Living in Learning

JANUARY 9, 2022

To this camper, it is clear the data flow from the Point-of-Work to Informed Insights critical to drive effective Decision Making must be two-way. Obviously, we need data from actual execution activities to track Point-of-Work effectiveness, but there is something else we need to inform and optimize – Workforce Engagement.

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Track Activities Effectiveness Informal 130

Living in Learning

JANUARY 8, 2022

Despite thirty plus years in the corporate learning space I am sensing an overwhelming demand to reiterate the critical nature of shifting emphasis to a post-training ground zero – Point-of-Work. If you’ve read any of my postings of the last several years on the blog at my website – Living in Learning – you will.

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Learning Space Website Corporate Learning Blogging 130

Living in Learning

NOVEMBER 13, 2021

Given the “sky-is-falling” lament due to the Great Resignation it makes one wonder how epic is our collective failure. Are we failing or is this a long overdue cross-industry correction? Are we embracing this self-inflicted down-sizing? Are we hearing the urgent message to do more with less? Are we recognizing we need to do a better job with enabling stronger engagement with our remaining workforce?

Effectiveness 130

Effectiveness Job Industry Change 130

Living in Learning

NOVEMBER 9, 2021

Over the last several years, I have written about the concept of convergence; specifically, convergence of learning with work. Emphasis was placed on assets Learning & Development (L&D) produced to enable performance support closer to actual work. Workflow Learning is the more current manifestation of convergence and is a new rallying point for L&D.

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Performance Support Performance Integrate Solution 130

Living in Learning

OCTOBER 30, 2021

Is every castaway someone marooned on a deserted island? It is the first image that comes to mind for me; however one can be a castaway who has been cast away in the midst of a thriving population. This circumstance can be precursor to depression if not addressed by finding and maintaining meaningful relationships with the Spirit and others more worldly.

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Images 130

Living in Learning

OCTOBER 13, 2021

We need to get to where true business value is generated – the Point-of-Work. Given there are many roles and a multitude of tasks that comprise diverse Points-of-Work there is no single-pass discovery effort holistic enough to identify performance restrainers in this mash-up of potential challenges and the measurable outcomes we seek, so I ask again – Where do we begin?

Mash-up 130

Mash-up Mashups Roles Performance 130

Living in Learning

OCTOBER 10, 2021

This is a call-to-action to see beyond the prevailing myth that Training Drives Performance to the accepting the reality of Potential as the only provable training outcome until our Performers graduate to their respective Points-of-Work where they actually generate measurable value and business outcomes. Sadly, we do not fail during Training…we fail at Point-of-Work.

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Agile Solution Performance Business 130

Living in Learning

SEPTEMBER 27, 2021

Yes, I tend to take a hard line on “performance” in the flow of work versus “learning” in the flow or work, but isn’t performance the ultimate outcome we seek? Learning is not the end game…it’s a by-product of enabling performance.while learning at the Point-of-Work and during moments of need. If I’m mistaken on this bent of mine, why is there a “70” in 70:20:10?

Productivity 239

Productivity Product Culture Learning 239

Living in Learning

JULY 25, 2020

I was honored to kick off 2020 with David James. This post is a replay of the 48 minute podcast.

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Podcasts Podcaster Podcasting Assessment 130

Living in Learning

APRIL 19, 2020

The mission for L&D carries a primary objective not too dissimilar to that of “eating an elephant”; a daunting proposition to say the least. The “elephant” I’m referring to here is “Optimization of a dynamic learning performance ecosystem”. This represents the Tactical aspects critical successfully impacting and sustaining workforce capability at numerous Points-of-Work.

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Performance Reference Track Solution 130

Living in Learning

APRIL 9, 2020

This post is now an eighth annual event I usually post on Maunday Thursday to lift up Good Friday and what it now means to me. The original posting was also on a Thursday seven years ago, and I was reflecting on the eighth version for this upcoming Good Friday from within the chaos of.

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Version Learning 246

Living in Learning

MARCH 15, 2020

The Point-of-Work Assessment (PWA) methodology is agile enough to handle unique iterations of a mix of core discovery questions consistent as common denominators with additional unique questions defined by the gap(s) between Perceptions in a Top-Down discovery cascade to Realities only found at the Individual Contributor level at the Bottom. Training may be the routine, default solution…but what if the performance restrainers pit Perceptions of Training as the default solution against the Realit

Assessment 162

Assessment Agile Solution Performance 162

Living in Learning

SEPTEMBER 25, 2019

I submit to you that we (L&D) need to shift thinking within the ranks of our stakeholders (and ourselves) to enable a different conversation. I’m not suggesting we back off Training; rather, I’m suggesting we confirm what restrainers behind the performance deficiencies are going to be resolved by Training. I firmly believe L&D’s role should be to confirm what knowledge and skills are appropriate to include in a solution and what performance restrainers are present that do not.

Training 100

Training Train Roles Conversation 100

Living in Learning

SEPTEMBER 8, 2019

The “Point-of-Work Discipline - PWD” is dynamic Change that enables L&D effectiveness at a new Destination – "Point-of-Work". It’s always tough to change thinking and move skeptics off long-held beliefs and embedded traditions. It’s tough to create the critical mass and momentum necessary to reach full Change Adoption and Sustainability which leads me back to the advice of “start small and scale”.

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Adoption Adopt Sound Performance Support 100

Living in Learning

AUGUST 13, 2019

The fact that Gartner has begun to recognize this very relevant space has me stoked. It’s been a long time coming. My hope is the DAS focus does not become too narrow and application navigation becomes the only visible point-solution when so much more productivity enhancing capabilities are possible. My other hope is for prospective adopters to avoid jumping too quickly into a platform and not having the human infrastructure in place to assess the Point-of-Work and design assets intentionally fo

Adoption 133

Adoption Adopt Solution Digital 133

Living in Learning

JULY 17, 2019

After chasing this performance discipline for the last 12 years or so, I’ve come to the conclusion that Point-of-Work is jointly owned by L&D and the primary stakeholders positioned in functional operational roles in the organization. These are the stakeholders who own the responsibility to produce, protect, and maintain profitability and are compensated to do so successfully.

Games 100

Games Cost Roles Performance 100

Living in Learning

JULY 14, 2019

I’m a big fan of reducing redundant work and these RIGHT THINGS provide a structure to optimize short-form assets to enable productivity acceleration at the Point-of-Work. Optimization is tied directly to identification of performance restrainers via the PWA.

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Performance Support Performance Productivity Product 113

Living in Learning

JULY 8, 2019

Join Gary Wise on 7/9 at 2PM ET for a hashtag#VirtuallyThere series with his event, “Performance Support: Accelerating hashtag#Productivity at a Point-of-Work.” Register here: [link] #productivityaccelerationtechnology #momentsofneed #intentionaldesign #pointofworkassessment Downloadable PDF: 7RightThings_InfographicH (004).

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Performance Support Support Productivity Product 20

Living in Learning

JUNE 30, 2019

From a strategic point of view, Point-of-Work should not be viewed as a tactical destination for learning solutions; rather, Point-of-Work should be embraced as a"tipping point for Value Generation"…generation of sustainable workforce performance…generation of business value…or scrutinized as a place where value generation is compromised by deficient performance…or restrained productivity…or tangible loss…or business liability…all of which have the potential to directly impact the bottom-line.

Liability 100

Liability Change Sound Performance 100

Living in Learning

JUNE 26, 2019

So…does Intentional Design threaten the ID role? Just the opposite - it expands the role into new asset development that can be re-used or re-purposed to decrease actual development time by following a Create Once – Use Many Times mindset. In some ways one could consider intentional design as replacement therapy…replacing long-form learning with short-form solution assets that can serve multiple roles both at Point-of-Work (Moments 3,4 & 5) and at Point-of-Entry (Moments 1 & 2).

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Design Roles Solution Develop 113

Living in Learning

JUNE 7, 2019

By now content curation is a well-known activity that is credited for saving time in the search, retrieval and distribution of bulk knowledge/information. The quality of those well-intended distributions, often via email attachments, or postings to knowledge bases, or communities of practice forums, or corporate shared drives, or SharePoint…or…or…or…are somewhat scattered.

Productivity 100

Productivity Product SharePoint Knowledge Worker 100

Living in Learning

JUNE 6, 2019

Yes, I tend to take a hard line on “performance” in the flow of work versus “learning” in the flow or work, but isn’t performance the ultimate outcome we seek? Learning is not the end game…it’s a by-product of enabling performance.while learning at the Point-of-Work and during moments of need. If I’m mistaken on this bent of mine, why is there a “70” in 70:20:10?

Productivity 113

Productivity Product Culture Learning 113

Living in Learning

MAY 30, 2019

When completing a Point-of-Work Assessment (PWA) we have the opportunity to dig for details specific to task-level work activity and the restrainers of the performance related to that work. Do we rely upon Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) or should we seek out Business Matter Experts (BMEs)?

Assessment 100

Assessment Expert Activities Performance 100

Living in Learning

MAY 28, 2019

As with any journey, even the GPS is useless without identifying the point of origin. We know where we need to go…our stakeholders have an idea of what they want from our efforts…but we need to establish a current state of performance measures to establish a “before” benchmark if we hope to provide evidence of improvement in future state outcomes in our “after” benchmarks at Levels 3 & 4.

Assessment 100

Assessment Analytics Cost Performance 100

Living in Learning

MAY 12, 2019

Why L&D is so resistant to Change…Change specific to adopting an evolved paradigm that keys on enabling workforce performance solutions that actually render performance outcomes. The common lament seems to be “Why isn’t training in all it’s innovations not delivering the results?" That thread and others prompted the main question for me, “What if we stop trying to change L&D’s paradigm, and facilitate a new one outside of L&D?”.

Solution 100

Solution Problem Adoption Adopt 100

Living in Learning

MAY 9, 2019

Content & Resources the Knowledge Worker relies upon to optimize their individual performance at the task-centric and role-specific levels. Assessing attributes across critical Content & Resources overlaps directly with Workflows & Processes although is more specific to efficient accessibility and effective application at the Moment of Need at the Point-of-Work.

Assessment 100

Assessment Resources Content Knowledge Worker 100

Living in Learning

MAY 5, 2019

PWA deliverables facilitate "different conversations" we must have with operational stakeholders to position that their training requests and our subsequent training solutions may only partially address the productivity and performance challenges they face. Training may or may not be a viable solution. It's our job to make that distinction, and doing so shifts our role to a true business partner as opposed to running a drive-through window where training orders are quickly filled.

Assessment 100

Assessment Conversation Performance Roles 100

Living in Learning

MAY 1, 2019

I’ve often read corporate vision statements and have even been part of organizations that boast “People Are Our Greatest Asset”. That’s great, and it should be a Truth that is practiced not just spewed. Sorry if that’s too harsh, but a more believable Truth, and even harsher…though it is either ignored or not even on the radar…reads something like this: “People Are Our Greatest Asset, and We Will Train Them to the Point of Being Our Greatest Liability”.

Assessment 100

Assessment Liability Performance Productivity 100

Living in Learning

APRIL 25, 2019

“How many times have we (L&D) built awesome training solutions to solve symptoms…and miss the root cause(s) behind productivity restrainers in our process?” and ”How many times have we ignored the Ripple Effects influencing or being influenced by our solution decisions?”.

Effectiveness 100

Effectiveness Productivity Product Solution 100

Living in Learning

MARCH 31, 2019

Performance support is anything that enables and/or accelerates speed-to-sustainable-performance, or speed-to-impact, or speed-to-productivity, or speed-to-competence, or speed-to-actionable-insight, or speed-to-any-damn-thing-that-drives-measurable-business-value.

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Performance Support Performance Support Productivity 160

Living in Learning

MARCH 13, 2019

How much curated content never reaches the point (or the right person) to deliver knowledge, wisdom, and insights essential for critical-thinking and informed decision-making to drive productivity forward? How much productivity is diverted to non-productive activities despite being tasked to ultimately accelerate productivity?

Productivity 113

Productivity Product Activities Knowledge 113

Living in Learning

MARCH 11, 2019

The blind spot as I see all too often involves designing solutions to fit the existing learning architecture and development tools. Status quo solutions can be a greater source of un-sustained workforce performance given the scope of performance restrainers extends well beyond what training can impact.

Solution 100

Solution Performance Design Tools 100

Living in Learning

MARCH 5, 2019

I’m convinced it all comes down to the intentions behind the design decisions we make…and if those intentions are not in lock-step with accelerating and sustaining workforce productivity first and foremost, we are left short.delivering potential at the hands of training solutions versus measurable performance outcomes at Point-of-Work.

Performance Support 100

Performance Support Providers Design Support 100

Living in Learning

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

The diversity of optimizing an ecosystem with multiple, interdependent microsystems with training solutions will not sustain workforce performance at Point-of-Work. An initiative to evolve L&D strategy, tactics, and technology represents an entry point for optimizing the convergence already on the table. This “new information” represents different conversations within L&D, from leadership to individual contributor roles, as well as operational stakeholders.

Diversity Training 100

Diversity Training Leadership Performance Support Conversation 100

Living in Learning

FEBRUARY 8, 2019

There is another aspect of intentional design I refuse to put into just another bullet because it is foundational to successful and sustainable adoption of a performance paradigm. I could argue it’s the longer lens I mentioned in the beginning of this post, but it’s more than that. It’s the motivation…the commitment…the willingness…the readiness…to shift from a Culture of Learning to a holistic Culture of Performance.

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Adoption Adopt Design Culture 133

Living in Learning

FEBRUARY 7, 2019

We talk a lot about boosting employee engagement and making learning more engaging. Let’s shift our engagement focus to where the workforce works; enabling successful performance in the workflow lifts up employee satisfaction through job satisfaction.and accelerates productivity.

Productivity 113

Productivity Product Performance Job 113

Living in Learning

JANUARY 29, 2019

IT will do an outstanding job of testing, validating, fine-tuning, and deployment of the transitioned systems. My question is this, “Is L&D equipped to invest that kind of pre-launch rigor and…more importantly…to post-launch support to the knowledge worker’s in their respective workflows and moments of need?”.

Performance Support 20

Performance Support Support Job System 20