The trainer who knows too much – and wants to tell it all

When I was in college, I enrolled in a course on Linear Algebra. I did not expect this course to be particularly challenging – in fact that was one of the reasons I registered for that course. In the first class, the professor introduced the subject briefly and plunged into the content straightaway. As time passed, he started overwhelming the class with a barrage of information. Obviously, he knew a LOT about the subject and was sincere in his intention to pass on much of that knowledge to the class. The subject matter was delivered thick and fast, and the class had little time to even make occasional notes, leave alone understand the material. And the professor made absolutely no effort to engage the audience – he couldn’t have cared less if we existed or not. He knew the subject, he would talk about it in detail, and that was it. It was not his concern if the class understood or was even interested.

By the end of that first class, I was more than a little worried. If the very first class was so unfriendly and overwhelming, how would the rest of the classes be? And I shuddered to even think of the exams. I talked to a few other students from the class, and was relieved to hear that they were even more worried than I was! Thankfully, it was not just me. Most of us decided to drop out of the course while we could still do so.

Later, I talked to a few of my senior students who had been through the same course under the same professor. They told me of similar feelings on the first day of class, but assured me that the exams would be very easy. They suggested I wear a pair of earphones and listen to music to pass time in the class, and just practice the questions from the printed notes and I would get through the course with no trouble. They assured me that the professor was in reality a kind man, although a rambling sort of gentleman. The problem with him was that he was over-enthusiastic about delivering as much content as possible. I trusted them and got through the course. Years later, after I became a trainer myself, the memories of that course re-surfaced in my mind. I would never become an instructor like that professor, I promised myself. I hope I have kept up this promise ;-)

Does training create permanent change ? Part 2

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Periodic reinforcement/repetition after training greatly helps retention. This is a very effective way of making training stick i.e. create a permanent impression on the trainees. The above graph shows my attempt at capturing the effect of periodic reinforcement (post-training).

Without periodic reinforcement, the knowledge/skill level attained through training starts dropping off due to the effect of time. With periodic repetition/application, it is possible to keep the average skill level from decaying. After some time, when the learning has been imbibed fully and becomes second nature, the reinforcement may be discontinued.

Does training create permanent change?

[Click on above picture to enlarge]

I believe that training is a waste of time if it does not create some permanent change in the trainee. The sad truth is that, a lot of the training courses do not achieve this. Usually, some impression of the learning remains in the trainee’s mind for a while after the course, and then it fades away. [That is, the change in the trainee’s mind is only temporary]. 

I like to use an analogy from materials science to illustrate the concept of temporary change and permanent change.

If a steel rod is bent slightly and then let go, it will regain its original orientation completely. This kind of deformation is called elastic deformation. However, if the same steel rod is bent to a very large extent, then it will not fully regain its original shape even after it is let go. This type of deformation is called plastic deformation.

In the same way, if the training session is moderately effective, it will probably create some temporary change in the trainee’s mind. The change is likely to undo itself as time passes. However, if the training session is rigourous and impactful enough, the trainee will walk away a changed person. Even the passage of time cannot take away the effect of the change. It is as though the trainee’s mental computer chip has been reprogrammed. A training session that brings about this kind of permanent change is truly effective.

Great leaders like Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King and Gandhi had the ability to create permanent change in the minds and lives of people in the course of a single speech. They achieved this kind of change by the force of their personality and the strength of their conviction. It is not reasonable to expect every trainer to be as effective as these leaders. However, all trainers can adopt a few strategies to make the training “stick” – i.e. create permanent change.

My personal strategies to make training stick (i.e capable of creating permanent change):

          - Don’t overload trainees with information. Identify a few key learning points and repeat them over and over, instead of dumping a lot of information. It is better to have a few learning points firmly entrenched in the minds of the trainees rather than providing a lot of learning points with none of them being remembered.

          - Create a very conducive learning environment in the training session and eliminate distractions.

          - Identify if the training is really needed for the trainees. Will they be sufficiently motivated to learn ? Will it make their life better ? Or their jobs easier ? If not, the training session is better avoided. Training that does not cause permanent change is a major waste of resources.

          -  Try to follow up with the trainees a few times after the training session to reinforce the learning. Provide trainees opportunities to apply the learning.