Why Training Doesn't Work

“Nitin, I have some issues to discuss. Can we meet sometime this Friday? I have called Mr. X also”. This call was from Mr. A, training head in an organization, who I had got to know some time back. Mr. X was also a fellow trainer working as an independent consultant.

We met that Friday. I could see that Mr. A was upset about something was not willing to talk till Mr. X arrived. Finally when Mr. X came in, Mr. A came straight to the point. “I have been put on notice. Both the Managing Director and the Operations Head are not happy about the effectiveness of what my team does. I have been asked to pull up my socks or look for another job.”

This was serious. “Is there something specific that has happened or is it a general comment?” I asked. “We have a huge order from an American client. To make sure that nothing goes wrong, a cross functional team was created. We pulled out the best people from manufacturing, services, maintenance and sales teams to form a group exclusively for this client. I was given the job of building a cohesive team of these people. We spent three days in a training workshop with them. But it has not worked. They are not working as a team, and it is affecting the order. The client is unhappy and so my Managing Director is unhappy!”

Mr. X: What did you do with them in the three days?

Mr. A: We talked about the importance of working in a team. We gave inputs about skills required. We talked about communication skills and conflict management… the works!
Mr X: Maybe that was the problem… Your inputs.
Mr. A (Exploding): What?! What do you mean the inputs are a problem? That was the finest workshop you could ever have on team work! Even you couldn’t have designed a better program!

Even I was surprised at Mr. X’s comment. The workshop did seem to have all the right ingredients. Maybe the problem was in the delivery. I was about to ask, but Mr. A pre-empted me.

Mr. A: We got excellent ratings from the participants. They loved the program. Everyone was so charged after it was over. No, the problem is that my Managing Director has unreasonable expectations!

Mr. X: If asking you to assist in bringing about a change in people is unreasonable, I disagree. Isn’t that what your job is?
Mr A. (A bit defensive now): We did what we could do to the best of our abilities. If people refuse to practice it at work, what can we do?
Mr. X: Exactly… that is the issue… They don’t practice what you teach at work.
Mr. A: Yes! I said that! And that is not my problem!
Mr. X: Maybe it is… Tell me, do the team members know how important this job is for the company?
Mr. A: Of course they know!
Mr. X: Do they also know that working as a team is critical to their success?
Mr. A: Yes they do…
Mr X: Do they also know the cost of failure?
Mr A: Yes they do… What exactly are you getting at?
Mr. X: The point I am trying to make is that they know all this and yet they do not work as a team… Why?
Mr. A: How do I know? Maybe they are just dense!
Mr. X: Maybe you should try to find out and maybe that’s what you should have focussed on in your workshop.

 Silence... It made a whole lot of sense.

Mr. X: I have seen this in a  number of situations. Ask anyone if team work is important, or is customer service important and they all say yes. Yet it doesn’t always happen. The issue is not about their knowing, the issue is deeper than that.

Me: What could the possible reasons be?
Mr. X: It could be anything… it could be attitude; it could be some biases or even insecurities. Sometimes it could be cultural issues. The idea is to target the deeper issues and the desired outcome will happen.
Mr. A: What about skills… Those could be an issue too.
Mr. X: Sure, but you won’t know what exactly is the real issue that you have to work on, unless you do some research with the audience.
Mr. A: I don’t know how I am going to find the time, what with all the other work I have.
Mr. X: Don’t you understand? That is your work, rather the main part of your work. The effectiveness and success of your training initiatives depend on that!

I could see Mr. A mull over what he had heard. Yes, it made sense. How often had I similar experiences as Mr. A. If I looked back on all those training initiatives which had failed to make any difference at the workplace, it was because the core issues had not been addressed.

Then Mr. X winked and smiled. “If it still seems a lot of heavy work, you could always hire me….”

Teaching Lame Crows to Walk

“In your arsenal, do you have anything that teaches lame crows to walk?”

My initial days as an independent consultant. I was in a potential client company with the sales manager discussing training opportunities. This company had once been a market leader but had slipped way down over time. As a result the sales manager had been fired for poor performance and a new one appointed in his place. The new sales manager, who I was having a conversation with, was supposed to be the miracle man with a reputation of turning things around.

“What do you mean, teaching lame crows to walk?”

 “I have inherited a useless team”, he replied. “The morale is down, they don’t have the necessary drive to push sales and they have no impact in the market. They haven’t earned their sales commission in over a year and don’t seem interested in doing anything about it. They hop when they are supposed to be running. The only reason they are still here in this company is because no one else will take them. And the only reason I cannot throw them out is because I can’t get replacements. No one wants to join such a dejected team.”

 “Ok”, I said. “I understand about the lame part. But why crows?”

 “Just a figure of speech”, he replied. “Don’t take it literally”.

 Wow! Calling his team members crows… Maybe a topic of interest for some psychiatrist. But I had other things to worry about.

“So what exactly are you looking for?”

“I need a training workshop that will transform the team,” He replied. “I want them to be up and running. I want a highly charged and motivated team that will conquer the market. I want fighters!”

I went back to my office with a load of questions in my mind. In my conversation with the Sales Head, the impression I had got was that the sales team was the main culprit for all the woes that the organization suffered. But were the sales people really responsible for state of affairs or were there larger organizational issues. Even if they were responsible, what had caused it? And finally, how do you convert so called losers into fighters? 

The next day, I met an old colleague of mine who I shall call Mr. A. He had spent his entire working life in the HR function. Now retired, he still kept in touch with people in the HR community.

 I explained my problem to him, and the conversation that followed was not only interesting, but for me an eye opener.

Mr. A: I have heard you. Now tell me what exactly is your problem?

Me: I don’t know who is responsible for their state of affairs, so I don’t know how to tackle the issue.
Mr A: State of affairs of that company is the problem of people who run that company. What is your problem?
Me: If I don’t know the core issue, how can I address it?
Mr. A: You have been given an issue. You have to teach lame crows to walk.
Me: But I don’t know what has caused them to become lame!
Mr. A: Ok… That’s a constraint. Now what are the possibilities?
Me: The only possibility that I see is that I will not be able to come up with anything concrete, and so will not get this project.
Mr. A: Look around you. What do you see in this room?
Me: I don’t understand…
Mr. A: Tell me what all do you see in this room. Everything…
Me: Ok… I see furniture, books, papers, a computer and you and me. I also see tea cups on the table, some pictures on the wall, a carpet on the floor, curtains, fan……………
Mr. A: Now if we were to remove everything from this room, what will be left?
Me: Everything?
Mr. A: Yes… Each and everything, including you and me. Then what will be left?
Me: Let’s see… The walls of this room…
Mr. A: What else?
Me: The air in this room…
Mr. A: That’s good. What else?
Me: Maybe the echoes of our conversation…?
Mr. A:  Ah! We are now moving to the esoteric stuff… I will accept that. Anything else?
Me: No, I can’t think of anything else.

(I strongly recommend readers to do this exercise before reading further. Make a list of what would be left if all the things are removed from the room you are in)

Mr. A: Interesting how the human mind works… It first thinks of constraints, but it refuses to think of possibilities
Me: I don’t understand…
Mr. A: You saw the walls, but you couldn’t see the door…?

I was silent. The door had not even come to my mind.

Mr. A: Not your fault. That’s how we operate. We think of constraints almost instantly, but cannot see the opportunities. You have to force yourself to stop thinking of why things cannot be done before you can focus on how they can be done. Not an easy thing, but with practice you will be able to do that.

My mind was still reeling. Why did the door not come to my mind?

Mr. A: You are a consultant now. An external person. So you will not get every piece of information that you need at all times. You have to make do with what you have and do your best. For that you have to change your attitude from looking for constraints to searching for possibilities.

Me: So what possibility do you see here?
Mr. A: That’s so simple. You don’t have to teach lame crows to walk. They don’t have to walk. They have to fly…. So teach them to fly.

 The next week we made a presentation to the Sales Head. When he asked, “So have you figured out how to make these lame crows walk?” I replied, “No, but I am going to talk about how to make lame crows to fly.”

It worked. We got the project.