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>GRand Master added some good points & clarification, >for which we should (may) be…um…grateful. > >Education & Training Are Critical >Peter Drucker’s insights: >“Knowledge has to be improved, challenged & increased >constantly, or it vanishes.” >“Making good decisions is a crucial skill at every >level.” >“No institution can possibly survive if it needs >geniuses or supermen to manage it. It must be >organized in such a way as to be able to get along >under a leadership composed of average human beings.” > >Training & education should help people make the right >decisions, but beware: Part of training is letting >people experiment to find what they do well & learn >from their successes & mistakes. As long as the risks >are low, you’ll end up enduring the results or lack of >results. > >You may hire or already have somebody who has >experience, but the experience may be doing things >differently than you &/or customers expect. The >results may be the same, the time required to do the >tasks could be much different. > >Different methods can be just as effective in >producing a consistent result, but some of those >methods may be more efficient than others. > >It’s up to you to determine if you’ll require >everybody who performs a task to do it the same way. > >Some employers prefer hiring people who don’t have >job-related experience because retraining (training to >do things differently) can be more expensive than >training. It’s related to the Curse Of Knowledge. It’s >hard for people to act & think like they don’t know >what they’ve learned & remember. > >The Best People Using The Best Procedures >When you make hiring, firing, retention & promotion >decisions, you should remember how critical it is to >have the best (intelligence, wisdom & talent) people >you can afford. Now here’s a conflicting concept: A >major goal in designing & developing processes is to >make intelligence, wisdom & talent ALMOST (not >entirely) irrelevant. > >Don’t develop a lot of boring, mindless tasks. Since >people tend to be distracted while they work & may >need to multitask, it can be good for tasks not to >require total concentration. > >Wise, talented & intelligent people should have >optimal ways (KNOW HOW) of doing things so they KNOW >WHAT to do & not do. They should be informed enough to >KNOW WHY a customer desires a certain result. After >employees master a method, they can focus more on >results instead of each action. With the right input & >methods, they can use their judgment to determine when >innovation may improve results. > >(Note: If customers are asked why they want a result, >they may feel the question violates their privacy. But >when somebody knows why, s/he may know how to >adapt/adjust resources to produce a better result.) > >It’s similar to learning how to drive. Somebody who >doesn’t have to consciously focus on each action can >consciously focus on traffic & road conditions. >Another driver, who focuses on staying in a lane, has >less mental resources available to watch for & avoid >hazards. > >Recipes For Success >While listening to Christensen’s books (especially >“Seeing What’s Next”), you may’ve noticed what happens >when industries & organizations develop rules, >routines & standards. (Note: The authors didn‘t >express the concepts exactly how I did below. I >embellished & extrapolated.) > >It’s somewhat like chefs writing recipes for people >who have less cooking skill, knowledge &/or >experience. When novices use the recommended amounts >of the right ingredients & bake/cook those as >instructed they could produce the same results. > >By using the right resources, people who have less >training & education can effectively do what used to >require highly specialized knowledge. Efficiency >increases because people become qualified sooner & >they can create consistent value. They can create >consistent value in less time & with less waste than >technology pioneers could. Pioneers used trial & error >while they searched for & developed the right >resources & experimented to determine the right ways >to use those resources. > >The pioneers’ efforts, mistakes & successes were used >as technological foundations for training the next >practitioners. What subsequent practitioners >discovered & perfected was codified into rules, >routines & standards. Those became bases for education. > >Effectiveness increases because highly educated, >trained specialists can focus on complex problems that >others aren’t qualified to solve. > >Too many people spout this derogatory comment: “Those >who can, do. Those who can’t, teach.” They imply >teachers’ & professors’ contributions aren’t valuable >enough. Talented, dedicated instructors produce a lot >of value. They educate students, while other people— >who have specialized knowledge & skill—focus on >improving technologies. > >People, who are talented practitioners, may not have >the talent/skill &/or patience to teach others. >Knowing how to do something is different than knowing >to teach others to do it. > >It’d be less efficient if practitioners would spend >time teaching others instead of improving >technologies. Who would improve technologies while the >practitioner would be teaching? Instructors can >effectively teach students enough to be entry-level >practitioners. > >There are opportunity costs in everything people do & >don’t do. So, it’s important be as efficient as we can >be. Efficiency can reduce the resources—including time >& money—used to produce a result. It means there’d be >resources left to produce another result. > >High Quality Education & High Quality Knowledge Aren’t >The Same >What should matter to you is the content & quality of >a worker’s education & training, plus how much >knowledge & skill s/he retains. The content & quality >is more important than who taught/trained them & where >the training & education took place. > >Example- The facts you learned from listening to >recorded books are just as valuable as they would be >if you were a Harvard student & learned the same facts >directly from Clayton Christensen or a graduate >assistant in a classroom. > >You’d be apt to learn more of variety of content in a >year as a Harvard student, than you’ve learned from a >few hours of listening to the tapes or CDs. You >wouldn’t necessarily learn those same facts any better >in a classroom, than you have from the tapes or CDs. > >Unfortunately, tapes or CDs can’t interactively >respond to your questions. But, in a big class >(lecture hall), sometimes it’s hard to get answers. > >Dennis S. Vogel >thrivingbusiness@email.com >Optimal marketing & customer service will increase >customers’ confidence in you. Confident customers are >more apt to buy from you. You can gain valuable >insights to help you build their confidence by using >my free information web site & discussion forum. >http://www.lakefield.net/~thrivingbusiness/ >http://www.voy.com/31049/

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