There was a consultant who was asked to give feedback on a computer games company’s support people.
He called up the support line with many different questions and complaints and surveyed the responses.
After looking at the results he found an interesting insight. The people with the best support scores i.e. behaved in the manner that the company wanted, all were employed over the previous year.
The manager wanted the names of all the people who underperformed in the test, but the consultant didn’t give it to them. They were annoyed that they wouldn’t tell them who was underperforming.
He said why do you want to know. The manager said they would fire the people who were underperforming. The consultant said that is why I won’t give you the names.
So what did the consultant know and the manager didn’t?
Improvement
When you work towards a new 5k time, you train and train. You work on form and breathing. You dial in your nutrition. You work really hard and hopefully, all that effort results in a new 5k record.
If they stopped training, their time would get slower.
The same thing happens with trying to get a new squat record. You work on form and strength. Rest and nutrition. Many weeks and maybe months lead to a chance to improve upon your previous record.
If they stopped lifting, their strength would get weaker.
So why is training at work any different?
Training
The consultant knew that the people who had started within the year had all been recently trained and so knew the expected results.
The older employees had all shifted into the path of least resistance.
All of the “markers” for success that they were trained to do might not have been as helpful in the real world so they shifted to what worked rather than what they were taught.
Greatness
Greatness is not doing anything wildly better, it is being consistent with the fundamentals.
If you watch any great basketballer practice, they might be the best shooter in the world, but they still practice their shooting.
Why is it that we train someone at work once and think that the skill development will never leave them?
In every other environment, we have to keep practicing and practicing but at work, we act like this process of skill loss doesn’t happen?
Continuous Training
Train your staff on what you think matters.
Over time, what will matter will change. What you train them in should change accordingly.
Over time, your team will learn what is more efficient. Listen to them.
Keep working with them on the fundamentals because if you don’t use it, you lose it.
Luke McMeeken-Ruscoe 