Object Lessons are Great Training Illustrations
By Liz Wheeler
At the annual The Bob Pike Group Training and Performance
Improvement Conference held in September, Becky Pluth used a variety of common
household
items as illustrations or object lessons to drive home points in one
of her concurrent sessions. So what applications can you find for things like
drinking water, a comb and a blender?
For her opening illustration, Pluth used a transparent water
goblet filled with water. Then, to give a visual, she added a bit of potassium permanganate crystals (available at all pharmacies) for each mistake a trainer might make. As the illustration went on
and more of the chemical was added, Pluth pointed out that, like the water, it
doesn't take long for the training to be tainted, discolored, and distracting
from the material.
She then gave her participants the option to create their
own improv object lessons. Each participant was handed a comb. "Comb your hair
without bending your elbow," Pluth instructed. What participants have to figure
out is that they have to have someone else brush their hair for them at arm's
length. Pluth then asked the learners to tie this back into the training at
their organizations. Some of the responses were, "You need to cooperate and not
be so siloed," and "We have the tools (the comb), but not all the pieces
(elbows) to accomplish the task."
Then Pluth gave a verbal illustration using a blender. "Imagine
a blender. You combine ingredients like a cup of ice cream, a cup of chocolate,
a cup of milk-all good things. But what happens when one bad thing, like a teaspoon
of cayenne is added?" Pluth asked. "It's hard to undo when it's all mixed in. This
is what a little anger or words said in an unwatched moment can do. It takes a
whole lot more of the good stuff to attempt to eradicate the bad taste left by
one unguarded moment."
If you'd like to join
us for next year's annual conference, and to qualify for our early bird
registration tuition, check out this
page. Operators are standing by...
