The last few weeks have been pretty risky for me, work-wise. Not “lose your job” risky but still… To put it another way, I’m stepping up to the plate and taking a huge swing. Either the ball is going out…
Critical Thinking Case 1: How to Get Managers to Use Critical Thinking
The Challenge: How to teach Managers to use critical thinking to solve a real-life issue such as, how to handle an incompetent employee. The Fix and Key Insights: 1. Tell a Story that Captures Their Attention To capture the…
Critical Thinking Decisions Are Made on the Spot – Tip #277
And now for something completely different. When faced with the question, “What is a problem you face at work?” People may respond with, “We are unable to reduce our response time for customer support. ” “This is the third time…
Getting Unstuck – The Power of “Might” – Tip # 278
Ah, summer…the season of travel. As we’ve survived the ice and snow of winter and the dreary days of clouds and rain (at least where I’m from), thoughts turn to vacationing and getting away. For many, that can mean hopping…
What Managers Don’t Know… Can Help Them! – Tip # 276
Employees are doing something all managers and L&D leaders never know about, but should. Individual employees are constantly figuring out how to solve problems or work better, faster, and smarter. Often they are meeting challenges that other employees just ignore,…
How I Learned To Train Senior People Who Think “Training” Is Just for Lower-Level Employees! – Tip #275
An American Fortune 50 company was unexpectedly running into competitive challenges in countries around the world where they’d dominated the markets. Although their offerings were limited, the local competitors were positioning themselves as understanding local needs. When the company’s CEO…
Vacation Time – Tip #274
ALERT: DO NOT LET MY CHILDREN KNOW ABOUT THIS BLOG POST…IT WILL RUIN EVERYTHING! Now that we’ve got that out of the way, here is what’s going on: For the better part of two years, we’ve been trying to go…
On the Button! – Tip #273
I admit it – I am an Olympics junkie. So much so, that I know that the games don’t really begin with the opening ceremonies. No, the competitions actually begin a couple of days earlier with preliminary rounds, training runs,…
Garbage Disposal Gremlin – Tip # 272
I have a love/hate relationship with my garbage disposal. When it’s functioning, it works like a champ. But when things aren’t quite right, it can easily go from hero to zero. I’ve lived through many mishaps with this dastardly device,…
Kernel Panic – Tip # 271
As we’ve had to adjust to a more digital and remote life (thanks, pandemic), we have come to rely on our computers and devices even more. Personally, this means that I have many of the same apps on my phone…
Old-Fashioned Job Training Transformed in Today’s L&D Profession. Is a New Shift Coming? – Tip # 270
Once upon a time, there were no Learning & Development departments. So where did our profession emerge from? “Vocational Ed” trainers for technical skills “Survival of the Fittest” for professionals/managers, unless lucky enough to find mentors and, with few exceptions,…
The Ripple Effect – Tip # 269
When I was a kid, I relished the rare day when the typical prairie wind was reduced to a gentle breeze and the water in a nearby pond stood stock still. My adrenaline would surge as I raced to the…
When Psychologists Train Pigeons… Tip #268
When psychologists train pigeons… the pigeons are hungry. Duh, but sometimes we forget. After I took my first Vignettes Learning course with Dr. Jimenez, I threw out all introductory topic-talk and looked for typical, dreadful challenges to make human trainees…
Consequence Thinking From the World of Sales – Tip #267
Oh, really? Does your work require you to have influence over ideas or decisions? Are you involved in the process of “give and take” to arrive at an agreement or a path forward? Do you find yourself making decisions based…
Developing Consequences Using Muscle Memory – Tip #266
Remember the six-sided cube puzzle with all the colors? It was set up in a 3×3 grid and people would scramble it, misaligning the colors, with a goal of “solving” the cube and aligning the colors once again. This usually…