Performance Matters - Learning and Performance - 26

REINFORCEMENT:
THE MOST CRITICAL PART OF A LEARNER'S JOURNEY.
by Sharon Boller
When my daughter was 15, she almost put me in
the hospital. Armed with a brand-new learner's
permit and a solid six hours of driving training,
she panicked in traffic and attempted a left turn
with oncoming traffic. As her passenger, it was
clear that she needed lots more practice before
attempting solo trips. That's because learning is
a journey, not a training event or class. (As I'm
sure any parent whose kid is going through driver's
education can attest.)
about the author
Sharon Boller is an Affiliate Consultant
with TiER1 Performance with significant
expertise in learning game design,
design thinking, leadership development,
and strategy development. Sharon loves
people, technology that connects,
games that teach, designing
memorable experiences, and creating
spaces and environments where all
feel welcome. She is the author of
three books, all published through
ATD Press, including Design Thinking
for Training and Development.
Many organizations fund lots of events-product
training, new-hire orientation, systems training,
leadership workshops-yet these events alone fail
to address what it takes to go from the delivery of
knowledge or introduction of new skills to fluent
recall and use of knowledge and skill. In most
circumstances, it takes several repetitions, along
with opportunities to practice, reflect, and explore
more deeply. We all fall victim to the forgetting curve.
Our brain has a tendency to forget some to most of
what goes into it in just a few days' time unless we
have additional practice and opportunity to recall
information.1
Just as my daughter was nowhere near
ready to drive solo after six hours of practice, neither
are most employees ready to perform at peak or
even rudimentary proficiency after a single eLearning
course or live workshop. The consequences of failing
to plan out the entire learning journey are financial:
wasted dollars spent on developing and delivering an
incomplete learning solution and wasted time on the
part of learners and designers, which indirectly goes
to more wasted dollars.
1 Bjork Learning and Forgetting Lab, UCLA
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharon-boller-0032325/
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