I usually ignore requests to follow a blog meme, but Virginia Yonkers has tagged me for a reflective post and this is my 1,500th blog post here so I thought it would be appropriate to at least partially respond. Here are the requirements:
4 R’s Meme: Favourite Posts, asks those tagged to select 4 of their favourite posts from their own blog, one from each of the categories: Rants, Resources, Reflections and Revelations.
The posts are then listed with a brief summary on each describing:
why it was important,
why it had lasting value or impact,
how you would update it for today.
The intrepid bloggers are to tag all of their selected posts with the label postsofthepast and then select five (or so) other bloggers to tap with this meme.
Rant: Wake Up and Smell the Coffee started my journey of looking at ways to change the training function:
Training departments have allowed themselves to be lulled into a comfortable spot while times have been good. Everyone feels better after a little training, so that is what was prescribed – for all that ails you. I have met too few L&D professionals who can actually analyze work performance and come up with something other than training as the solution. Well, it seems that the days of the one trick pony are over.
I, for one, do not regret the demise of the L&D function. Perhaps our profession will wake up and start helping the organisations we serve.
This concept is being constantly updated in my presentations, with the last published version a collaborative effort on the future of the training department I did with Jay Cross.
Resources: Several years ago a created the Toolbox section of my website, which I update and add to from time to time. It’s probably time to review it, so thanks for the reminder.
Reflections: The question of schooling was a personal one as we saw how it failed to meet the needs of our children, and I wrote about schooling, deschooling or unschooling and followed this with many more questions than answers. Schooling is of course linked to our training systems and my reflections and rants merged in the question of a learning reformation.
Revelations: One ah-ha moment was that soft skills are foundational competencies, something I pretty much knew but had not articulated.
Soft skills, especially collaboration and networking, will become more important than hard skills. Smart employers have always focused more on attitude than any specific skill-set because they know they can train for a lack of skills and knowledge. The soft skills require time, mentoring, informal learning and other environmental supports. Once you have the soft skills to perform in a networked workplace, you’ll have foundational competencies.
Sorry, but the meme stops here, unless anyone else wants to take it up …
