In Sivasailam Thiagarajan’s (“Thiagi” for short) latest authoring effort for Training & Development (T&D) professionals he puts together fifty (50) different ways in which one can “wake up and engage your participants” in training sessions.  These “jolts” are described as moments that challenge training participants, asking them to “re-examine their comfortable assumptions and habitual practices” (Otherwise known as their comfort zones).  While the book is a nice effort (272 pages, again 50 different tricks, and Thiagi is a legend in the T&D space), I wonder if this is a solution to the Organization Development (OD) problem, or the cause?  Here are the facts:

The American Society of Training & Development (ASTD) reports in its “2010 State of the Industry” report:

• Instructor lead “formal learning” initiatives took a slight dip from 2008’s 72.2% to 2009’s 70.4%
• Technology based learning increased 31.4% to 36.5% from 2008 to 2009
• Outsourcing is on the rise – 26.9% in 2009 versus 22.0% in 2008
• Investing in learning is stable – $1,068 per employee in 2008 versus $1,081 in 2009
• Decrease in Content Reuse – 59.5% in 2008 versus 56.3% in 2009
• Results aren’t Tracked – 54.5% of organizations track behavioral changes, only 36.9% monitor an evaluation of results, and only 17.9% attempt to identify ROI (NOTE – 4.1% do NOTHING!)

I believe that these figures are conservative in nature, reflecting an optimistic T&D effort.  Instead, there is much effort being placed by those organizations I partner with to increase the reach of technology.   Imagine the power of a 15-20 minute eLearning module which can be viewed 24/7 by participants around the globe… Think of it as a “Google-mentality” where a learner wants to know the answer to a problem they’ve encountered and they don’t know the solution right off the bat.  With a quick scan of the learning management system (LMS), they can identify a short module that they can view at their desk providing them with the much needed perspective in order to solving their problem.

The disconnect that I see with the “Jolts” concept is that each jolt-experience or exercise is 15-20-30 minutes in length (Thiagi warns that a side-effect of performing “Jolts” is that there may be strong emotional reactions… Remember those Lays potato chips with Olestra and ensuing stomach cramps?  Sounds like a do-over!)  This would appear to be way too long, especially considering a world that wants training delivered in short time-period intervals.

Now I don’t want everyone to think that an engaging session isn’t a goal of mine or ours here at Pathos Leadership Group.  But what I can say is that we let the content stand on its own, with documented research and scientific methodologies, as well as metrics implemented to track results.  I believe that a trend will be reflected in delivering content in as short a time period as possible, so that the learning moment can occur, and that the participants can return to work to begin implementing what they’ve learned ASAP.   Then a coaching, or follow-up, initiative will occur in which we can monitor implementation as well as sustainment.

With the caffeine studies I’ve seen, I would have to weigh in that organizations should distribute Jolt cola instead of “Jolts”!

Sam Palazzolo is a recipient of the American Society of Training & Development’s “Certified Professional in Learning & Performance” (CPLP designation).  Of the society’s 35,000 world-wide members, less than 750 have achieved such designation.