A former colleague once said, “You train dogs not people.”
That statement caught my attention. To this day I avoid the word training when I’m talking about personal or professional development events—workshops, webinars, courses, and the like.
Unless I really am talking about training.
Why?
See, training implies rigidity and meeting a particular behavioral standard. You train a dog to heel and roses to climb a trellis. You train a new employee on safety protocols or how to log into the company’s network.
You don’t train people on leadership skills; work-life balance; diversity, inclusion, and equity; effective delegation; managing difficult conversations.
When you’re teaching those things, you’re doing something else. You’re—
- Informing
- Initiating awareness
- Extending understanding
- Facilitating learning
- Developing the person
Etymology
According to Meriam-Webster, train means “to teach (a person or animal) a particular skill or type of behavior through practice and instruction over a period of time.”
Train derives from the Old French, trainer, which meant to drag or pull. The word described the long layers of fabric at the back hem of a dress—think of the train on a wedding dress. (Lady Diana Spencer’s wedding dress had a 25-foot train!).
In its early days, train also meant “to draw out and manipulate in order to become a desired form.”
So yes, we train the dog to heel and the roses to climb a trellis. We train to improve our aerobic capacity through exercise and instruction. In each of those cases, we’re working on a specific behavior with a prescribed method and for a measurable and clearly-defined outcome.
There are times when we do need to train someone in a specific skill—how to enter transactions into accounts receivable, how to create a pivot table, how to make a martini, or suture a ruptured artery.
And that’s the key: teaching a specific skill or behavior to mastery.
But…
If you want someone to—
- Learn how to implement user-center design into your product or service development.
- Develop better listening skills.
- Integrate good organizational change practice into your business.
- Become a mediator or a better negotiator.
- Onboard a new employee so she understands and demonstrates your company’s vision, mission, and values.
—then you’re going to—
- Inform.
- Initiate awareness.
- Extend understanding.
- Facilitate learning.
- Develop the person.
So please,…
Be clear about what kind of educational experience you’re providing.