Training Industry Magazine - May/June 2020 - 46

business call? We likely know better, but
we aren't doing better. It might be time
for learning professionals to let go of
the hope that if our trainees successfully
learn how and why to do something,
they will implement that back on the job.
We just can't count on that happening.
For now, let's loosen our grip on this
core belief around learning objectives.
I know taking learning objectives off
the pedestal feels uncomfortable -
and maybe even disturbing. Learning
objectives have been our center
of gravity. They are the anchor for
our design; the north star for our
measurement. But learning doesn't
show up on the job the same way new
habits show up on the job.
If our traditional end game remains
learning and skilling, then participants
leave with something they may or may
not use. And if they don't use it within 48
hours, much of the learning is lost. Then,
we try to solve the learning problem by
invading their personal space to reinforce
the behavior and win the battle against
the Ebbinghaus's forgetting curve.
Yes, these kinds of interventions can
improve their learning, but unfortunately,
the organization they return to reinforces
and rewards the old behaviors. We lose.
They lose. There is no business impact
to be measured if learners don't do
anything different. We need to shift our
focus to helping them form habits.

Learning Isn't the Holy Grail,
Building Keystone Habits Is

show up in the customer relationship
management system (CRM). That is a
business impact we can measure.

Forming a new habit is notoriously
hard. What was the last poor habit you
easily conquered? To unseat old habits
requires a systematic approach, not
just the learning. Training professionals
must design that holistic approach
rather than simply creating engaging
learning experiences.

So, how did we do that? Our job
analyses identified the keystone habit
that would create a cascade of other
good relationship selling behaviors.
The habit we found was: consistently
gathering relationship information that
provides insights into what is most
important to each selected business
contact. Then, align to those priorities
and create a partner ally who sees how
we are helping them be successful.

We don't have to exit the business of
learning; we just need to enter the
business of habit building. Let's take
learning off its pedestal and put it in
service of habit building.

For Example
Suppose we are responsible for training
salespeople to maximize relationships
when selling and we are held
accountable for the business impact of
growing revenue.
Instead of focusing only on the learning
objective of leveraging relationships,
we should focus on building the habit
of leveraging relationships when selling.
When relationship habits show up on the
job, more qualified sales opportunities

Stickiness comes with habits - not in
learning. In fact, learning fades tragically
fast. If training identifies the keystone
habit needed on the job and changes
our mission to forming new habits, we
benefit from the same unintentional
cascade of good behaviors. This creates
business impact we can measure.

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We found when that concern became
the salesperson's habit, a cascade
of other good relationship behaviors
showed up. The learning objective is
teaching them how to do this, but now
we are designing a holistic approach
(program) to create the habit.

Figure 1.

Consistently gathering relationship
data to provide insight that would
create a partner ally

What is a Keystone Habit?
What we need to see on the job are
new habits - more specifically, keystone
habits. Keystone habits were first
introduced by Charles Duhigg in his
book, "The Power of Habit." He described
these habitual routines as small changes
in behavior that unintentionally create a
cascade of other good behaviors.

LEARNING DOESN'T SHOW
UP ON THE JOB THE SAME
WAY NEW HABITS SHOW
UP ON THE JOB.

Internal
Team

Prospect
Asking different
questions to get
relationship insight

Coach

Pursuing different
relationships than
before

Getting coaching on
relationship tactics
Replacing assumptions
with evidence on
relationship status

Getting others
involved in building
relationships
More referrals
in pipeline
Training Industry Magazine - May/June 2020

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