Get Out of the Training Business

The admonition above is the title of a provocative article by Jay Cross published this month in the online version of Chief Learning Officer magazine. (Click the link to read the article.) His basic argument is that the industrial age is over and as a result:

"Training is obsolete because it deals with a past that won't be repeated. Learning will be redefined as problem-solving, achieving fit with one's environment and having the connections to deal with novel situations."

That may not be news to most of us, but what I find interesting is how clearly he lays out the ramifications.

"Next week, we will close the training department. We are shifting our focus from training to performance. Any remaining training staff will become mentors, coaches and facilitators who work on improving core business processes, strengthening relationships with customers and cutting costs

"I'm changing my title from VP of training to VP of core capabilities. My assistants will become the director of sales readiness and the director of competitive advantage, respectively. The measure of our contributions will be results, not training measures. We're scrapping the LMS posthaste. Wherever possible, we're replacing proprietary software with open source."

The article is only two pages, but Cross packs a lot of provocative material into it. I encourage you to read it and to post your comments here on our blog.