EMBRACING CHANGE

“He who rejects change is the architect of
decay. The only human institution which re-
jects progress is the cemetery.” (Harold
Wilson, former British prime minister)

“Successful businesses have always adapted readily to change, but at no time in living memory — and likely at no point in history — has adaptability been a more desirable business trait than it is today.

Given our recent economic difficulties, in combination with accelerating technological sophistication, change occurs almost daily — whether we want it to or not.

The greatest obstacle to necessary change is a reluctance to modify or abandon procedures that have become familiar and comforting. But a flexible, agile organization has no choice but to change in the face of reality.” (‘Outgrowing the Old’ by Laura Stack, TLNT, The Business of HR)

In corporate training departments we are seeing change coming in the form of technology learning solutions. Today, with the emergence of e-Learning, process and manufacturing companies are making significant investments in the many advantages offered by multi-sensory learning.

Yes, there are still some “covered wagon” holdouts — organizations that stubbornly hold onto the old lecture/workbook classroom instruction. Fortunately, there are fewer and fewer of those organizations that remain blind to the fact that close to half of our workforce cannot comprehend anything written beyond a 4^th grade reading level.

So, what force separates the winners from the losers?

the use of multi-sensory learning (built around full-motion video, graphic animations, gaming and optional word-for-word audio) as the centerpiece in effective instruction.

Training should be results-oriented. It starts with a company’s goals and works through the organization to define and construct a system that delivers the desired results.

Selecting a quality training program requires both a familiarity with content and an understanding of how to communicate that content to a workforce that has grown up in a media-based learning culture. If it’s not multi-sensory based, you’re missing the window of opportunity.

And as we noted earlier, technology training has evolved and the result has been a renewed focus on learning rather than on an insistence to remain wedded to the old lecture/reading classroom instruction. What works now is dramatically different than what most of us encountered when we began our own education many years ago.

You need to stay alert. A failure to recognize change and/or a failure to successfully adapt to change can be an organization’s undoing.

Change can be the lifeblood of success and, ultimately, the elixir that can bring increased growth and profitability to your organization.

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most in-
telligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable
to change.” (Charles Darwin)

More on Wednesday – – –

— Bill Walton, co-Founder, ITC Learning
January 28, 2019
www.itclearning.com/blog/ (Mondays & Wednesdays)

“THE WORLD RELIES ON THE HANDS OF ITS MEN AND WOMEN”

(This is a personal blog. Any views or opinions represented in this blog are personal and belong solely to the blog owner, jhbillwalton@gmail.com, an independent consultant. They do not represent those of people, institutions or organizations that the owner may or may not be associated with in a professional or personal capacity.)