In part 1, I wrote about Rob Brinkerhoff's work in looking at approach to learning design that places focus on two key areas that are often overlooked or not given sufficient attention. First, performance support. Second, the idea of continuously improving the learning and support on offer, based on the evidence of its current success or failure. This second area is often referred to as 'kaizen'.
As I mentioned in the previous post, 'kaizen' was developed by Japanese manufacturers to gradually increase the quality of products. So, is there any reason why 'kaizen' shouldn't be applicable to L&D? In theory, not.
In practice, though, there are still barriers to overcome. And those barriers are usually not erected by L&D but come as part of an organisation's wider culture that has likely built up over a number of years. Here are some of the most common cultural traits that work against the adoption of 'kaizen'.
First, if your organisation sees failure as a pure negative and can only entertain the idea of 100% right first time, every time, then that culture will almost certainly struggle with 'kaizen'. With this mindset, people are driven by fear of being punished or berated when things go wrong. Notice the absence of 'if' in that last sentence because something always goes wrong at some point.
Second, living in fear of failure is going to establish another barrier to implementing 'kaizen': not admitting to shortcomings in the first place, And frankly, if you know you are going to get a 'kicking' for any mistake you make, why would you own up to one. Far easier to bury the mistake or shift the blame elsewhere. But if no-one can admit to shortcomings or failure, will struggle to adopt a continuous improvement mindset.
Third, if failure is completely unacceptable and punishment for failure must be meted out, then it's likely that 'more training' might be one of the punishments. In this mindset, training is a pill to be swallowed to 'cure' the failure. Everyone must take the pill. The pill must be perfect. And if the pill fails to cure, then it must be the fault of the pill makers (i.e. L&D).
Finally, it's also likely that a 'no room for failure' culture will focus on presentation of knowledge rather than successful application of knowledge. If something isn't being done properly, drum the knowledge into heads a bit longer and a bit harder. Again, when that doesn't work, blame L&D.
This can all feel a bit depressing. But just like 'kaizen' itself, the introduction of 'kaizen' frequently needs to be a gradual, evolutionary process. Start small with a project sponsor who is open to doing things a bit differently. Assess the results and learn from those results. Build on the success and refine and revise what didn't work.
Before you know it, you'll be a master of 'kaizen' and the developer of much more successful learning.
Looking at improving the effectiveness and impact of the training you design and deliver across your organisation? Take a look at our free guide on Evaluating Training Effectiveness.
