred Cows Make the Best Burger: Developing Change-Ready People and Organizations by David Brandt (Warner Books, 1997).

My second thought is that learning occurs when hearing, seeing, and practicing new knowledge. When our learning design includes all three, we are inclusive of all the learning styles and ensure deeper and longer retention of the information.

The third thought is that participants may be feeling like imposters because maybe this is something they are already suppose to know. This is just one way that learning can be an emotionally charged experience. Therefore, paying attention to the affective element of participants’ experience can help create a less vulnerable situation. Tone of voice, language that is supportive, and incremental difficulty of tasks are ways to respond in a manner that builds confidence.

As trainers it is critical for us to be aware of balancing challenge and resource, to be inclusive of seeing, hearing, and doing, as well as to honor the emotional strength of the participants as they learn new knowledge and skills that enhance their professional and personal lives.

[Linda is Director of Academic Affairs for the Indianapolis Campus of the University of Phoenix. We intend to make this column a regular feature in the Facilitator. If you have a training tip, technique, or thought that you would like to share, send it to Linda at linda.edington@phoenix.edu. While she may not be able to include every idea that she receives, your input will provide valuable input for this column.]

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Books in Review

The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization
By Peter M. Senge
Reviewed by Jay McNaught

Senge, P.M. (1990). The Fifth Discipline: The art and practice of learning organization. New York: Doubleday.

Driving home one night after listening to the symphony, my wife asked the question, “What is organizational learning?” (I’m not sure why she chose this particular night to ask this question… perhaps something in Mozart’s music inspired her?) I told her that it was a term popularized in the 1990’s by Peter Senge in his book, The Fifth Discipline, and later used by Jack Welch at GE, thus causing it to gain renewed popularity. I proceeded to offer my own definition of the term. She wasn’t impressed. “Sounds like a fancy term just made up to describe training. And what are the first four disciplines, anyway?” I was embarrassed to admit that I did not know. That night I made up mind to get a copy of Senge’s book and to revisit the five disciplines. I was also interested to see if we had made progress in the last fifteen years since he had originally written his classic

This book identifies five disciplines that the author believes are crucial to develop if organizations want to be learning organizations. It is in the first chapter that Senge explains the concept behind the five disciplines, he defines the “learning organization,” and he explains why systems thinking is the fifth discipline that ties the other disciplines together. Senge explains that in engineering, “when an idea moves from an invention to an innovation, diverse ‘component technologies’ come together. Emerging from isolated developments in separate fields of research, these components gradually form an ‘ensemble of technologies’ that are critical to each others’ success. Until the ensemble forms, the idea, though possible in the laboratory, does not achieve its potential in practice” (p. 6). Senge points out that even though the Wright brothers proved that powered flight was possible, it wasn’t until 1935 when McDonnell Douglas introduced the DC-3, that the era of commercial air travel was born. Interestingly, Senge points out that the DC-3 required the convergence of five different component technologies. “To succeed, the DC-3 needed all five; four were not enough” (p. 6).

According to Senge, five disciplines are required to make a “learning organization” viable. They are: Systems thinking, personal mastery, mental models, building shared vision, and team learning. The major part of the book is dedicated to explaining each of these individual disciplines and then showing how systems thinking must be used to tie them together.

The genesis of this book came from Doctorate research that Senge was conducting at MIT. Admittedly, he was not originally interested in the business sector. “As I began my doctoral work, I had little interest in business management. I felt that the solutions to the Big Issues lay in the public sector. But I began to meet business leaders who came to visit our MIT group to learn about systems thinking” (p. 15). Slowly he began to realize that systems thinking applied in the business setting could offer huge benefits to society. “Gradually I came to realize why business is the locus of innovation in an open society. Despite whatever hold past thinking may have on the business mind, business has a freedom to experiment missing in the public sector and often, in nonprofit organizations” (p. 15). He started working with different companies and came to realize that systems thinking by itself was not enough. “It needed a new type of management practitioner to really make the most of it” (p. 15). While he doesn’t describe the details, he reports that he spent several years researching the disciplines that were needed to supplement systems thinking. He also spent eleven years conducting workshops where he taught the disciplines to over four thousand managers. In essence, the book is the result of what he learned throughout this process.

I think there is a great core of truth to this book. Some of what Senge describes is so fundamental that it could be labeled common sense. His description of system thinking is excellent. And who could argue with something so fundamental as the benefits of a shared vision. However, what I question is the conclusion that these five disciplines are all required to produce a learning organization. Are there perhaps other disciplines? As time goes on, will researchers discover other critical disciplines that will supercharge the learning organization? And is it not possible that a learning organization could exist without possessing all five of the disciplines? I don’t think there is sufficient evidence to justify all of the claims that Senge makes in this book.

This book has certainly heightened my awareness of systems thinking. In the future, I will be looking for the dispersed impacts of decisions that I make. Also, the section on shared vision is very good. I plan to incorporate several of the ideas and quotes into material that I teach on vision in leadership. If you have never read this classic – or if you read it so long ago that you have forgotten it – it may be time to read it and ponder the ideas that Senge presented 15 years ago!

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New Members

In each issue of The Facilitator, we will list members that have joined or re-joined CIASTD since the previous issue. Since the last issue of The Facilitator, we have had these new members.

Andrea Boucher
Pamela Fozo
Dean Layman
Sundai Mills
Bruce Strom

If you are a member of CIASTD, and would like access to the complete membership list, it is available on our web site at www.ciastd.com.

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