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RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 1
RunningTrainingLikeaStartupDeliveringUnmistakableValue2.0
ByJ.Miguez
WithforwardsbyDavidVanAdelsbergandEdwardTrolley,co-authors
RunningTrainingLikeaBusiness
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 2
Toallthatencouraged,advisedandsupportedmeonthisjourney.Andtomydog,Charlie,whosat
patientlyatmyfeetwhileIwrote,andtookmeforlongwalkswhenIcouldnotwrite.
- J.
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 3
TableofContents
FORWARD 5
PREFACE 7
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 9
INTRODUCTION 10
ASTARTUPSTORY 12SELF-ASSESSMENT 14ABOUTTHISBOOK 16
SECTION1:TEAM 17
CLOASFOUNDER 18THEMINDOFAFOUNDER 19CHIEFLEARNINGOFFICER2.0 20TALKTHEWALK 23TELLMEASTORY 23THEFOURCORESTORIESFOUNDERSTELL…ANDCLOSNEEDTO 24THEVALUEOFYOURVALUEPROPOSITION 26THEASK 27INVESTORCOMMUNICATIONS 29CO-FOUNDERS? 30CLOASFOUNDER:DISCUSSIONQUESTIONS 32THEPOWEROFTEAM 33THESTARTUPATTITUDE 34GOAHEADANDTRY 36THEEXPERIMENTPORTFOLIO 37FAILURE:ITISALLINTHEDEFINITION 38THEPOWEROFTEAM:DISCUSSIONQUESTIONS 40
SECTION2:TOOLS 41
PRODUCT,PRODUCT,PRODUCT 42PRODUCTASPLATFORM 43PRODUCTLIFECYCLE 45DEFININGAVALUABLEPRODUCT 46PUTTINGTHEPRODUCTINCONTEXT 48BUILDINGAFEASIBLEPRODUCT 50THENEWFEATUREGAUNTLET 53STARTUPPROJECTMANAGEMENT 54PRODUCT,PRODUCT,PRODUCT:DISCUSSIONQUESTIONS 57THENEEDFORSPEED 58IFEELTHENEED.THENEEDFOR... 59SPEEDTOPRODUCT 61SPEEDTOLEARNER 64AQUICKNOTEONSPEEDTOVALUE 67
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 4
THENEEDFORSPEED:DISCUSSIONQUESTIONS 68DATADRIVENEXECUTION 69DASHBOARDSTHATDRIVEVALUE 71DASHBOARD1:PRODUCTVELOCITY 73DASHBOARD2:PORTFOLIOMANAGEMENT 75DASHBOARD3:MARKETSHARE 77DASHBOARD4:EXECUTIVE 80AFINALNOTEONDASHBOARDS 80DATADRIVENEXECUTION:DISCUSSIONQUESTIONS 82ANEWFRAMEWORK 83THELEARNINGMODELCANVAS 84CUSTOMERDOMAIN 87PRODUCTSANDSERVICES 90SERVICEDELIVERYMODEL 93STRATEGYANDGOVERNANCE 95INVESTMENT&RETURN 98ANEWFRAMEWORK:DISCUSSIONQUESTIONS 103
SECTION3:LAUNCH 104
GETSTARTED 105ITSTARTSWITHAQUESTION 106EXPECTGREATTHINGS 109TALKINGTOTHETOP 110EXPECTATIONSMAPPING 112ASSESSINGTHESITUATION 114PRODUCTS&SERVICES 116SERVICEDELIVERYMODEL 117STRATEGYANDGOVERNANCE 118INVESTMENTANDRETURN 119FINALTHOUGHTS:EMBRACETHEJOURNEY 120ABOUTTHEAUTHOR 121
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 5
Forward:DavidVanAdlesbergIn1999,whenEdTrolleyandI,withJ’sableassistance,wroteRunningTrainingLikeaBusiness,wedidsohopingtoaddresstwoobjectives:
1. Toawakenleadershipteamstotheoverwhelmingevidencethatmuchofthemassiveinvestment(atthetime+$60billionintheUSalone)theyweremakingincorporatesponsoredtraininganddevelopment(T&D)wasdonewithoutclearmeasurement.
2. Toprovidesomeguidanceonhowtooperationalizethisinvestmenttoensureamblereturn.
Ourultimatehopewasbetterhumancapitaldevelopmentthroughwiserspendingandimprovedthemanagementandmeasurementofthisimportantinvestment.Some20yearslater,althoughtherehasbeensomemodestachievementoftheseobjectives,theissuesandopportunitiesareonlybiggerandbiggerbyaquiteabit.Considerthesethreepoints:
• Infiscalyear2017-thelastyearinwhichfulldatawasavailable–S&Pcompaniesreportedspending$77billionanditisestimatedthatthetotalspendonT&DbyUScompaniesmateriallyexceeds$250billioneachyear.
• Agrandtotalof22companies-lessthan5%-evenbotheredtoreporttheirT&Dspendingtoshareholdersin2017.
• Mostimportantly,thecombinationofthestateofoureducationalsystem,thespeedoftechnologicalchange,thefightfortalent,andthefurtherincreaseinemployees’desiretolearnandgrow,hasneverbeenmoreacute.Companiesareunderconsiderablymorepressuretoensuretheirteamshavebasicskills,areretrainedandupskilledwhenneeded,arealignedstrategicallyandareprovidedopportunitiesforskillenhancementasameansofrecruitmentandretention.
Yetdespitethespendingandtheneed,managementandmeasurementsystemsremainscarceatbest.Whatother+$250billionannualinvestmentlacksquantifiableROImetrics?InstepsJ.Miguezwithafreshandhighlypracticalsolution.Althoughthechangeinthetitlefrom‘Business’to‘Start-up’issubtle,theinsightsandadviceareanythingbut.InRunningTrainingLikeaStartup,J.sharesdetailsanewapproachwhichisbasedonthepracticesandmethodsofthemostsuccessfulandfastestgrowingcompaniesoftoday.Heappliesandcombinestheirpragmatism,theirrelentlesspursuitfor‘better’,theiropennesstomodifyontheflybasedonfeedback,metricsandquantifiedresultsintoasimpleguideformakingT&Dhighlyrelevantandmeasurable.Inthisimportantandbeautifullywrittentext,J.outlines–stepbystep–howtoembracenewandhighlyeffectiveT&DpracticesandapproachesthewaytheGoogleguys,Zuckerbergandotherslikethemapproachtheiroverallbusinesses.AlthoughthesubjectmatterisaboutT&D,itisamustreadforanybusinessleader-inanyposition–whoseekstooptimizeandmeasuretheirgrowinginvestmentinthedevelopmentofhumancapital.BravoJ.andcongratulationstoallwhofollowitswiseandtimelyadvice.
-DavidVanAdelsberg
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 6
Forward:EdwardTrolleyIdon’tknowmuchaboutstartupsasIhaveneverworkedinorwithonebutJ.Miguezdoesandhas.Hehasworkedinthestartupspaceformanyyearsandhasdevelopedakeenunderstandingofhowtheyoperate,whatisimportantforsuccess,whatarethechallengestheyface,howtheydealwiththechallenges,whatmakesthemsucceedandwhatmakesthemfail.J.andIhavespokenmanytimesaboutwhatstartupsdothatcouldapplytothisnewworldofcorporatetraininganditsneedtotransform.Hehasconvincedmethattherearemanyparallelstowhathappenswithstartupsastheymovefrominceptiontofullonmatureoperationsandcorporatetrainingasitmovesfromunderstandingtheneedtotransformandactuallytransformingandthattherearemanylessonstobelearnedandapproachestobeconsideredastrainingtransformsitselfintoavalue-creatingmachine.Inthisbook,J.walksusthruthelifeofastartupandalongtheway,makestheconnectionstotraining.Hestarts,ofcourse,withthefounderwhointhetrainingworldistheCLO.InJ.’swords,“Justasthesuccessofastartupisreliantonitsfounder,thesuccessofthetransformationofL&DdependsonitsleadersacknowledgingtheneedfortransformationandthentakingontheroleofthefoundersofthenewL&D.”Heputsusintothemindofafounderorentrepreneur.Hetellsusthat,forthem,problemsarepuzzlestobesolved,notpaintobesufferedandthattheyareabletostartwiththeendinmindregardlessofhowdauntingtheleaptogetthere.Theyarecurious,haveaninsatiabledrivetodeliverandhaveahighdegreeofurgency.Wow,ifonlyCLO’scouldwalkinafounder’sshoes.Thisbooktellsacompletestoryofwhatmakesstartupstickandwhatcouldmaketrainingtick.HelacesthebookwithmanystoriesfromhisexperiencesworkingwithandtalkingtofoundersandtheyaddagreatdealofcredibilitytohisbigideaofRunningTrainingLikeaStartup.IamthrilledthatJ.hasnotthrownawaytheconceptsofRunningTrainingLikeaBusinessbutinstead,hasbuiltonthemandintroducednewdimensionsthatmakesomuchsense,Iwishwehadwrittenaboutthem19yearsago.Iencourageallofyouwhoareinneedoftransformingyourtraining(everyCLO?)toreadthisbookandapplysomeorallofwhatittalksabouttoyoursituation.Youandyourcompanywillbebetteroffforit!
-EdwardTrolley
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 7
PrefaceIhavebeentalkingabouttheideaofthisbookforyears.IwaspartoftheteamthatlaunchedRunning
TrainingLikeaBusiness.Anindustrystapleandgamechangingapproachinthenineties.Sowhyisit
thataftertwodecades,LearningandDevelopmentisstillstrugglingtodeliverunmistakablevalue?
Technology,justemergingwhenRunningTrainingLikeaBusinesscameout,isnowatthecoreofthe
learningorganization.Thetoolsusedbylearninganddevelopmentpractitionersforeverythingfrom
coursecreationtomeasurementhaveimproved.Yetthesameproblemsthatstirredtheneedforthe
firstbookcontinuetochallengeLearningandDevelopmentorganizationsaroundtheglobe.Recent
researchbyBersinbyDeloitteindicatesthat,whileemployeedevelopmenthasneverbeenas
important,faithoftheorganizationintheL&Dfunctiontodelivervaluehasalsoneverbeensolow.
Inthosetwodecades,thecompaniesthatL&Dorganizationsservehavechanged.Companiesofallsizes,
oncecomfortableintheirplaceinthemarket,havebeendisrupted.Innovation,onceasourceof
competitiveadvantage,isnowabusinessrequirement.Withallofthesechangestothebusiness,how
hasL&Devolved?Somewouldsaynotverymuch.Theuseofoutsourcing,controversialatthetimeof
thefirstbook,isfortunatelynowawidelyacceptedsolutionformanyfunctionsofL&D.Thankstothe
migrationtodigitallearning,measurementdata,formerlydifficulttocollectbeyond"smilesheets",is
nowreadilyavailable.But,inmanyways,L&Dhasnotchangedatall.AsstatedrecentlybyBersin,
“businessleadersandemployeesoftencitelittleornovaluecomingfromthelearningorganization.An
ominouscommentaboutLearning&Development,anorganizationthatwewouldargueismore
importanttodaythanever.
Enthusiasmisdefinedas"intenseandeagerenjoyment,interestorapproval".Mysense,havingsatwith
manyindustryprofessionalsatalllevelsandcomparingthattotheenthusiasticenergyinherentinfast
growingstartups,isthatourindustryissorelylackingenthusiasm.Whilewemayexperienceexcitement,
ashortdurationformofenthusiasm,aboutnewtools,technologiesortoys,thisistheemotional
equivalentofasugarhigh.Asthelasttwodecadeshaveshownus,wearerunningamarathon,nota
sprint,andsugarisnotthefuelofsuccess.
Thelackofenthusiasmisnotentirelyunwarranted.Theimportanceofemployeeengagementinan
organization’ssuccessiswidelyrecognized.Wehaveallseenthestudiesonwhatincreasesit;mission,
leadership,development,amongothers.Yet,whenyoutalktolearningpros,thefocusisoftenonthe
lackoffunding,limitedexecutivesupportorlatesttoolortacticbeingdeployed.Eventhecupofsugaris
halfempty.Andwhenwehearfromexecutives,weoftenfindtheyhavealowexpectationoftraining.
Mybeliefisthatisbecausetheyreallydonotknowwhatispossible.Ifwe,asanindustrydon'thaveany
enthusiasm,howcanweexpectexecutivestohaveanyenthusiasmforlearning?
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 8
Successfulstartupshaveenthusiasminabundance.Foundersactuallytakeenthusiasmtothenextlevel,
passion.Passionisthatintense,drivingfeelingorconvictionandwhileatpointsthismaybedivorced
fromreason,itsetsthehighestpossiblestandardforotherstofollow.Sitwithastartupfounderfortwo
minutesandtheycannothelpbuttellyouwhattheyarebuilding.Theywilltalkfast,asiftheyhavehad
toomanycupsofcoffee.Mostimportantly,theywillleaveyouexcitedabouttheirmissionandlooking
forwaysthatyoumighthelpthem. Thepassionforwhattheyaredoingisnotonlyvisiblewhenthey
aretalkingtoinvestorsorpotentialcustomers.Itcomesthroughallthetime.Itisondisplaywhenthey
aretalkingwiththeirteams,standinginlineforlunch,sittingaroundwithfriends,ridingthebusand
evenwalkingtheirdogthroughthepark.Ifthereareearstolisten,theyfeelcompelled,likenew
parents,toshareit.Andthisisnotlimitedtojustthefounder.
Successfulfoundersrecruitpeoplethatsharetheirpassionandcontributetheirownenthusiasmtothe
mix.Enthusiasmisnotsolelyenjoyment.Itisalsodefinedas"intenseinterest".Inthisway,enthusiasm
leadstocuriosityandcuriosityoftenleadstonew,novel,moreeffectiveormoreefficientsolutions.
Codingengineersatstartupsfrequentlyspendlongdaysatworkonlytogohomeandplayaround
writingcodeforfunortotestideasthattheymightbeabletobringbacktowork.Whenwasthelast
timeyouinvitedsomefriendsoverforsomebarbequeandsomebrainstormingonhowredesignan
assessmentprocessoralearningprogram?Notbecauseyouhadto,butbecauseyouwantedto.
Ourindustry'spathforwardisnotgoingtobeaneasyoneandwewillneedafulltankofenthusiasmto
fuelourorganizations.Weareenthusiasticaboutthefutureoflearninganddevelopmentandwethink
youshouldbetoo.Webelievethatunlockingtheenthusiasmthatourindustryhasforlearningrequires
anewapproach.Anapproachbuiltonthetimelessprincipleofdeliveringvalueholdshuge
opportunitiesfortheprofessionalsthatpracticeitandthepeopleandorganizationstheysupport.
Enthusiasticallyyours,J.
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 9
AcknowledgementsThisbookwouldnothavebeenpossiblewithouttheguidance,realitychecksandnoholdsbarred
feedbackofEdTrolley.Hissupportandbeliefkeptmeandthiscontentfocused,basedinpractical
experienceandapplicableinthefield.
Additionally,thisbookistheresultoftheinputandinfluenceofanenormousnumberofpeople.Letme
beginbyacknowledgingthecontributionofalltheclients,startupsandlearningprofessionalsIhavehad
thejoyofworkingwithandforofthelasttwentyyears.Thisbookcouldnotbewrittenwithoutthe
experienceandlearningsthatIhavehadalongsideyou.Letmealsosaythankstothemanypeoplethat
gavemepricelessadvice,feedbackandsupportduringtheprocessofwritingthisbookEdBoswell,Craig
Wortmann,ValerieAlexander,JudyHauserman,ChipCleary,CassandraDamarcus,DavidVance,Siobhan
Dullea,KathleenMazure,AllanTodd,JocelynDavid,AliciaAngleandtheOchsnerHealthSystemlearning
team.
Tothemanyothersthatlistenedtomywildideas,earlyconceptsandrandomramblings,yourpatience
andtoleranceweregreatlyappreciated.Finally,aspecialdebtofgratitudeispaidtoPoojaSinghMehta,
whoeditedearlyversionsthisbookmakingitpossibleforotherstofocusonmycontentandnotmy
poorgrammar.
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 10
IntroductionIthasbeenalmost20yearssinceRunningTrainingLikeaBusinesswaspublished.Evennow,its
principlesareapopulartopicatconferencesandinconversations,drawingnewlearningand
developmentprofessionalsintothetaleofdeliveringunmistakablevalue.Sincethebookwasreleased,I
havehadtheprivilegeofworkingwithcorporatelearningorganizationsaroundtheworld.My
experiencehasconfirmedthat,atitsheart,themessageofthebookisasimportantandessentialtoday
asitwaswhenitwasreleased.However,Ihavealsocometorecognizetheincreasinglyvolatile,
uncertain,complexandambiguous(VUCA)environmentinwhichthebusinessesareoperatingandthe
disruptionthattechnologyiscausing.ThechangesinbusinessenvironmentcreateamandateforL&Dto
respondtothisnewenvironment.Hence,theneedtorevisitthisimportantindustrytouchstone.
RunningTrainingLikeaBusinesswaspublishedinthelate90’s.Atthattime,theinternetwasstillyoung
andnovel,themarketenvironmentformanybusinesseswasrelativelystable,thedisruptivepowerof
technologywasyetunseen,andnewcompaniestookalongtimetoevenbenoticed.Therehavebeen
manychangesbothdramaticandsubtlesincethen.HighgrowthcompaniessuchasFacebook,Uber,
Google,andAirbnbhaveinvadedmarketswithbusinessmodelsthatdidn’tevenexist.‘Growfastordie
slow’hasbecomeareveredmantra.Innovationisnotachoice;itisnowonlybasictablestakestostay
inthegame.Speedandagilityarenotoptional,newcompetitorsarealwaysrightaroundthecorner
lookingfortheopportunitytotakethemarketleadingposition.Digitaltransformationisnota
buzzword,itisreal,hereanddisruptive.
Ifthisisthenewrealityfortoday'sbusinesses,thenthedefinitionofwhatitmeanstosuccessfullyrun
training"likeabusiness"haschangedaswell.EricRies,thefounderoftheLeanStartupmovementand
authorofthebook"LeanStartup"definesastartupasanyenterprisewherethe"unknowns"aregreater
thanthe"knowns".Usingthisdefinition,today'slearninganddevelopmentorganizationsaremost
definitelystartups.Therefore,today’sL&Dleadersmustberunningtraininglikeastartupbusiness.
RunningTrainingLikeaStartupappliesthetechniquesusedbyhighgrowthstartupstotheLearning&
Developmentorganizations.
WhileIwasdraftingthisbooksomeofthefeedbackIfrequentlyreceivedwas,“thisisgreatandneeded
butIwon’tbeabletodoitinmyorganization.”AsImentionedearlier,Irecognizethatstartupshavea
distinctadvantageinimplementingthesevalue-addingapproaches.Bystartingwithacleanslate,they
avoidtheinherentchallengesofchanginganexistingsystem.Infact,inarecentsurveybyInnovation
Leader,thetwolargesthurdlestocorporateinnovationwereidentifiedaspoliticsandculturalissues.
Twobarriersnotoftenfacedbystartups.
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 11
Ascompaniescontinuetofindvalueinsupportingcorporateinnovationthroughincubatorprograms,
dedicatedteamsandotherapproaches,Iamconfidentthatthesechallengeswillcontinuetolessen.
LearningandDevelopmentorganizationsareoftentaskedwithsupportinginnovationinitiativesand
havetheopportunitytoleadbyexample.LeadinginthiswaydemonstratesthatL&Dcanbe,andmust
be,apowerfulweaponfororganizationslookingtosurviveintoday’sbusinessenvironment.So,start
small,beopportunistic,findabusinesssponsorandexperiment.Youdon’thavetodoitall.Juststart.
Standingstillisnotanoptionforyourbusinessorforlearninganddevelopment.Myhopeisthatthis
bookoffersyouapracticalguideforlearningprofessionalsoperatingintoday’sfast-pacedbusiness
environment.
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 12
AStartupStory
Itwasthesameroutineasthepriormonthasthestartup’sfoundersatdowntowriteherinvestor
update.Shehadwrittenmanybeforebutthisonewasgoingtobedifferent.Inpriormonths,the
updateshadcontainedexcitingnewsabouttheproductdevelopmentmilestonesthathadbeen
achievedandthegrowinglistofuserslininguptogetfirstaccesstotheproduct.Thelaunch,while
delayedbyacoupleofweekshadbroughtaflurryofactivityastheteamstruggledtokeepupwiththe
growinguserbase.Herinvestors,believersinherproductbutevenmoresoinherandherteam’s
capability,hadreadeachinstallmentofherupdateswithgrowingexcitementandanticipationofthe
returnstheywouldgetontheirinvestment.
Thismonth’supdate,however,wouldcontainnewsofaslowingflowofnewusersandadropinthe
activitybycurrentusersoftheproduct.Thefounderknewthatwithoutcontinuedsuccessthestartup
woulduseupitsremainingcashandfinditselfinadireposition.Theproductwasoriginallyconceived
tosolveabigproblemforitsmarket.Shehadconfirmedthisassumptionthroughcountlessinterviews
andsurveys.Iftheneedwasthere,whyweren’ttheusersjumpingatthesolution?Whileforsome
companiesthiswouldbetheend,formoststartupsthisisjustthebeginning.
Thefollowingdaysheandherteambeganthedaywiththeirmorninghuddle.Onthismorning,the
teampouredoverthesignup,userandusagedatahopingtogleansomeinsightintowhatwasnot
working.Analysistaskswerequicklyassignedsearchingforanswerstowhowassigningup,whowas
usingtheproductmostandtheleast.Eachtaskwasputonastickynoteandstucktothewall.Aseach
teammemberfinishedataskitwasmovedtoanotherspotonthewallbeforetheypulledanother.In
thisfashion,thewallwasreorganizedthroughouttheday.
Thefollowingmorninginthehuddle,thefindingsofthepriordaywerediscussed.Theteamhad
discoveredthatthemostactiveuserssharedacoupleofsimilarities.Theyhadallusedaspecificfeature
oftheappandtheyhadallcometosignupthroughaspecificmarketingchannel.Thefounderthen
spentthedayaddingcontextandadditionaldatatothisinsight.Sincetheactiveusershadfoundher
productthroughasocialnetwork,shewasabletoseedemographicandotherinformationaboutthese
users.Byreviewingherproduct’sstructure,shewasabletoseethemostandleastusedfeatures.Using
thedatashehadcollectedpriortolaunchabouttheneed,shewasabletobreakitapartintoitsvarious
elements.Nowshehadaplan.
Thenextdaytheteamwasgreetedbyanalreadypopulatedwallofstickynotes.Thestartupsfounding
visionhadnotchanged.Theywerestillfocusedonsolvingthesameproblem;however,theproduct
wouldhavetochange.Andnotjusttheproductbuttheentirebusinessmodel.Whatthefounderhad
discoveredwaswhichofherproduct’sfeatureshadthehighestvaluetoheruserpopulation.Shealso
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 13
nowknewhowtobestreachthemandwhatmessagingworkedbest.Nowitwasuptoherandherteam
tofocus.
Withonly60daysleftuntilthebankaccountrandry,herquestiontoherteamwassimple.“Howdowe
deliverthemostvaluetothemostusersinthenext60days.”Theproductteamquicklysetoutto
understandhowtheuserswereactuallyusingtheproductanddefiningwhattheycoulddotogetusers
tohighvaluefeaturesintheproductsooner.Themarketingteambeganrevisingthevalueproposition
andmarketingmaterials.Attheendofthedayeachteampresentedtheirplantothefounder.Plans
werediscussed,modifiedandagreedto.Eachplanhadseveralpointsduringthenexttwomonths
identifiedforpossiblecoursecorrectionandhadspecificallydefinedexpectationsofresultsintermsof
signups,usageorreferrals.
Aftertryingmultiplenewmessagingapproaches,overthecourseofthefollowingweektheimpactof
therefocusedmarketingwasagainbuildingapipelineofnewusers.Theproductteamwasreleasinga
newversionoftheproducthighlightingthehighvaluefeaturesthefollowingweek.Thefullredesignof
theproductwasontheroadmapbutwouldneverfitintoa60-daywindow.Instead,smaller,weekly
improvementswereplanned.Meanwhile,thefounderworkedtorevisehermarketingbudget,pricing
planandoperatingmodeltoreflectthenewfocus.Herstartupwouldstillsolvethecompleteproblem.
Theywouldjustgettherebyadifferentpath,apathdictatedbywhatherusersvalued.
Attheendofthemonthasshesatdowntowriteherinvestorupdateshereflectedonthepriormonth’s
activity.“Ourfocusonwhatourusersvalue,asdemonstratedbytheirfeedbackandbehavior,is
paramount,”shebegan.Shethenwentontoreviewherdashboardsshowingthekeymetricsreflecting
performanceincriticalareas.“Withouttheamazingteamwehavewecouldnothavegottenthrough
this,”Shecontinued.“Ourspeed,useofdataandunderstandingofourbusinessmodelhasledusto
continueourworktosolveourcustomers’problem.Ourworkoverthepastmonthhasbeenanother
opportunitytolearn.AndIamsureitwon’tbeourlast.”
Thisstoryishardlyunique.Itisbeingplayedoutbystartupsaroundtheworldeveryday.Someofthem
willcreatethehappyendingbutmanywillnot.Aswereflectedonthecountlessdiscussionswith
learningprofessionals,learningorganizationassessmentsandbusinessleaderinterviewswehavehad
overthepasttwodecades,whatstruckuswashowdifferentthetypicalstartupwastomanyoftoday’s
learningorganizations.HowmanytimeshaveweheardtheL&Dprofessionaltoutthecatalogand
linkagestothecompetenciesonlytobetoldbythebusinessleaderstheyservethattheystillhadunmet
needsandcapabilitygapsthatwereholdingbacktheirbusiness?TimeandagainwehearL&Dprovide
uswiththehighperceptionofvaluethatthebusinessesholdfortrainingonlytofindamuchlower
assessmentfromlinemanagersorlearners.Thisisnotacomparisonbetweengoodandbad.Ratherthis
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 14
isafocusongettingfromgoodtobettertogreatallbyusingtoolsandapproachesbuiltfortheway
businessworkstoday.
Self-Assessment
InordertoprovideabasisforthecontentcontainedhereinIhavecreatedthefollowingassessment.
Thequestionsbelowarebasedonthekeydimensionsforrunningalearninganddevelopment
organizationlikeastartup.Forthequickself-assessmentscorecardbelow,pleaseratetheassumed
extenttowhichyourlearningorganizationhasattainedthegoal.
RunningTrainingLikeaStartupGoal
RatingScale1=stronglydisagree10=stronglyagreeRating
Weareservingthelargestpossibleusergroups
Wearedeliveringmaximumvaluetotheusergroupsweserve
Weunderstanddeeplywhatourusergroupsvalue
Ourproductsandservicesarealignedtowhatourusergroupsvalue
Ourprocessesarealignedtowhatourusergroupsvalue
Ourresourcesarealignedtowhatourusergroupsvalue
Wehaveoptimizedourprocessesandactivitiesforspeed
Wearecollectingandusingdatatodriveimprovement
Ourusercommunicationisclear,consistentandcompelling
Ourstakeholdercommunicationisclearandconsistent
Wehaveengagedtheadvisorsweneedinordertosucceed
Weareconfidentinourreportingofwhatwearecurrentlyinvesting
Weareconfidentinourreportingofwhatwearecurrentlyreturning
TotalScore:
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 15
Onceyouhavecompletedtheself-assessment,lookatyourscorecardandaskyourselfthefollowing
questions:
• WheredidIratemyorganizationhighly?Whatexistingdatasupportsthisrating?
• WheredoInothavedatatosupportmyratings?
• HowcouldIcollectthedataneededtoinformmyratings?
• IfthisscorecardwassharedwithothersintheL&Dorganizationwouldtheyprovidesimilar
ratings?
• Ifthisscorecardwassharedwithmycustomersinthebusiness,wouldtheyprovidesimilar
ratings?
Organizationswithatotalratingscoreof13-65areindangerofdisruption.Thismaymeanreduced
scopeofresponsibility;budgetcutsorhighprobabilityofresourcesbeingshiftedintothebusiness.
Theseorganizationsshouldworkwithhighurgencytobeginthesearchforproduct-marketfit.
Organizationswithatotalratingscoreof66-100areonthepathtoproduct-marketfit.Theymaytakea
moretargetedapproachtooptimizethelearningorganizationandfocusonareasratedlow.
Organizationswithatotalratingscoreofabove100areexemplarorganizationsbuteventhese
organizationscannotaffordtorest.Thepaceoftoday'sbusinessenvironmentthatorganizationsthat
scoredthishighcannotstoprunningbutatleasttheyarenotplayingcatchup.
BystartingwithanhonestassessmentofyourorganizationIhopethatattheendofreadingthisbook
youwillnotonlyhaveabetterideaofwhatittakestoexcelatthesedimensions,butalsohavean
actionablepathtowardsdeliveringunmistakablevalue.
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 16
AboutThisBook
ThisbookwillattempttoprovidelearningleadersandprofessionalswithclearexamplesofhowL&Dcan
applythewinningstrategiesusedbystartupstotheirL&Dorganizations.Frommindsettotechniques
andtools,IhopethatRunningTrainingLikeaStartupwillprovideausefulstartingpointforreimagining
thelearningorganizationasapowerfulpartnerintoday'sbusinessenvironment.
Ifyouhavenotreadthepriorbook,RunningTrainingLikeaBusiness,havenofear.Thisbookisdesigned
tostandonitsown.IncaseswhereIdoreferencethefirstbook,Ihaveattemptedtoprovideallthe
necessarycontextwithinthistext.ThisisnottosaythatIdon’trecommendeveryonereadRunning
TrainingLikeaBusiness,infactIverymuchdo.RunningTrainingLikeaStartupisnotmeanttoreplace
thefirstbook.Asyouwillseethroughoutthisbook,manyofthecoretenetsoftheoriginalremain
relevanttoday.
Thisbookhasthreesections.Thefirst,Team,exploresthenewrolesandkeycapabilitiesneededbythe
“foundingteam”including;adaptability,communicationandexperimentation.Thesecond,Tools,
describesfourkeystooperatinglikeastartupincludingaproductmindset,speed,datadrivenexecution
andadynamicoperatingmodel.Thefinalsection,Launch,providessometoolsforgettingstartedand
usingthenewoperatingmodelframeworktobetterunderstandthecurrentstateofyourlearning
organization.Italsoofferssuggestionsonhowtoputyourorganizationonthepathofrunningtraining
likeastartup.
Thegoalofthisbookistodescribesomeoftheideaswehavefortranslatingsuccessfulstartup
techniquesforproductdevelopment,customermanagementandpeopletocorporateLearning&
Development.Havingworkedwithstartupsforalmosttwentyyears,Irecognizethatnoteverystartupis
perfect,noraretheirtoolsandpracticesalwaysidealfortheworldofcorporateL&D.Webelievethat
theonespresentedhereinare.AndasIstatedearlierstartupshavecertainadvantagesoverlearning
anddevelopmentorganizations.Startupshavethebenefitofstartingfromacleansheetofpaper.
Startupsalsodonothavepre-existingconditionssuchaslegacy,hierarchies,politicsandinertia.
OneofthethingsthatIhavecometoloveaboutthestartupcommunityisthatitisalsoknownforits
transparency.Foundersofstartupsopenlysharetheresultsofnewtoolsandtechniques,bothgoodand
bad.AsacommunityofL&Dpractitioners,wecanlearnmuchfromstartupsandfromeachotheraswe
adapttothisnewageofdisruption. Inthespiritofstartups,thisbookisnotabouthavingthingsperfect.Thisisaboutgettingstarted,iteratingquicklyandcollaborating.Inthisspirit,pleasejointhediscussion
onthisbook’sblogatRTLABv2.comandaddyourthoughtsandideassothatourwholecommunitycan
betterdeliverunmistakablevalueintheworldofbusiness2.0
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 17
Section1:Team
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 18
CLOasFounder
"Willthefounderalwaysstrivetodogreatworkthatislegendary,withpeoplewhoarespectacularly
awesome?Willthiscommitmenttranslatetorecruitingamazingpeoplewhowanttoworkwiththe
founderandeachother?Haveyoueverbeeninasituationwhereyouandateamwerepursuingtotal
excellence?Agreatfounderwillnotjustseekthisorhopeforthis,heorshewilldemandthis."
-MikeMaples,FoundingPartneratFloodgate,InvestorinTwitter,Lyft,Sonos....
Today’scompaniesarebeingtransformedbymultipledisruptions:technology,digitization,volatility,
diminishinggeographicboundaries,toughercompetition,moredemandingcustomers,andskill
shortages.Thesedisruptionsaremandatingnewapproachestoallaspectsofbusiness.Asbusinesses
battlethesedisruptions,L&Dorganizationsneedtogothroughtheirowntransformation.A
transformationthatenablesthemtocreateunmistakablevaluefortheircompanies.Thistransformation
ismorethanjustastepchange.ItwillrequireL&Dorganizationstothinkafreshandrecalibratetheir
teams,products&services,valueproposition,executionmodelandstakeholdercommunication.
Justasthesuccessofastartupisreliantonitsfounder,thesuccessofthetransformationofL&D
dependsonitsleadersacknowledgingtheneedfortransformationandthentakingontheroleofthe
foundersofthenewL&D.
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 19
TheMindofaFounder
LeadersofanL&Dorganizationthatcreatesvalueintoday'sbusinessenvironmentmustadoptthe
mindsetofsuccessfulstartupfounders.Casestudiesshowthatsuccessfulfoundersareexcellent
problemsolvers.Thisattributeistheproductofamuchdeepersetofvaluesthatdrivehow
entrepreneursthinkandact.Asksportspsychologistsandtheywilltellyouthatthedifferencebetween
anexcellentathleteandasuperstarisnottechnique,physicalability,orstrategy,butratheritistheir
mindset.Muchlikeprofessionalathletes,successfulfoundershaveauniquemindsetthatgivestheman
edge.Here,wesummarizethekeydimensionsoftheirmindsetthatareessentialfortoday’sL&Dleader
toembodyandfosterintheirteam.
Successfulentrepreneurs:
• Seetheworldaroundthemandthechallengesaheadofthemdifferently.Forthem,problems
arepuzzlestobesolved;notpaintobesuffered.Customerdissatisfactionisanopportunityfora
bettersolution.InthiswayL&Dleaderscannotfocusonunavailableresourcesorlimited
supportasbarrierstotheirgoal.Foundersunderstandandembracetheirjourney,evenwhen
facedwithnumerousobstacles.Invariably,therearemomentsofdoubtandfailure;they
recognizetheseasapartoftheprocessthatdeliversunmistakablevalue.
• Areabletostartwiththeendinmindregardlessofhowdauntingtheleaptogetthere.L&D
leadersmustholdtheultimatevisionintheirheadsatalltimenomatterwheretheir
organizationistoday.AccordingtoHBSProfessorHowardStevensoninhisbookBreakthrough
Entrepreneurship"Entrepreneurshipisthepursuitofopportunitywithoutregardtoresources
currentlycontrolled."
• Haveawideknowledgebaseandarecuriousaboutadjacentdomainsandseemingly
unconnectedtopics.Thisparallelthinkingoftenleadstobreakthroughinnovationintheircore
domain.Knowledgeofgamemechanics,neuroscience,virtualrealityanddesignthinkinghave
alreadybeguntoprovidevaluetocuriousL&Dorganizations.LeonardoDaVinci,the15th
centuryItalianartist,anatomist,architect,mathematician,engineer,andinventorexemplifies
howsuchcross-domainexpertiseleadstoprolificinnovation.His13,000pagesofnotesincluded
sketchesforfuturepaintings,designsforwingstohelpmanflyandshoesforwalkingonwater.
• Haveaninsatiabledrivetodeliver.Theirrelentlesscommitmenttomakingtheirideaarealityis
obvioustoeveryonearoundthem.L&Dleadersneedtopossessapassionforgettingthings
done.Inhislatestbook,WalterIsaacson,SteveJob’sbiographerandauthorofthebook‘The
Innovators,’describesvisionwithoutexecutionashallucination.Visionwithexecutioniswhat
successfulfoundershave.
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 20
• Haveahighdegreeofurgency.Somestartupsevenkeepwhattheycalla"deathclock"intheir
office.Thisclockcountsdownthetimeremainingbeforeastartuprunsoutofmoneyandwill
nolongerbeablepursueitsvision.L&Dorganizationsthatdonotoffercontinuouslygrowing
valuehaveaclockaswell.Itmaynotbeonthewallforalltoseebutitisthere.CLOsmustact
withthesameurgencyasstartupleaders,racingtoensurethattheclockneverstrikeszero.
ChiefLearningOfficer2.0
In1991,whenJackWelchmadeSteveKerrGE's(andpossiblytheworld'sfirst)ChiefLearningOfficer,
thebusinessworldandtheworldoflearninglookedverydifferent.Aquarterofacenturylater,itistime
totakeafreshlookatthepositionandthekeyroleitplaysinensuringthatlearningisrunningat
maximumefficiencyandeffectiveness.Therearethreeprimaryrolesforafounderofastartupthat
shouldbethefocusfortheCLOaswell.Theseare;defineandkeepthevisionandvalueproposition,
attractandretainthebesttalentfortheirteamandgrowtheinvestment.
Role1:Keeperofthevisionandvalueproposition Startupsseevisionasalongerterm,"howwillwe
changetheworld"flag.Forexample,Uber'svisioncouldbe"world'sleadinglogisticscompany".By
contrast,thevaluepropositionhasamorenear-termfocus.InthiscaseUber'scouldbe,"makingiteasy
forpeopletogetfrompointAtopointB."Thekeyis,thatwhiledifferent,thevaluepropositionearns
theenterprisetherighttoprogresstowardsthevision.Therefore, boththevisionandthevaluepropositionarecritical.Forexample,focusingonbothalong-termvision,makingoursalestrainingthe
bestintheindustry,andthemoreimmediatevalueproposition,helpingoursalespeopleclose10%
moredealsthisquarterdemonstratesvaluethatbuildcredibilityforthevision.
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 21
Becauseofthistoday’sCLOmustknowandsharetheanswerstotwoquestions.Howarewedelivering
valuetoday?Howisthatadvancingustowardswherewewanttobetomorrow?Byclearanswersto
thesetwoquestions,theCLOmakesitcleartoallstakeholderswhydecisionsaremadeandhow
prioritiesgetset.Theseanswersalsoprovidearoadmapagainstwhichprogresscanbemarkedand
showacommitmenttodeliveringunmistakablevaluebyshowingnottelling.
Role2:Attractandretainthebesttalent
Allsuccessfulstartupsdependonacoreteamof“A”playerstoactualizetheirvisionanddelivertheir
valueproposition.Withoutanempowered,enthusiasticandskilledteam,theCLOwillnotbeableto
createthetransformedL&Dorganization.Therefore,therearetwopartstotheCLO'srolewithtalent:
buildingtheteamandmanagingthem.BuildingtheteamrequirestheCLOtorecruitwithenthusiasm
forthevision,thevaluepropositionandtheopportunitytoworkwithother"A"players.
Butwhoareyourecruiting?RunningTrainingLikeaBusinesspresentedwhatweattheForum
Corporationaffectionatelycalled“thecamelchart.”Thechartsrollinghumps,almostliketwo
competingsinewaves,showedthemisalignmentwetoofrequentlysawinlearningorganizations
betweenhighvalueaddingactivitiesandwherethelearningorganizationwasspendingitsresources
(timeandmoney).Iftheactivityisoflowvalueorisofanundifferentiatednature,relativetotheL&D
organization’svisionandvalueproposition,itisunlikelythataCLOwouldinvestinthedevelopmentof
internalcapability.Undifferentiatedexpertiseonlowvalue-addorcommodityactivitiescanalmost
alwaysbebought;asneeded,athigherquality,forlowercost.Whetherinternalorexternal,thehighest
standardsmustbesetandmonitoredforeachactivity.
ThefocusofthenewL&Dteamisonthehighvalue-addactivitiesoractivitiesessentialtothedeliveryof
thevisionandvalueproposition.Forthesecapabilities,CLO's,likestartupfoundersneedtoensurethey
arehiringtwotypesof“A-players”.Thefirstare"Swissarmyknives".Thesearemultipleposition
playerswhohavetheabilitytoadddeepvalueinavarietyofsituations.Theyareconnectors,
coordinatorsandteamplayerswhohavetheawarenessofwhatisneeded.Theyeitherhavetheskillsto
performtherequiredtasksorabilitytoaccessanotherexpert.Thesecondtypeisthe“specialist”.These
membersareexpertsinkeyhighvalueaddingactivitiesthatprovidecompetitiveadvantagetotheL&D
organization.
Onceinplace,thisA-teamrequiresempowermentandsupportmorethanmanagement.TheCLOmust
identifythegoalsandallowtheteamtoexperimentanddiscoverthesolutions.Experimentationand
discoveryresultinteammembersdevelopingnewskillsordeepercapability.Instartups,itisnot
uncommonforateammembercompletingasearchforasolutiontohavelearnedanewprogramming
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 22
languageordiscoveredpreviouslyunknownopportunities.Thismixofempowerment,supportand
developmentiscrucial.TheCLO’sfocusmustbeonresourcemanagement,ensuringthattheteamis
deployedtobestdeliverthevaluepropositionandachieveitslonger-termvision.
ACLOthatrecruits,buildsandmanagestheirteaminthiswayreapsmultiplebenefits.Theenthusiasm
ofanempoweredteamcreatesengagedco-ownersofthevisionandvalueproposition.Multi-faceted
talentallowsforhighlyflexibleteamsthatcaneasilyadapttothechangingcapacityandcapability
requirements.Mostimportantly,buildingacultureofproblemsolvers,notsolutionbuilders,drives
innovationfromalldirections.
Role3:Growtheinvestment
Forstartupfounders,thisroleisallaboutkeepingmoneyinthebank.ForCLO's,managingthe
investmentmeanslookingatyourbudgetasaninvestmentinyourorganization'sabilitytodeliver
returns,notasavingsaccounttobedrawnupon.TheCLO'sinvestorsarethebusinessexecutivesthat
directlyorindirectlycontrolallresourceinvestments.Theseexecutiveshavemanyinvestmentchoices,
suchasnewtechnologies,R&D,Sales&Marketing,recruitmentandmanyothers.Gettingthese
investorstochooseL&DasthebestinvestmentisthejoboftheCLO.
CLOsmustbeabletocreaterobustbusinesscases,tiedtothebottomline,thatassureexecutivesthat
theinvestmentmadeinL&Dwilldeliverpositivereturns.CLOsmustbeabletoclearlypitchforboth
fundingandsupport.CLOswhocanenthusiasticallyandclearlycommunicateareabletorapidly
developnewdialogueswiththeirinvestors.Today'sCLOmustchangetheexecutive'sperspectiveabout
L&DandmovethediscussionfromoneofL&DasacosttoL&Dasaninvestment.Doneproperlyand
consistently,thesecommunicatorsalsofocusthediscussion,notontheactivitiesofprogrambuilding,
butonvalueandreturn.
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 23
TalktheWalk
Withoutagoodproduct,communicationiscosmetic.Beingableto"show"isparamount.Noamountof
startuptipsandtrickscansaveastartupthatdeliversnovalue.But,asmentionedearlier,muchofa
CLO'sjobinthenewL&Disaboutcommunication.Communicationisthekeyweaponforaccomplishing
thethreeprimaryrolesforstartupfoundersandCLOs.WhilepresentedhereforusebytheCLO,many
oftheseconceptshaveapplicabilityforallmembersoftheL&Dteam.
TellMeaStory
Successfulstartupfoundersengagetheirinvestors,customersandteamswithpowerfulstories.These
storiesareavaluablewaytocommunicatewiththeiraudienceformanyreasons.CraigWortmannisthe
authorofWhat'sYourStory?Thebook’sgoalis"tohelpleaderseffectivelycommunicatethethingsthat
reallymatter."Inthebook,hehighlights10reasonswhystorieswork.Belowarefivethatare
particularlyrelevanttoanL&Dorganization’scommunication.
• Theyprovidecontext–theydon’tjustdescribethesolution,butalsodescribehowthatsolution
fitsintotheworld.
• Theybuildrelationships–listenersbecomeinvestedintheparticipantsinthestory.
• Theyaltertime–storiescancompresstimetoshowandconnectactionandresultsorslowtime
downtohighlightimpact.
• Theyshowmultipleperspectives–listenerscanseeasituationfromavarietyofangles
(customer,customer'scompany,owncompany,orotherstakeholders.)
• Theyspread!–storiesareshareableandgoodonesareeasilyretold.
Wearewiredforstories.Scientistsbelievethathumanshavebeentellingstoriesfortensofthousands
ofyears.Intoday's"attentioneconomy",wheretheamountofinformationweencountereverydayhas
beenconstantlygrowing,makingyourmessagestandoutisasurvivalskill.ForL&D,there’safurther
complexity,the"distractioneconomy."Businessexecutivesmighteasilybedistractedbyvarious
operational,financialandproductissues;amidstwhich,thevoiceofL&Dcandrowneasily.
NotefromJ.
CraigWortmannandIworkedonseveralclientstogetherwhilewewerecolleaguesatTheForum
Corporation.TherewasonetimewhenCraigandIwereworkingonaproposalforalargeinsurer.
Wehadconductednumerousclientmeetingsandasitalwaysdoeswithclients,theopportunity
evolvedandchanged.Itwasalongprocess,evenwithagreatclientpartner.However,gettingthe
dealsignedandtheworkstartedalwaysseemedtobe“afewdaysaway.”
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 24
Onenight,Craigandhiswifeinvitedmetotheirhousefordinner.WhenIarrived,Irangthedoorbell
andwasgreetedbyCraig'sadorablethree-yearolddaughter.Shecametothedoorwithasmileand
asheetofpaper.AsItookthepaperfromherhand,Irealizeditwasthesignaturepageofthelong-
awaitedcontract.AfewpacesbehindstoodCraigwithanevenbiggersmile.Ihavewonmuchlarger
contracts.Yet,thisistheonestorythatIcontinuetotell.
TheFourCoreStoriesFoundersTell…andCLOsNeedTo
Somefounderstoriesarespecificanddevelopedforone-timeuse.Forexample,afoundermightbe
communicatingtheproductlaunchcampaignresults.Thereare,however,fourstoriesthatfoundersuse
repeatedly.Thesestoriesareadapted,updatedandcontextualizedtoaddresstheneedsofdifferent
audiencesandsituations.Thesefourstoriesare:
• Mission-whydoyoudowhatyoudo?
• Customer-whodoyoudoitfor?
• Solution-whatdoyoudo?
• Execution–whatarethehighlightsontheroadmapofthesolutionandwhoistheteamdriving
them?
Thesefourcorestoriesarestandalone;yettheyareusedasbuildingblockstocreatenarrativesfor
diverseaudiencesandsituations.Dependingontheobjective,youmightemphasizesomeofthesefour
oromitsharingsomeofthem.Forexample:
• Whenrecruitingateammemberforalearningadvisoryboard,aCLOmightemphasizethe
Missionstorytobuildexcitementandensurealignment.
• Whentestingasolutionwithabusinesssponsor,aCLOmightincludetheCustomerandSolution
stories.
• Whenattractingan“investor”,aCLOcouldemphasizeboththeCustomerandtheExecution
storiestoindicatetheopportunityandtheskillofyourteam.
Inafast-movingworldofchange,eachformalpresentation,emailorchanceencountermustyield
results.CLOsmusthavethesefourstoriesintheirrepertoire;honingthemeverychancetheyhave.This
isnotaboutmemorization.Thisisaboutconfidentlyarticulatingaclear,credibleandcompelling
messagethatcutsthroughthenoise.Thematrixbelowhighlightsthekeyelementsofthestoriesthat
startupfoundersandCLOstell.
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 25
Story Element
Customer
§ Detailtheportraitofthecustomeryouserve.Beabletoputthelistener
inthechairofyourtargetuser.
§ Describethe"pain"thatthetargetcustomerisexperiencingandthe
generalcategoryofsolutionthatthecustomerrequires.
§ Describethe"gain"thatthecustomerseeks.Thisisabenefit,nota
feature.
Solution
§ Defineyoursolutionincludingthefeaturesthataccomplishthe
customer'sbenefit.
§ Differentiatethesolutionfromotherpossible/competingsolutions
§ Demonstratehowandwhythecustomerwillnotsimplybehappybut
delighted*bythesolution.
Mission
§ Createapurposestatementthatdescribeshowyouaregoingtochange
theworld.Thisisanemotionalelementnotanintellectualone.
§ Providerationaleforwhythismissionisimportanttoothers.
§ Createacommitmentstatementthatconvincesthelistenerthattheidea
isimportanttoyouandyourteam.Listenerswillnotbelieveinyouridea
unlessyourbeliefisstrong.
Execution
§ Includea"secretrecipe"suchasproprietaryresearch,specialresources
acquiredanduniqueelementssuchasprocessorapproach.
§ Providedetailsofyourjourneysofar,includingwhereyouhavebeenand
whereyouaregoing,notsimplywhereyouare.Drawalinefrom
inceptiontolaunchorthroughadditionaldevelopmentofthesolution.
§ Describewhyyouwillsucceedandhowtheteamisthebestoneto
shepherdthissolutiontoreality.Outlinethemixofknowledge,skillsand
experienceintheteamandhowitmatchesupagainstthepotential
challenges.
*Note:Thelastelement,delightisespeciallyimportant.Thisisbecausenewsolutionsrequirechange.Committingtoachangerequireshighmotivation,whichcancomefrom"delight."Whenwasthelasttimeyouchangedyourroutineforsomethingthatwas"alittlebitbetter?"Similarly,youraudienceisunlikelytocommittoyourproposedchange,unlessthereisapotentialdelightthatthechangewillbring.
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 26
Storiesareimportantbecausetheyensurethatfoundersgetthemaximumimpactoutofevery
communicationwithacustomer,teammember,investororpartner.CLOswhoaredeterminedto
createunmistakablevaluebyrunningtheirorganizationslikeastartupwillneedtohavemany
convincingconversationstogarnerthesponsorshipandsupportofthebusinessexecutives,theirteams,
learners,andothersupportorganizations.Workingonthesefourstorieswillensurethattheymaximize
theimpactofeveryopportunitytocommunicate.
TheValueofYourValueProposition
CLO'scannotembarkontheirtransformationjourneywithouttheenrollmentofexecutives,teamand
otherstakeholders.Sharingastoryisnotalwaysfeasible,especiallywhenthelistenershavelittletime
anddividedattention.Toaddressthischallenge,startupshaverefinedtheartofthe"elevatorpitch".
Thisisa10-20secondexplanationofwhattheyaredoing,muchshorterthanastory.Thepurposeofan
elevatorpitchisnottotellthelistenereverything;itistocapturetheirattentionwithaquicksynopsis
andearntherighttocontinuetheconversation.Thinkofitasamovietrailerforafeaturefilm.Italso
hastheaddedbenefitofbeingasoundbitethatiseasyforyouraudiencetopassalong.Akeysectionof
thiselevatorpitchisthevalueproposition.
Thevaluepropositioncomprisestwoparts,customerandsolution.Bothofthesearedistilledfromthe
corestories.Rememberthegoalisnottotellthelistenereverything.Thefirstpart,customer,iswhere
thegenerationofavaluepropositionbegins.Bystartinghere,alignmentofthelearningorganization
withtheneedsoftheexecutivesandemployeesisassured.Forthecustomersyouserve,thispartofthe
valuepropositionaddressesthegoalstheyaretryingtoaccomplish,thechallengestheyfaceandthe
expectationsofresultstobereceivedoncethechallengesareovercome.Anexamplemightbe:
“L&Dhelpsourcompanygrow[goal]morequickly[challenge]sothatitcancapturemoremarket
share[expectationofresults].”
ThissuccinctstatementdemonstratesthealignmentoftheL&Dorganizationwiththegoalsofthe
companyandhighlightsthebenefitofsuccess.Notetheuseoftheword"helps"inthesentence.L&D
willmostlikelynotbethesolesolutioncontributingtotheachievementofbigbusinessgoals,butbig
goalsattractexecutiveattention.Hence,itisimportantforL&Dtoassesstherolethattheycanplayin
supportingandacceleratingthebigbusinessgoals.
Thesecondpartofthevaluepropositiondescribesthebestapproachtomeetyourcustomer’s
challenge.Thispartcontainsyoursolutiontothechallenge,howithelpstoovercomethechallengeand
thebenefitsofdoingso.Tocontinueourexample,thispartmightbe:
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 27
L&Dbuilds,managesandoptimizesacorecurriculumaswellasarapidskillingprogram[solution].
Thisallowsemployeestoproactivelyandquicklyacquiretheskillsneeded[overcomethechallenge]to
ensurethegrowthofthecompanyisnotlimitedbyalackofskilledresources[benefits].
Noticethatinthissuggestedprocess,thevaluepropositionisbuiltfromthecustomerbackwards,andit
doesnotincludethe"how".Thegoaloftheelevatorpitchistoengageyouraudience,piquetheir
curiosityandgetthemtoask,"Howdoyoudothat?","Whatistherapidskillingprogram?"and"Whatis
inthecorecurriculum?"
Thekeytoastrongvaluepropositionistoanchortheconversationatanalignedandhighlevel.We
knowfrom20yearsoftalkingtoexecutivesandlearningprofessionalsthatyoucanalwaysgetintothe
weedslater,butifyougetinthemearly,youcannevergetoutofthem.
Instartups,everyteammembercanreadilytellyouwhatthecompany’svaluepropositionis.InanL&D
organizationitmustbethesame.TheCLOiscertainlynottheonlypersonthatwillcomeintocontact
withcompanyexecutives.Inaddition,relationshipmanagersandsolutionarchitectscanusethesame
templatetocraftvaluepropositionsforthespecificbusinesstheyserveorlearningsolutionthey
provide.
TheAsk
Forsomeofus,askingforsomething,withitsinherentpossibilityofrejectionisanuncomfortablepart
ofcommunication.However,theaskelementofcommunicationisonethatstartupfoundersandCLOs,
iftheywanttosucceed,getcomfortableandgetgoodat,quickly.Ifthevaluepropositiontellspeople
whatyoudo,theasktellsthemwhatyouneed.Let’sexploretheanatomyofaneffectiveaskbylooking
atafewexamplesthatweareallfamiliarwith.
§ Example1:Askforinvitingsomeoneout,"It'sgoingtobeagreatparty.Therewillbesomereal
interestingpeopletherethatIwantyoutomeet."
§ Example2:Askforhelpwithhouseholdchores."Becauseofyourallergies,howaboutImowthe
lawnandyoudothelaundry?Thatwaywecangeteverythingdonesooner."
§ Example3:Askforanewcommitmentfromself."Iamgoingtogotothegymafterworksothat
Icanlookgreatforthereunionnextmonth."
Allofthese"asks"haveasimilarstructurethatincludesthe"give"andthe"get".The"give"iswhatthe
personaskingwantsfromthelistener.Inthepriorexamples,itisforthepersontoattend,laundrydone
andgoingtothegym.Thekeytothegiveisthefeasibilitycheckandprecisenessoftheask.
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 28
Thefeasibilitycheckisrequiredtoensurethatthepersonbeingaskedhastheabilitytoprovidethe
“give”.Whilethismaybeobviousintheexamples,itmightnotalwaysbeasclearinbusiness.Maybe
yourbusinesssponsordoesn'thavetheauthoritytoprovidetheneededresources.Abilitytoprovide
thegivemayalsoinformthetimingoftheask.Aretherebudgetcyclesorinternalinfluencesthatmight
limityouraudience'sabilitytodeliveronthegive?Clarityandtheprecisenessoftheaskareimportant
sothatthepersonbeingaskedunderstandsthescopeoftherequest.Imagineinexample2,shared
previously,theaskhadsimplybeen"dosomecleaninginthehouse"inexchangeforamowedlawn.The
personmowingmayhavebeendisappointedtoreturntothehousetofindapileofdirtyclothesina
dust-freefreshlyvacuumedroom.
Thesecondpartoftheaskisthe"get".Thisiswhatthepersonaskingcanprovideinexchangeforthe
“give”.Inthepriorexamples,itisinterestingpeople,amowedlawnandafitlook.Thekeytothe"get"
isknowingyouraudience.Inourexamples,therequestormusthaveknownthatmeetingnew
interestingpeoplewasofvaluetohisorheraudience.Iftheaudiencehadbeenmoreinterestedinfood
orhistory,therequestormighthavefocusedinsteadonthedinnermenuorthehistoriclocationofthe
event.
Lastly,itisimportanttomatchthevalueof“get”and“give.”Ifinourexamples,theproviderdidnot
haveallergies,theyardwassmallandthepileoflaundrywasmassive,therequestorwouldprobablynot
haveachanceofadeal.ForaCLO,thismeansneverfailingtoincludetheresults,impactandvaluethat
areimportanttotheL&Dsponsorsandpartners.Want200hoursofsubjectmatterexperttimefrom
yourbusinesssponsor?Thatbetterbeoneheckofaprogram.
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 29
InvestorCommunications
Drawingonstartupfounders,IidentifiedthethreekeyrolesofthenewCLO,oneofwhichwas
managingtheinvestment.InthecaseoftheCLO,moneyequatesnotjusttobudgetbutalsotosupport.
Nurturingthesupportoflearning’sinvestorsisnotsomethingthatcanonlybedonebasedonthe
budgetcycle.Toooften,executivecommunicationisanannualevent.RunningTrainingLikeaBusiness,
recognizedthatwhileexecutivesweresoldonlearning,theystillharboreddoubtsaboutwhethertheir
investmentsintrainingweredeliveringvalue.Whiletherehascertainlybeensomeprogressmadeon
thisfront,thedoubtsstilllinger.
Forstartups,keepingmoneyinthebankrequiresinvestorcommunication.Theimportanceofthis
communicationissowidelyunderstoodandacceptedthatanentireverticalofsoftwareplatformshave
sprungupfocusedsolelyonit.Earlyonstartups,likeL&D,donothaveanincomestatementorbalance
sheetthatreflectstheperformanceoftheenterprise.Andfinancialsalwaysonlytellpartofthestory.
Thismakesthesecommunicationsevenmoreessential.
NotefromJ
Recently,whileworkingwithoneofmyclients,Iwasshockedthatalmostallofthesenior
businessandfunctionleaderswereobliviousoftheproducts,services,valuepropositionand
successstoriesoftheL&Dorganization.Onreflection,whilethewidespreadoblivionofbusiness
leaderswasnotuniquetothisorganization,thephenomenaisquitecommonacrossmany
organizations.L&Disoftenacloselyguardedsecret!
RegularcommunicationbyCLOs,inaformatthatissimilartotheinvestorcommunicationmadeby
startupCEOs,isagreattoolforthebusinessexecutivestounderstandthevaluecreatedbyL&D.Doing
thiscommunicationonceayear,duringtheannualplanningorannualreviewprocess,isjustnot
enough.CLOsneedtoupdatetheirinvestor,thebusinessexecutives,moreoftenonhowtheL&D
investmentisreturningvalueandwhytheexecutivesshouldcontinuetoprovidetheirsupportand
continuetheinvestment.
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 30
Atypicalstartup’sinvestorreportcanbeagoodtemplatefortheL&Dleaderstofollowforcreatingtheir
executiveupdate.Hereisasample.
SampleMonthlyExecutiveUpdateTemplate
1. Progressmadesincethelastupdate.Thiscanincludetheachievementofmilestones,thelaunch
ofanewinitiativesorotherbigwins.
2. Challengescurrentlybeingfaced.TheopportunityhereistointroduceissuesthatL&Dmayneed
executiveassistancewith.
3. KeyPerformanceIndicator(KPI)orscorecardresultsincludingpriorperiod,deviationfromKPI
targetand/orforecastandnextperiod'sforecast.
4. Generalorganizationalupdatessuchassignificantnewhiresorkeyvendorselections.
5. Whatiscominginthenext30-60-90-daytimeperiod.
6. Arequestforanysupportrequiredsuchaslearningmoreaboutanewcompanystrategy.Don't
beproud,don'tbeshy,justask.
Ingeneral,youwanttokeeptheseupdatesshort,nomorethantwopages.Likethepitchwedescribed
earlier,thepurposehereistoprovideheadlinesandsoundbites.Ifanexecutivewouldliketolearn
more,thenitistimeforthemtoask.Engagementisthegoalandapositiveoutcomefromthistypeof
communication.
Co-founders?
Therehasbeenmuchdebate,inthelandofstartups,aboutthevalueofastartuphavingco-founders
versusasolefounder.Thosethatadvocatethevalueofco-founders,citemanyreasons.
Onereasonisthattheamountofstressassociatedwithastartupisenormous.Morehandstospreadit
aroundmeanslessstressperindividual.Someadvocatescitetheneedforawiderangeofskillsrarely
heldbyasingleperson.Othersvaluehavingmultipleperspectivesontheunavoidableproblemsthatwill
befacedbyanystartup.Andstillotherssimplypointtohistory,callingoutSteveJobsandSteve
Wozniack'ssuccessatAppleorBillGatesandSteveBallmer'srunatMicrosoft.
Co-CLOsmaybetoomuchofastretchbutensuringthattheleadershipteamofanL&Dorganizationis
builtforsuccessisnot.BuildingontheAppleandMicrosoftexamples,weseethreekeyleadership
capabilitiesthatcontributedtotheirsuccess:productexecution,customerrelationshipandinnovation
leadership.Bothofthesedynamicduosconsistofindividualswithcomplementaryskillssets.Oneof
themwasfocusedinternally,onproductexecutionandthenecessaryoperations,processmanagement
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 31
andorganizationalmanagementneededtodeliverit(Wozniak/Gates).Theotheronewasfocused
externally,onrelationshipswithcustomers,partners,investorsandtheindustry(Jobs/Ballmer).Finally,
oneorbothofthemofthemplayedtheroleofinnovationleader,searchingforwhatwasthenext
generation,product,serviceandvalueproposition.
Thesethreecapabilitiesarethesameandequallyimportantfortheleadershipteamofavalue-
producingL&Dorganization.Self-awarenessappearsonalmosteverylistoftraitsforsuccessful
founders.Knowledgeoftheirownskillssetsisthedriverformanysuccessfulfoundersseekingoutco-
founders.Inthisway,weaknessescanbecompensatedforandstrengthscanbefocusedon.As
describedpreviously,theroleofCLOiscertainlyaboutexternalrelationships.Itmaynotbeimportant
whichoftheothertwocapabilitiesareprovidedbytheCLObutitiscrucialtoaL&Dorganization's
successthatallthecapabilitiesexistwithintheleadershipteam.CLOshavebuiltacareerbyshowcasing
strengths.FortheCLOasfounder,anotherresumeisneeded,onethatinventoriesaCLO’scapability
gapsandweaknesses.ItisthisresumethatcanbeusedasatoolforbuildingtheL&Dleadershipteam.
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 32
CLOasFounder:DiscussionQuestions
• HowdoyouseeyourroleasCLO?
• Whatcapabilitiesdoesyourleadershipteamhave?
• Whatareyourorganization'sfourcorestories?
• Howdoyouanswerthequestion,"whatdoesL&Ddo?"
• Howcanyoumakeyour“asks”moresuccessful?
• WhatandhowoftenareyoucommunicatingtoL&D'sinvestors?
• Howareyouusingdatatobuildcredibilitywithyourexecutives?
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 33
ThePowerofTeam
“Itdoesn’tmakesensetohiresmartpeopleandtellthemwhattodo.Wehiresmartpeoplesothat
theycantelluswhattodo.”
SteveJobs,Applefounder
Investorsinstartupsarewell-knownforprioritizingteamoverproductwhenwritingchecks.Justasthe
CLOmusttakeontheroleoffounder,theL&Dteammustseethemselvesasentrepreneursaswell.
Entrepreneurialteamshaveanadaptableattitudedependingonasituation’srequirements.Theyalso
haveacultureofexperimentationwherefailureisnotseenasanegative.Asdiscussedpreviously,one
ofthefounder’skeyrolesisbuildingthebestteampossible.ForL&Dleaderslookingtorunlikea
startup,therightteammakesallthedifference.
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 34
TheStartupAttitude
MattMayberryisaninternationallyacclaimedspeakerandmaximumperformancestrategist.As
Mayberryputsit,"Whenourattitudeisright,ourabilitiesreachamaximumofeffectivenessandgood
resultsinevitablyfollow.Therightattitudecantakeyoutothetopofyourprofession.Therightattitude
cancreateextraordinarybusinessesandbuildaneverlastinglegacy.Thegoodnewsisthatyouhave
ultimatecontroloveryourattitude."
Oneofthethingsthatmakesstartupentrepreneurssohardtocharacterizeisthatmanysuccessful
entrepreneurshavewhatappearsonthesurfacetobeconflictingtraits.Wedidareviewofhundredsof
publishedlistsoftraitsforsuccessfulentrepreneursandcross-referencedittoactualexperienceover
thepasttwodecadesofworkingwithstartups.Thesefiveattitudinalspectrumsemergedconsistentlyin
oneformoranother.Highperformingentrepreneursandtheirteamshavetheabilitytocalibratetheir
attitudesandtheiractionsasneededacrossfiveimportantdimensions.Theydevelopthisrangeinorder
tomatchtherequirementsoftheirsituation.Inordertosuccessfullyrunlikeastartup,CLOsandtheir
teamsmustcultivateasimilaradaptability.
Exhibit2
Confident<->Humble
Startupsarescary.Ittakesagreatdealofconfidencetotaketherisktofollowyourcrazyidea.Without
thisconfidence,manygreatideaswouldremainjustthat,ideas,forever.Thisconfidence,however,is
balancedbyahumblenessthatacknowledgesthat:
• Thefounderandtheteamdon'tknoweverything.
• Thestartupwillonlybesuccessfulthroughhardwork.
• Thestartupneedsparticipationofothersinordertomaketheideaareality.
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 35
Committed<->OpentoFail
Persistenceandwhatwesometimescall"grit"isessentialtosuccessfulinnovation.Therewillbe
roadblocks,challenges,naysayersanddoubt.Successfulentrepreneurialteamsdoggedlypursuetheir
goals,butnotblindly.Entrepreneursrecognizethattheseroadblocks,challenges,naysayers,anddoubts
arealldatapointstoo.Presentedwithnewinformation,entrepreneurialteamsarealwaysre-evaluating
thesituation.
Teamsconstantlycomparetheirnewfoundknowledgewithwhattheyknewearlier.Theyrapidlyassess
andreassesshowthesenewknownsaffectsthesolution,theplanandthepotentialvalue.Theydonot
treatchangesassetbacks,butinsteadasopportunitiestoimprovetheirsolutionandcustomervalue.In
theseentrepreneurs’minds,theonlyfailuretofearisthefailuretomissinformationthatcouldhave
suggestedabetterplanorsolution.AsThomasA.Edisonfamouslydeclaredinhispursuitofafilament
fortheelectriclightbulb,"Ihavenotfailed.Ihavesuccessfullydiscovered1,200materialsthatdon't
work."
Focused<->Open-Minded
Intheirendeavortoleveragetheavailableexperience,startupscastawidenetforinformation,advice,
knowledge,andinput.However,tothisoceanofinputtheyapplyatightfilter.Recognizingthatinthis
eraofGoogleandsocialnetworksonecaneasilybeoverwhelmedandevenparalyzedbyinput.
Successfulteamsmustquicklyprocessthesteadystreamofnewdata,evaluatingtheaccuracy,
authority,andrelevance.Theythenusethisevaluationtohelpdecidetodiscardtheinputs,assimilate
them,orstorethedataforlater.
Visionary<->Realistic
Imagininganewworldfullofflyingcarsisvisionary.Beingabletounderstandthetimenecessaryto
developtheinfrastructure,driverskills,parkingchallengesandinsurancerequirementsisrealistic.
Everythingnewrequireschange.Understandingtheimplicationsandcharacteristicsofthischangeis
essential.Itiswhatallowstoday'sdronemanufacturerstounderstandthatwhiletheyaretomorrow's
flyingcars,ithastostartwithquadcoptersandself-drivingcar.Successfulstartupsworktowardstheir
visionusingrealisticstepsthatarefeasibleinthecurrentcontext.
Organized<->Adaptable
Launchingandrunningastartupisaninherentlymessyprocess.Successfulstartupsareabletoprovide
structuretothelonglistoftasksrequired.Beingabletoprioritizeandcompartmentalizeoftenmeans
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 36
thedifferencebetweendiffusionofeffortandmeaningfulprogress.Whilethedaymaystartwithlists,
projectplansandactionitems,successfulteamsalsorecognizethatplanningisadynamicprocess.
Startupsaremuchlikeatravelersettingouttodrivecross-countryatnight.Whileamapismarkedanda
routeisselected,thetravelercanonlyseeasfarashisorherheadlights.Also,asthejourney
progresses,theroadmaydictatedetoursandotheralterationstotheplan.
IfL&Dteamsaregoingtoperformatthehighestlevel,theymustembracetheirnewroleaslearning
entrepreneurs.AstartupattitudeisessentialtothenewL&D.
GoAheadandTry
Experimentationisafundamentalactivityforstartups.Startupsareleapingintoagreatunknown.Does
anybodywanttousemyproduct?Willanybodypayformyproduct?Howarewegoingtobuildthis
product?Startupsareapileofassumptions.Thegoalofsuccessfulstartupsisto,asquicklyaspossible,
proveordisproveassumptionsandturnthemintofacts.Theydothisthroughexperiments.Inaddition
tothevalueofturningassumptionsintofacts,experimentsarealsokeytoeffectivelymanaging
resources.Theycanhelpminimizetheriskofinvestingtoomanyresourcesintoaproductwhoseneed
orvaluehasnotbeenvalidated.
Experimentsaresimplyaformalprocessfordatacollection.Whyformal?Withouttheformality,
experimentsoftenproducelessdata,thewrongdata,orevenworse,noactionabledata!Whenthinking
aboutanexperiment,startupsmustbeabletoclearlyanswerthefollowingquestions:
• Whatwebelieve(ourassumption)
• Whatwewilldotoverifyourassumption
• Whatwewillmeasure
• Whatourmeasurementresultsneedtobeifweareright.
Nothingisperfectandinnovationonlycomesfromnewexperiments.Withsomuchnewnessoccurring
everyday,ifL&Disnotallowedtoconductsomeexperimentsofitsownitwillbeforeverbehindthe
needsofitscustomers.Experiments,bydefinition,haveanunknownoutcome.Therefore,whileL&D
can'tknowtheoutcome,itmustknowtheparametersoftheexperimentandbeabletoworkwiththe
businesstosettheproperexpectations.Whatdoestheexperimentseektolearn?Whatisthe
experimentdesign?Whatistheoutcomehypothesizedandwhatistheinvestmentrequired?Allof
thesemustbeunderstoodtogetthemostoutofeveryexperiment.
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4.15.19v2 37
Example:
L&Distryingtodeterminethehighestimpactskillsforyoursalespeople.Wewillinvolvethree
groupsofsalespeople,plusonecontrolgroupforthetest.Eachgroupwillreceiverapidtraining
onadifferentsinglesalesskillelement.After30days,wewillcomparethesalesperformance
resultsofthethreegroups.Weanticipateatleastoneofthedeliveredsaleselementstoprovide
ameasureofenhancedperformancethatdeliversareturnontheinvestmentoftimeand
resourceofatleast2xovertheensuingsixmonths.Theinvestmentrequiredisthesalespeople's
timeandtheresourcesofL&D.
Withamutualunderstandingofthegoals,structure,anticipatedreturnandresourcesrequirements,an
experiment'sbusinesssponsorcanmakeareasoneddecisionregardingparticipationintheexperiment.
Settingexpectationsisaboutknowingtheriskandunderstandingthatthepotentialrewardiscriticalfor
experimentstobeacceptedinorganizationsunfamiliarwithrisk-taking.ForL&D,experimentscanbe
usedonanynumberofaspectsoftheirorganization.Contentistheobviousone.Wealsobelievethat
thoseorganizationsthatadoptthisapproachinareaslikeprocessandpeoplewillseegreatreturn.
TheLaunchsectionofthisbookprovidesmoredetailonexperimentsthatL&Dcanandshouldrun.We
recognizethatascientificapproachcanonlytakeyousofar.Therearemanyfactorsthatcouldinfluence
theresultsofanexperimentandthereisnotenoughtimeorresourcestoproveeverything.However,
experimentalresultsfilteredthroughtheexperienceandknowledgeoftheL&Dorganizationcangreatly
increasetheconfidencelevelinanydecision.
TheExperimentPortfolioAdoptingexperimentationasakeyactivityforyourorganizationscanbedifficult,evenforstartups.
Sometryitandquicklyabandontheprocessbecausetheexperimentdidn’tworkoutthewaythey
anticipated.Thatisexactlythepoint.Aswenotedbeforeexperimentshaveunknownoutcomes.For
organizations,thiscanbecomeabarriertoadoption.Whentheresultsareconfirmingofassumptions
theresultsareeasytoaccept.Whentheexperiment’sresultschallengeorevenruncontrarytoan
organization’sassumption,theimpulsemaybetodiscreditorrationalizethemaway.Andwhenthe
contrarianresultscomeaspartofyourfirstexperiment,itcandraintheenergyforadditional
experiments.
Experimentsarebestcommittedtoinbunches,notsingularly.Thisreducesthepossibilitythatalone
experimentcansaptheenthusiasmforadoptinganexperimentalmindset.Confirmingresultsbuilds
confidencebyprovingthataprojectorinitiativeisontherightpath.Contrarianresultsmayreducethat
confidence.Itisimportanttoseethatbotharepositiveresults.Theconversionofacoreassumption
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 38
intoanevidence-basedfactisthegoal.Ifanorganizationcollectsnothingbutconfirmingresults,they
arelikelytestingthewrongthings.Ifyoualreadyknowtheanswer,don’twastepreciousresources
askingthequestion.
Failure:ItisallintheDefinition
ThenewbusinesscontextrequiresL&Dorganizationstoexperiment,innovateandtransform.However,
thisrequirestryingoutnewwaysofstructuringthelearningorganization,designinglearningproducts,
deliveringlearningandpartneringwithbusiness.Often,L&Dleadersshyawayfromintroducingthese
big,boldnewideas.Thekeyobstacleisthatmanymatureorganizationstreatfailureasaweakness.
However,successfulstartupshaveadoptedadifferentpointofview.Forthem,failureisnothingmore
thananevidencebasedcorrectiontoanassumption-bettertoknowsooner,ratherthanlater.
Toooften,L&D'slimitedresourcesaremisspent.AsPeterDruckerhasbeenquotedassaying,"Thereis
nothingsouselessasdoingefficientlythatwhichshouldnotbedoneatall."Itisfromthisperspective
thatfailurebecomesavirtue.Noneofuslikestofail.Nevertheless,inthecontextofoperating
successfullyintoday'sbusinessenvironment,notonlyisfailureacceptable...itisrequired.
"Failoften.So,youcansucceedsooner."
-TomKelley,Ideopartner
Letusbeginbyacknowledgingthatexperimentscanbedifficultinalargecompany.Unlikestartups
thereisoftenlittleabilitytotakealet's-try-some-things-and-see-what-sticksattitude.Thiscan
challengeanyorganizationtaskedwithinnovatingwithinanestablishedcompany.Intimestocome,we
arehopefulthatthislimitingfactorwilllessenasmorecompanies,ofallsizes,recognizetheneedfor
increasedinnovationinallaspectsofthebusiness.
However,fornow,L&Dorganizationsinsomematurecompaniesmayrelatetofailurewithfear.Having
workedsohardtobuildcredibility,L&Dleadersmightconsiderfailureasastepbackwards.Westrongly
recommendthatL&Dleaderschangetheirperspectiveonfailure.Byproperlyrecognizingfailures,L&D's
successesbecomeevenmorepowerfulingeneratingexecutive,manager,andlearnerbuy-in.Twokeys
tothisareturningfailuresintolearningsandbeingtransparent.
SteveBlankisaretiredserialentrepreneurnowteachingentrepreneurshipatUCBerkeley,Stanford,
andColumbia.Hehasstudiedwhathecallsthestagesofstartupfailure.
• Stage1:ShockandSurprise
• Stage2:Denial
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4.15.19v2 39
• Stage3:AngerandBlame
• Stage4:Depression
• Stage5:Acceptance
• Stage6:InsightandChange
WhilefailureforL&Disrarelyasfinalasitisforstartups,thestagesremainrelevant,andbothstartups
andL&Dmustpushtoachievestage6asquicklyaspossible.Whatothersrefertoasa'failure'isbetter
describedasa'majorlesson.'Thislessonisonethatcanonlybelearnedbytrying.L&Dmustturnits
failuresintolearnings.Thisistheonlywaybywhichtheoddsofdeliveringunmistakablevaluenexttime
improve.AccordingtoNickCasado,acomputernetworkingstarwhosoldhisstartupforoverabillion
dollars,thetrueskillis"tolearntoembracefailure--notonlyembracefailure,getgoodatit,andby
that,Imeangetbackup,applywhatyou'velearned,andhitreset."
Thefinalprincipleofhandlingfailureswellistobetransparent.ThistransparencyextendstotheL&D
team,stakeholders,andevenotherlearningprofessionals.Forstartups,thissharingof'majorlessons'
hasbecomepartoftheculture.CBInsights,aresearchfirm"thathelpscorporationsguesslessandwin
more"hasamassedandsharedover200startups’“postmortems”inthehopethatstartupsinthe
futurewillmakenewmistakes,notrepeatoldones.L&Dconferencesarefullofbestpracticecase
studiesandchestthumpingshowcases.L&Dleadersmustparticipateintheseconferences,notjustto
listentoothers’successes,butalsotofearlesslyacknowledgetheirownfailures.Howaboutseminarson
"10waysIscrewedupourrollout"or"3easywaysforupsettingyourexecutivesponsor".
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
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ThePowerofTeam:DiscussionQuestions
• WhichoftheattitudespectrumsisyourL&Dteamstrongestin?Weakest?
• HowisyourL&Dorganizationembracinganexperimentalmindset?
• Howareyouturningfailuresintolearnings?
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 41
Section2:Tools
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 42
Product,Product,Product
“Veryfewstartupsdiefromcompetition,mostdiebecausetheythemselvesfailtomakesomething
userslove.”
SamAltman,entrepreneur,investor,presidentofY-Combinatorandco-chairmanofOpenAI.
Successfulstartupteamsareextremelyproductfocusedbecausetheyrealizethattheirproductistheir
connectiontotheircustomer.Theproductdrivestheexperiencethateithermisses,meets,orexceeds
thecustomer’sexpectations.Moreover,exceedingcustomerexpectationsistheonlyresultthatensures
theirsurvival.L&Dmustadoptasimilarperspective.Thekeysforstartup,andL&D,productsuccesslay
inseeingtheproductasadynamicsolution,understandingwhatismostvaluable,andbuildingthe
productinanefficientandeffectiveway.
Thissectionisnotmeanttoproposeanewmethodologyforinstructionaldesignortosuggestthatthe
startupapproachtoproductisbestforeveryproject.ADDIE,SAMandAgileallhavestrengthsand
challenges.Instead,thissectionismeanttohighlightsomeofthewaysthatL&Dteamscanbenefitfrom
adoptingastartupproductmindset.Anyinstructionaldesignprocesscanincorporatesomeorallof
thesepractices.LearningsolutionsaretheproductsandservicesthattheL&Dteamdeliverstocreate
valueforitscustomers.Bytakingtheproductapproachofstartups,anL&Dorganizationhasthe
opportunitytoimprovethevalueitdeliversandmanageitsresourcesmoreeffectively.
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4.15.19v2 43
ProductasPlatform
Startupsviewproductsasalivingthing,onethatwillgrowandevolveovertime.Whilestartupshavean
endproductinmind,elegantandfullofhighvaluedfeaturesforawidebaseofusers,theyalso
understandthatproductscannotstartthere.Thereisnotenoughtimeorknowledgeoftheuserto
investtheresourcesrequiredtobuildit.Thisperspectivemeansthatproductsarelaunched,updated,
improved,enhanced,customizedfornewusergroupsandevenretiredastheneedaproductsolves
diminishesorchanges.Forstartups,thereisasharpdifferencebetweenlaunchinga“half-baked”
productandlaunchingalimitedfeatureproductfocusedonthekeydriversofvalueforcustomers.
Startup
Product
Development
Skateboard
Bicycle
Scooter
Motorcycle
Car
“Half-baked”
Product
Development
Chassis
Tires
Steeringwheel
Body
Engine
Whilebothapproachestoproductdevelopmentresultinacar,thestartupapproachbydeliveringvalue
toitscustomers,theabilitytogetfrompointAtopointBfaster,ateachstage.
Incontrast,L&Doftenviewsdevelopmentofalearningsolutionasaprojectandthelaunchasthe
conclusion.WefrequentlyfindthatonceanewcourseisuploadedontheLMSandmadeavailableto
learners,theL&Dresourcesareredeployedtonewprojects.Withtheexceptionoftheoccasional
updatetospecificcontent,thesolutionsitsunchanged.Infact,oftentimesL&Dwillexplicitlyaimto
builda“timeless”solutionbyavoidingreferencestoexecutives,datesorothervariablesthatmight
changeinthefuture.Whilethismaybeanefficientuseofresources,itisalsoareflectionofastatic
viewofasolution.WhileL&Dmustavoidthehalf-bakedsolutionpitfall,beingnimblerequiresthatit
mustviewthelaunch,asstartupsdo,asonlythefirstphaseofaproduct’slifeandviewtheproductasa
livingorganism.
Startupsacceptthedynamicnatureofasuccessfulproduct.Forthisreason,theyareabletolaunch
quickly,learnfromusersanditerateontheproduct.Knowingthattheinitialproductlaunchedisnot
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 44
wherethatsolutionwillultimatelybe,givesstartupstheabilitytoavoidthechaseforperfectionand
releasesthemfromtryingtopleasetoomanyusergroupsatpointoflaunch.Startupsseethevalueof
theproductgrowingandevolvingovertimeversusstaticallydefinedatlaunch.Theyrecognizethatthey
willgainproduct-enhancingdatafromeveryinteractionauserhaswiththeproduct.Therefore,they
focusresourcesacrosstheentireproductlifecycletomakeimprovementssuggestedbynewdata.
L&DorganizationsoftenusealinearprocesssuchasADDIEthatincludesapilotprocessorrolloutplan.
Whilethismayfeelsimilar,thisisnotthesameasastartupproductmindset.Unlikeatypicalpilot
process,aproductmindsetassumeseveryuserinteractionisanopportunitytocollectdatathatcanbe
usedtoimprovetheproduct.Distinctfromarolloutplanwheretheadditionalmodulestobeaddedare
assumedtobeknownatthebeginning,aproductmindsetviewsthefuturefeaturestobeaddedas
assumptionsthatneedtobeverified,couldbemodifiedorevenremovedbasedontheuserdata.
Aftertheinitialproductlaunch,startupsfocusonusingthedatagainedfromactualuserstoinformits
productroadmap.Inadditiontocurrentproductfixes,calledthebuglist,aproductroadmapisa
collectionofassumedandvalidatedfeaturesandfunctionalitytobeaddedtotheplatformproduct.The
roadmapisprioritizedbyreleasecycles.Thesecyclesarestructuredasrapidlearningcycles.Releasethe
updatedproduct,collectthelearningsfromusers,revisittheroadmap,andrepeat.Theroadmap,like
theproduct,isalivingentity,constantlyrevisitedwithnewlearningsaboutperformance,needsoruser.
User’sneedschange.Overcomingonechallengemayrevealotherchallengesthatwerenotvisible
before.Whenwewereusingdial-uptoaccesstheinternet,theprocessingpowerwasnotalimiterto
thevaluewehadforourcomputers.Withhigh-speedWi-Fieverywhere,aslowcomputercannowbe
painfullyobvious.Theenvironmentinwhichaproductisusedmaychangemakingaproductmoreor
lessvaluable.Theubiquityofsmartphoneswithnavigationappshasreducedthevalueofphysicalmaps
formany.However,inregionswithlimitedconnectivity,mapsremainextremelyuseful.
L&D’stypicalprocessofasingleneedsassessmentguidingthesolutiondesignfallsshortofeventhe
carpenter’sage-oldadageof,“measuretwice,cutonce.”InL&D’sdefense,startupshavetheadvantage
ofresidingforalmosttwodecadesinavolatileanduncertainworldthatmanyofusarejustnowcoming
togripswith.Thishasfirmlyembeddedtheconceptoftheimpermanenceofassumptions,challenges
andopportunities.Whatwasneededyesterdaymaynotbeneededtomorrow.L&Dorganizationsmust
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 45
adoptthestartupapproachtoassessingtheneedandvalueforitsproducts.Nothingintoday’s
flourishingcompaniesisstandingstill.Withoutthoroughdataanalysisandarobustanddynamic
businesslinkageprocessL&Drisksbuildingtoday’ssolutionsonyesterday’sunderstandingofthe
problem.
ProductLifecycle
Thereisareasonthatweusethetermlifecyclewhendescribingproducts.Productsdie.Ithappenstoall
companies.Startupsthathavelaunchedanewproductonlytofindthatitdoesnotdeliverenoughvalue
toattractauserbasegenerallyrunoutoffundingandarequietlyforgotten.Whilethecompanymayno
longerexist,theproduct,beitanapporawebservice,mayremain.Youcanseeexamplesofthisreality
everyday.Lookintheappstoreforyourphone.Ifyouseeanappthathashadnoupdatesinthelast12
months,itishighlylikelythatthecompanybehindithasclosed.
InDecemberof2017,AOLannouncedthatitwasshuttingdownitsmessagingserviceAIM.Atthattime,
manystillloved,AIM,atwenty-year-oldremnantofthefirstdot-comera.Itisestimatedtostillhave
hadmillionsofusersatthetimeoftheshutdown.Sowhyshutdown?Becausethereisacosttokeep
theservicerunningandasAOLstatedinitsannouncementofthedecision,“We’remoreexcitedthan
evertofocusonbuildingthenextgenerationoficonicbrandsandlife-changingproducts.”Focus.Inan
ageofFacebook,SnapchatandSlack,therewaslittleopportunityforAIMtodeliverhugevaluetoits
users.Instead,AOLisinvestingthoseresourcestowardsproductsthatcan.
Someproductsdonotdie,theyareupdatedbutunlikeanapp,whereoneversionautomagically
replacestheprior,theolderversionremains.SoftwareasaService(SaaS)companieslikeCornerstone,
Salesforceandothersreleaseupdatedversionsoftheirsoftwareallthetime.Thenewerversionis
meanttoreplacetheclient’solderversion.However,changeishardandmanyclientsdonotupgradeto
thelatestrelease.Upgradescanbefraughtwithunexpectedpitfallsandtheolderversionisfamiliarand
thereforeeasierfortheclienttosupportwithitsinternalusers.ThismeansthatSaaScompaniesare
usuallyprovidingclientsupportacrossseveralreleases.Thisdrawsresourcesawayfrombuildingvalue
intofuturereleasesandinsteadrequiresinvestmentinsupportingthewaningvalueofthepastreleases.
FamiliaritywithlegacysolutionsisachallengeforL&Daswell.
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4.15.19v2 46
Gettingthebusinesssponsorsandmanagerstoacceptanewsolutiontoreplaceanolderonecantake
somework.L&Dmustbepreparedtohelpthemseethevalue.L&Dorganizations,likeallorganizations,
mustalwaysseektoinvesttheirlimitedresourcesinareasthatwillyieldthehighestreturn.Whena
producteitherfailstodeliverapredeterminedvaluethreshold,orissupersededbyahighervalue-
addingproductservingthesameneed,itmustberetired.LikeAOL,L&Dmustrecognizethatfocusing
resourcesonupgradesforadiminishinguserneedisadistractionandthatcontinuedsupportforan
existingproducthascosts.
ForL&Dtoadoptaproductapproachitmustacknowledgethedynamicnatureofallsolutions,
continuouslyassessthevalueofitssolutions,andacknowledgewhenasolutionneedstoberetiredor
upgraded.Thisrequiresthesupportofthebusinesssponsorsaswellastheawarenessthatthe…what’s
missing?
DefiningaValuableProduct
Whenastartupcomestolife,itisnothingbutanidea.AnideaforasolutiontoaneedthattheFounder
believesexists.Thefirstjobofanystartupistoasquicklyaspossiblevalidatetheneedwithpotential
users.Oncevalidated,thenextstepistohaveadeepunderstandoftheneedsothatitcandefineits
product.Thisprocess,forstartups,isoftenreferredascustomerdevelopment.InthecaseofanL&D
organization,mostfrequently,thebusinesscomestoitwithaneed.Whileitmayseemthataneed
expressedbyapotentialuserrepresentsvalidation,itdoesnot.Withoutarobustbusinesslinkage
process,thebusinessoftenprovidesonlyapartoftheinformationthatiscriticaltobuildasuccessful
product.Byadoptingthestartupapproach,L&Dcanassurethatitisbuildingagainstthetrueneedand
thatitisdoingsoinawaythatmaximizesvalue.
Onewaytobuildsuccessfullearningsolutionsistolookattheproblemlikeastartup.Validatingthe
needisnotabinary,“yesthereisaneed”or“nothereisnotaneed”decision.Startupsunderstandtheir
customer’sneedatadeeperlevelsothattheycanidentifysmalldistinctopportunitiesfordriving
outsizedvalue.Startupsbreakdownauser’sneedintoitscomponentpartstodeterminehowtodeliver
valuetoitsusers.Withoutthislevelofgranularity,startupsareunabletoproperlyprioritizethe
developmentoftheirproductfeatureset.ForL&D,thiscanmeandeconstructingskillsetslikesales,
management,andleadershipintotheircomponentparts.
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 47
IbeganexploringthisapproachtolearningdesignafterreadingJoshWaitzken’sbook,TheArtof
Learningandhearingnotedauthor,TimFerrissdiscussacceleratedlearningonFerriss’podcast.Thefull
methoddescribesthepoweroftechniquessuchasdisaggregatingskillsandotheracceleratorssuchas
focusingonsequencing.
Foranexampleofdeconstruction,abusinessneedfor“SalesTraining’couldbebrokendowninto:
SalesTraining • ProductKnowledge
• ProspectingSkills
• TimeManagement
• Tellreallycompellingstories
• Effectivelyutilizesalestechnology
• Understandwhatthebuyerwants
• Establishtrustwiththebuyer
• Communicatesuccinctly
• ActiveListening
• QualificationQuestioning
• ObjectionHandling
• ProductDemonstration
• GainingCommitment
• ClosingTechniques
• Post-SaleRelationshipManagement
These16skillscouldthenbebrokendownagain.
ActiveListening • Payingattention
• Withholdingjudgment.
• Reflecting
• Clarifying
• Summarizing
• Sharing
Product
Demonstration
• Preparation
• Demodesign
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• Highlightingdifferentiation
• Pacing/Timemanagement
• Handlingquestions
Validatingtheneednotatthelevelof“salesskills”,oreven“closing”,butratherinperformancegapsat
thismoregranularlevel,whatstartupscallfeatures,canhelpL&Dtofocusitsresourcesonhighimpact
areas.Thisisnottosaythatallelementsarenotimportantorthatalldonotneedtobepartofthefinal
solution.Thestartupapproachtoneedsvalidationprovidesthedatarequiredtobuildhighvalue
productssmartly.ToL&Dthisinformationishelpfulinbusinesssponsordiscussionsregardingscopeand
timing.Atopicwewilldiscussfurtherinthenextsection.
L&Dorganizationsandstartupsmustefficientlymanagetheirproductbuildingresourcesformaximum
userimpact.Therefore,theurgencyandimpact,notsimplytheexistenceofaneedforafeature,must
beunderstood.Forstartups,thisisafunctionofpotentialvalueanditisthesameforL&Dsolutions.
Potentialvalueofagivenfeatureisacombinationoftwofactors:audiencesizeandimpactopportunity.
Thisassumestheproductisavailableatthetimeofneedbecauseasolutiondeliveredtoolatehas
alreadylimitedorcompletelymisseditsopportunityfordeliveringvalue.
PuttingtheProductinContextAnotherelementoftheknowledge-baseddevelopmentprocessusedbystartupsisanunderstandingof
thecontextinwhichtheproductwillbeused.Theconceptofdesignthinking,therecognitionofthe
valueofuseremotioninproductdesign,hasgainedmomentuminrecentyears.Whileuseremotion
certainlyplaysaroleinsuccessfulproductdesign,startupsbeginwithamorebasicviewoftheirusers.
Thefirstelementofcontextthatstartupsseektounderstandishowtheirproductwillbeused.
Puttingtheproductintotheuser’scontextallowsproductdesignerstounderstandrequirementsfor
adoptionandbarrierstouse.IntherealmofL&D,thismayincludeplatformrequirementsorcontent
format.Imaginedirectingamoviethatpeoplewouldwatchonlyontheirphones.Notonlywouldthat
createarequirementbasedontheneedtosmoothlystreamthecontenttotheviewerbutitmightalso
impactthecontent.Forexample,scenesmaybewrittentobeshortersothattheviewercouldpause
thefilmfrequentlyastheywentthroughtheirday.Asthedirectorofthismovie,youmightchooseto
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shootthescenesdifferently,optingforfewerbroadsweepinglandscapeshotswherethedetailwould
belostonthesmallscreen.Theexactsamemovieshotwitharecognitionoftheviewer’scontextmight
receivefewerrottentomatoesfromtheaudience.
L&Dorganizationsthatignoretheusercontextruntheriskofdeliveringlessvaluethroughtheir
solutions.Forexample,aself-pacedcoursethatisnotbuiltsuchthatitalignswiththelearner’srole
progressionmaymakeretentionandapplicationofthenewskillsmoredifficult.Evensomethingas
simpleasfontsizingcanmakeasignificantdifference.Elearningdesignsbuiltforthedesktopscreen
mayprovedifficultonthesmallermobiledevice.Automaticre-formattingmaymakethecontent
availablebutwhataboutthegraphicthatrequiresamobileusertozoommultipletimestoseethe
neededdetailorthenavigationbuttonsthatneedchild-sizedhandstouse.Forstartups,understanding
theuser’scontextisessentialtobuildingaproductthatnotonlycan,butalsodoesdelivermaximum
valuetoitsusers.L&Dmustdothesame.
Havinglookedattheusercontext,thenextelementtoconsideristheproductcontext.Noproduct,or
learningsolution,isanisland.Understandingtheothertoolsorsolutionsthatexistinauser’s
environmentallowsstartups,andsimilarlyL&D,toproducehigherlevelsofvalueforitscustomers.A
simpleexampleofproductcontextiswhennon-FacebookapplicationsallowyoutouseyourFacebook
identitytologintotheiraccount.Fornewapplications,thissolvedanumberofproductadoption
challenges.Ifyouneededyournewuserstohaveaprofile,howcouldyoumostsimplypopulatethat
profilesavingtheusertimeandreducingthetimerequiredforanewusertobegintoseevalue.
AnotherchallengeovercomebytheuseofFacebookloginistheneedforthecreationofanother
accountnameandpasswordbyauserthatalreadyhastoomanyofthem.Byrecognizingthatmanyof
theirtargetuserswerealsousersofFacebook,newapplicationdeveloperswereabletomaketheir
producteasiertouse.
Anoften-overlookedvalueofgainingadeepunderstandingoftheproduct’scontextis“learningthe
language”ofthetargetuser.Atitsmostsuperficiallevel,L&Dhasknownthisfordecades.Identical
coursesofferedtodifferentcompaniesmayexchange“employee”for“crew”,“salesperson”for
“businessconsultant”,or“customer”for“partner”.L&Dorganizationsmustattempttounderstandthe
contextoftheirlearningproductdeeper.Startupsdonotjustlistentowhatthetargetcustomersays
abouttheproblembutjustasimportantly,howtheysayit.Everyonehaslikelyhadtheexperienceof
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havingsomeonepitchthem,“amulti-protocol,TCP/IPsuitebasedwithconfigurableportssupporting
CSS,links,HTMLandtextfortheirbusiness,”onlytorespond“nothanks.”Whatifthatpersonhadsaid,
“email”?Wordsmatterandusersmustalwaysheartheproblem,solutionandbenefitsdefinedintheir
terms.
ForL&Dorganizations,recognizingthattargetlearnersandthesolutionstheyreceivedonotexist
isolatedinabubblecanalsohelpidentifyareasforthedeliveryofadditionalvalue.Ifasales
organizationhasalreadysuccessfullydeployedSalesforce.comtomanageitsefforts,howcanalearner’s
existinglevelofcomfortwiththatinterfaceinfluencetheUIofalearningportaloraneLearning
solution?Whatotherbusinessinitiativesaretouchingthelearnerthatcouldbeconnectedtothe
solution?Bylookingforsynergiesandopportunitiestoreducebarrierstoadoption,L&Dcandeliver
highervaluewitheverysolution.
Bystartingthedevelopmentofasolutionwithdeepknowledgeofthehighvalueskills,usercontextand
productcontext,startupsgainamuch-needededgeinattractingnewuserswithasolutionthatexceeds
expectations.However,theworkofastartuphasjustbegun.Bybuildingonthisfoundational
knowledge,startups,andL&D,canensurethattheyarefocusingtheirlimitedresourcesonbuildingthe
maximumvalueproductforitsusers.Abeautifullyexecutedsolutionthatnooneneedsorusesisa
wasteofresourcethatdeliversnovalue.
BuildingaFeasibleProduct
Aswehavementionedmultipletimes,astartup’smostscarceresourceistime.Theirsisaconstantrace
againsttheclock.Thiscreatestheneedforanewapproachtobuildingsolutions.WhileL&D
organizationsmaynothavethesameclock-focusedmentality,thetoolsandtechniquesusedbystartups
areincreasinglyvaluableinabusinessenvironmentthatplacesanever-growingpremiumonspeedand
results.Wewillexplorespeedinmoredepthinalatersection.
Oneoftheclearestdemonstrationsofastartup’sfocusontimeisinthedefinitionofproductscope.Let
uslookathowtheirprojectmanagementfortheproductbuildingprocessdiffersfromamore
traditionalapproach.
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InmanytypicalL&Dprojects,thescopedeterminesthetimeline.Asolutionisenvisionedandthesteps
toexecutingthatvisionarelaidoutonaGanttchartwiththedeliverydatethatisderivedbasedonthe
timerequiredforeachtask.Thisanswersthequestionwhenasolutionofaknownscopecanbe
delivered.Startupsturnthisprocessonitshead.Forstartups,theyknowexactlyhowmuchtimethey
have.Theyhavetodeliveraproductbytheendofthemonthinordertoachievesomeneeded
milestonesuchasreceivingadditionalfundingorbeingabletocollectrevenue.Therefore,thequestion
startupsaskiswhatproductscopetheycandeliverinthegiventime.
Posingthequestioninthiswayhasseveralbenefitsforstartups.First,itreinforcestheurgencyrequired
byallteammembers.Mostpeopleunfamiliarwithstartupsoftenperceivethisascreatingaheroculture
oronewhereoverworkisrequired.Theimageofthelonelycodersleepingunderhisdeskoftencomes
tomindforsome.Whilethismaybetheresultforsome,inmanysuccessfulstartupsthegoalhereisnot
tocreateastressfulenvironment.Infact,itisquitetheopposite.InhisbookRework,37Signalsfounder
andBasecampcreatorJasonFriedtellsreadersthattheall-nighter,workthroughtheweekendapproach
isnotasignofahero,itisthesignofapoorprojectplanner.Successfulprojectmanagement,at37
Signalsandmanysuccessfulstartups,isbalancingthetimeavailableandthescopeofthedeliverable.
Withtimeoftenfixed,thiscreatesaclearfocusonscopemanagement.ThiscanbetrueforL&Daswell.
Productlaunchdates,seasonalityandinitiativemilestonescanallbeplannedsuchthatdeadlinesare
met.
Bystartingwiththetimeconstraint,scopedecisionsbecomelessemotionalandcombinedwitha
dynamicviewonproduct,feellessfinalallowingforbettertradeoffsandquickerdecisions.When
desiredfeaturesofaproductarenotincludedinthescope,thisisnotseenasarejectionofthefeature
butratheranecessarytradeoffdrivenbylimitedtime.Withaviewofproductthatinvolveswavesof
updatesandnewfeatures,thefeatureisnotseenasreceivinga“no”butrathera“notnow”.Treating
scopeinthiswaymakesiteasierforinternalteamstoalignaroundtheselectedscopeandforeasier
communicationofamorelimitedscopetoexternalcustomers.
L&Dorganizationsareoftenpresentedwithsomeelementsofscope,ahalf-dayleadershipcourseoran
eLearningoncustomerservice.Insomecases,L&Dmayimposeitsownscoperequirementsbasedon
needsassessmentorahistoricalapproachsuchasmanagementtrainingthathasalwaysbeenatwo-day
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offsite.Bystartingwithscope,L&Dhaslimitedflexibilityontime.Whenthetimeavailableismisaligned
withthescope,itcanresultinthesponsorsoflearningfeelingshort-changedonvalue.
Bystartingwiththetimeavailableforproductdevelopment,L&Dbenefitsinmultipleways.Deliveringin
thetimerequiredbythecustomerisnowawin.Becausethecustomer,notL&D,definedthetimeline,it
isnowafeatureoftheproduct.Byestablishingaproductconstraint,sponsorscannowbebetter
engagedinadiscussionofneed,tradeoffs,prioritiesandimpact.NowL&Danditsbusinesspartnerscan
reducescopewhilestilldeliveringoutsizedimpact.Sponsorsarenowunabletosaytheywantitallonly
tobetoldbyL&Dthattheycannothaveit,whichisneveragreatoreasymessagetodeliver.These
discussionsalsomakethesponsorsmoreawareoftheneedtoengageL&Dearlyinanyprocess.Tella
sponsortheyhavetomaketradeoffsthatwouldnothavebeenrequiredhadtheyapproachedL&Dat
thestartofaninitiativeandhopefullythenexttimeaninitiativeislaunchedL&Disalreadyatthetable.
Anotherbenefitthatstartupsgainbystartingprojectplanningwithtime,notscope,isthatitcan
encourageinnovation.Constraintsforceustothinkdifferentlyabouthowwesolveaproblem.Theday
aftershoppingforgroceriesweopenourrefrigeratortoawealthofmealoptionstosatisfyourhunger.
Greetedbytheabundanceofchoice,weprepareamealcontainingasalad,asideandamainentree.
Wemayevenenjoyadessertafterwards.Delicious?Yes.Filling?Yes.Required?No.Nowthinkabout
thelastdaybeforeyougoshopping.Facedwiththesamehunger,yourthoughtprocessisnowvery
different.Youhavegonefrom“whatcanIhave?”to“whatcanImakewithanegg,twopiecesofbread
andsomeleftovers?”Somepeoplefinddelicioussolutionsinneverbeforeconsideredcombinations.
Twitterisanotherexample.With,originally,only140characterstouseforamessage,userswereforced
todistillthoughtsdowntotheessential.Usersremovedadjectives,usedcleverphrasingandinsome
casesremovedvowelstogetinunderthelimit.Theyalsogotcreativeusinghashtagsandnewly
inventedacronyms.Buttheystillmanagedtogettheirmessageacross.
Understandingtheneeddeeplyisessentialtodefiningthefullscope,butasafocusingmechanismoras
atoolforcapacitymanagement,startingwithtime,notscopecanhelpL&Dlookatsolution
developmentdifferently.Thecadenceofbusinessisincreasing.Mostlearningsponsorshaveanoptimal
deliverydateinmind.ASAP,assoonaspossible,isactuallynotatimeconstraint.Infact,itisthe
opposite.L&Dmustbegintohavebettertimelinediscussionswithsponsorsandwithitself.
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TheNewFeatureGauntlet
Carefullylimitingproductlaunchfeatures,throughneedsanalysisandatime-limitedscope,isonething
forastartuptomanage,butwithasuccessfullaunchcomesanewproblem,‘scopecreep’.Userschange
theirmind.Usershavespecificneeds.Theneeds,contextandprioritiesofusersevolve.Astartup’s
resourcescanquicklybepulledinamultitudeofdirectionsimpactingthepaceofprogress.Successful
startupsmustbeextremelydisciplinedaboutthefeaturestheyworkonpost-launch.
Itiscommontowanttopleaseeverycustomer.Requestsforcustomization,expandedoptionsoreven
entirelynewproductsarevalidresponsesfromacustomerthathasreceivedvaluefromyourproduct
andwantsmore.Thisisagoodproblemtohave.Byinstitutingarigorousprocessforincludinganew
featureintheproductroadmap,startupsprovideclearandconsistentdecisionsaboutfeatureinclusion
andprioritization.Thispreventsstartupsfromdilutingthevalueoftheproducttothemajorityoftheir
userbaseinasearchtoaddvaluefortheminority.
L&Dsolutionscansufferthesamefate.Pulledtosupportmultiplelearnerbases,theproduct,either
individualsolutionoracurriculum,canquicklyloseitsappeal.Whileitmayseemefficienttotake,a
solutiondevelopedforoneaudienceandreleaseittoanother,L&Dmustbecarefultoensurethatthe
needandcontextthattheproductisaddressingarethesameastheoriginal.Thisisnottomakethe
casefornotreusingexistingsolutions.Iamcertainlynotafanofreinventingthewheel.Rather,the
pointistosmartlyreuseexistingsolutionsandtorecognizetheresourcerequirementfortheextended
product.
Toooften,requestssuchas“Wewantthemanagementcourseyouranforoperations.Justchangethe
title,”becomesablackholeforresourcesandsupportinanattempttoensurevaluetothenew
audience.Alternatively,thenewaudience,confrontedbyaproductnotdesignedforthem,maynotsee
thesamehighlevelofvalueL&Dhadcarefullybuiltintotheoriginalproduct.Thiscanresultinalowered
perceptionofthevalueofalllearningproducts.Badwordofmouth,amplifiedbythehallwaysofthe
companycampusorthewallsofthecommissary,cancarryaheavyprice.
L&Dmustcarefullyrevieweachnewrequestwiththesamecleareyesitdidtheoriginalproduct.L&D
shouldensurethatthesolutioncandeliverthesameoutsizedbenefitstothenewaudienceasitdidthe
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first.Anunderstandingofthenewaudience’sneedandcontextfortheproductisessential.Any
variationfromtheoriginalunderstandingshouldbeexploredsothattheimpactonthevaluedelivered
bytheproductisknown.Withthisknowledge,L&D,likeastartup,canmoreaccuratelyassessthe
tradeoffbetweenneed,valueandthenewrequirementsonitsscarceresources.
StartupProjectManagement
Withwhatisbeingbuiltnowdefined,thenextareathatdemonstratesastartup’sfocusontimeishow
projectsarestructuredandmanaged.Thedevelopmentofaproductthroughaseriesofshort,rapid,
iterativereleasecycles(sometimesreferredtoasAgile)requiredstartupstochangehowtheymanaged
thatdevelopmentprocess.Whilemanymethodologiesexist,Scrum,aframeworkformanagingwork
commonlyusedbysoftwaredevelopersbutalsousedinothertypesofenvironments,iswidelyusedby
startupsofallsizes.LikeSixSigma,Scrumcomeswithahostoftools,techniquesandorthodoxy.We
havechosentofocusononlytwokeyhigh-levelconcepts.Weencouragethosethatareinterestedto
explorethemanyresourcesavailableonline.
ForL&Dorganizations,twokeyconceptsofScrumhavesignificantapplicabilitytolearningsolution
development.Teamstructureandworkflowoffercleardemonstrationsofhowstartupsaresuccessfully
navigatingthechallengesoflimitedtimeandresources.Theworkflowforadevelopmentprocess
operatingwiththeprinciplesofScrumisbasedongranularityoftaskandprogressmanagement.The
teamstructureisbasedontherequiredworkflow.
Justaslargercustomerneedsmustbedeconstructedtoidentifythekeyfeaturesofasolution,the
developmentofthesolutionmustbebrokendownintosupportingtasks.Thesetasks,likealmost
everythinginastartup,arealsotimedelimited.Acommonruleofthumbforstartupsisthatadeveloper
mustbeabletotakeataskfromthelistandcompleteitthesameday.Ifthetaskcannotbecompleted
inasingleday’swork,itmustbebrokendownfurther.Therationaleforthisisthatwhenoperatingona
compressedtimescale,progressmustbevisibleatsmallerincrements.Ifyoucanonlygaugeprogress
monthly,orevenweekly,bythetimeadelayisrecognizedtheremaynotbetimetoadjust.
Theprocessofdeconstructionalsomakesvisiblecontingencies,assumptionsandotherrisks.Astartup
mightdeconstructthetask‘buildmarketingcollateral’anduncoverthatthistaskrequiresasetof
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activitiesrelatedtotheproductionofproductphotos.Itmighthighlightthattheengineeringresource
requiredforgeneratingtheproductspecificationstobeincludedisunavailableorthataprinterneedsto
beselectedthroughaspecifiedvendorprocess.Thisdeconstructedviewofaprojectensuresthat
roadblocksthatmightdelaylaunchareanticipated,andifpossibleaddressed,beforetheyhavea
negativeimpactonthedevelopmenttimeline.
Breakingaprojecttothislevelofgranularityalsoallowsresourcestobequicklyshiftedtosupporttasks
thatmightbebehindschedule.Bykeepingtaskssmall,anyresourceshiftrequiredhasalessenedimpact
onotherstreamsofactivity.Resourcesdonotneedtobepermanentlyre-assigned,butrathercan
simplybeaskedtopitchinforadayorhalfdayduringwhichtheycancompleteasingletask.Inmore
traditionalprojects,movingresourcesaroundmayriskareductioninteammembersatisfaction.The
teammembermaynotbeabletofeelasenseofownershiporaccomplishmentbecausetheycannotsee
ataskallthewaythrough.Theymayfeelliketheyarebeingtakenawayfromtheirownexcitingwork.
Scrum’sapproachtotaskdefinitionassistsinreducingthisrisk.Asteamsbecomemorefluid,this
approachtothedevelopmentofsolutionsincreasesinvalue.
L&DorganizationscanalsoachievethebenefitsofScrum.Todothis,theyshouldstartwith
deconstructingthesolutiondevelopmentplan.Manyoftheseprojectstodayaremeasuredinweeksor
monthsandhaveperiodiccheck-insscheduled.Whilethismaybetheappropriatelevelofdetailfor
businesssponsors,itisalimitingfactorinthemanagementoftheprojectinafast-pacedenvironment.
Inadditiontolimitingthevisibilityofprogress,thisapproachalsocreatesbarrierstoproblemsolving
andcapacitymanagement.
Inadditiontotaskgranularity,teamandvisibilityarekeyforL&Dorganizationslookingtothrivein
today’sbusinessenvironment.Startupsachievethisthroughtheinstallationofasinglemechanism,the
standupmeeting.Helddailyatacompany-widelevelforsmallstartupsorattheteamlevelforgrowing
startups,thestandupmeetingisdesignedtoreplacecountlessemailsorsidemeetings.Whilethe
specificagendacertainlyvaries,mosthaveasimilarapproach.Frequentlynomorethan15minutesin
totaldurationandwiththeprojecttasksbothcompletedandtobecompletedvisible,eachteam
memberinturnaddressesanumberoftopicsfromtheirperspective.
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• Whatworkedyesterday-thisallowstheindividualtoreceiverecognitionforaccomplishments
fromtheteamand/orhighlightapositiveenablerforgettingworkdone.
• Whatdidn’tworkyesterday-individualscansharealearningfromsomethingthatdidn’tgowell
orhighlightapotentialfutureissue.
• WhatIamworkingontoday-thisidentifiesthepointpersonforataskshouldtherebechanges,
questionsorcontingenciesandestablishesaccountability.
• WhathelpdoIrequire–thisaidsidentificationofbarrierstocompletingnecessaryworkor
supportrequiredbytheteam.
Forprojectteammembers,aScrum-likeapproachkeepsthemconnectedtotheproject’sprogressand
theteam.Thisisespeciallyimportantasmoreworkbecomesvirtualorwhentheresourcesengaged
haveanon-employeeconnectiontothecompany.ForCLO’Sandprojectleaders,theapproachcan
quicklyidentifyresourcesrequirementsandadditionalsupport,suchasexecutiveordepartmental
supportthatmayberequired.Forlearningleaders,astartupapproachtoprojectmanagementoffersan
easyandefficientwaytogetapulsecheckontheorganization’sprogressandresources.
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Product,Product,Product:DiscussionQuestions
• Whattools,rolesandprocessesdowehavetosupportthefullproductlifecycle?
• Howwelldoesourcurrentneedsassessmentprocessprovidetheknowledgeweneedtobuild
highlyvaluableproducts?
• Howdowedeterminethescopeofanewproductlaunch?
• Whatcouldwedeliveragainstadefinedneedwehaveinourcurrentplanifwecouldonly
spendfourweeksdevelopingthesolution?
• Howcouldwebemanagingoursolutionbuildingprocessforgreatervisibilityandgranularity?
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
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TheNeedforSpeed
"I'velongbelievedthatspeedistheultimateweaponinbusiness.Allelsebeingequal,thefastest
companyinanymarketwillwin.Speedisadefiningcharacteristic--ifnotthedefiningcharacteristic--
oftheleaderinvirtuallyeveryindustryyoulookat."
DaveGirouard-FormerpresidentofGoogleEnterpriseApps
Withcompanieschangingstrategies,modifyingbusinessmodelsandreleasingnewproductsdesignedto
improvecustomervalueatarapidpace,thespeedwithwhichL&Dmustoperateisincreasingly
challenged.InRunningTrainingLikeaBusiness,opportunitiestoincreasethespeedoftheorganization's
responsewereaddressedintwoways:viaL&DBusinessRelationshipManagerandviaprocess
improvements.
TheobjectiveoftheL&DBusinessRelationshipManagerrolewastoplaceL&Dclosertothebusiness;
thereby,shorteningthecommunicationcycle.Thebookalsohighlightedtheneedforafocusonkey
processesinordertodeliverincreasedefficienciesandreducedcycletime.Fromourconversationswith
executivesacrosscompanies,wefindthatspeedremainsachallengeforL&Dorganizations.Inthepages
thatfollowwewillexplorethistopicinmoredetail.Wewillalsoofferaframework,fromour
experiencewithstartups,forthinkingaboutspeedintoday'sbusinessenvironment.
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4.15.19v2 59
IFeeltheNeed.TheNeedFor...
Today'sbusinessworldismovingfasterthanever.Afewyearsago,someofmyformercolleaguesat
TheForumCorporationreleasedabooktitled“StrategicSpeed”.Inthebook,authorsBoswell,Davisand
Frechettehighlighttheneedtofocusonpeopleinadditiontoprocessefficiencyandsystems.Theywent
ontohighlightwhattheyseeastheessentialpeoplefactorsfordrivingspeed;clarity,unityandagility.
Startupshaveadoptedasimilarstrategytodrivingincreasesinspeed.
Speedofexecution,notideas,arethecompetitiveadvantageforearly-stagecompanies.Becauseofthis,
startupslookatthreedimensionsofspeed.
1. Speedtoproduct:Thisisthetimelagbetweenneedidentificationandavailabilityofthe
solution.
2. Speedtouser:Thisisthetimelagbetweenavailabilityofthesolutionandaccesstotheuser.In
thecaseofL&D,theuseristhelearner.
3. Speedtovalue:Thisisthetimelagbetweentheuseraccessingthesolutionandreceivingthe
intendedvalue.
Inordertokeeppacewithtoday'sbusinesses,L&Dmustfocuson,andcontinuallyimproveon,all
threeofthesedimensions.BeforewesharesomeideasforL&Dorganizationstoconsiderfor
increasingspeedacrossallthreedimensions,let’sexplorewhatslowsL&Dandkeepsitfrom
runningtrainingatthespeedofbusiness.
Exhibit3
Thetwocriticalactivitiesthatimpactthespeedtoproductareneedsidentificationandproduct
development.Needsidentificationistoofrequentlyareactiveprocesstriggeredinresponsetoa
businessrequest.InsomematureL&Dorganizations,thelearningneedisdiscoveredthroughregular
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 60
meetingsbetweenarelationshipmanagerandtheirbusinesscounterpart.InmostotherL&D
organizationsneedsidentificationthisisstillan"ordertaking"processandtheneedisdiscoveredonly
whenan“order”fortrainingisreceivedfromthebusiness.Giventhisreactiveprocess,L&Displaying
catchuprightfromthebeginning.BythetimetherequestfortheorderreachesL&D,thebusinessis
alreadyanxioustoimplementasolution.
Asdescribedinthepriordiscussionofproduct,solutiondevelopment,theothercriticalactivitymaking
upspeedtoproduct,stillfollowsatraditionallinearinstructionaldesignprocessmethodology.This
linearprocessplacesahugetimerequirementonupfrontneedsassessment,translationofbusiness
objectivestolearningobjectivesandlearnerdefinition.Whilestillcriticaltothedevelopmentofavalue
producingsolution,itistimethatmostbusinessesnolongerhave.
Startupsalsoseektoincreasespeedtouser.Howcantheygetmorepeopletoexperiencetheproduct?
Whatchannelsandmessagingareresultinginnewuseracquisition?Inordertoimpactthisdimension,
webelievethemind-setofL&Dneedstochangefrommanufacturertomarketer.Onelookat
attendancedatawillshowyouthatthemostattendedtrainingsarefrequentlymandated,notsold,to
theiraudience.Assumingthatlearningissolvingarealproblem,gettinguserstorecognizeand"buy"
thesolutionquicklyiscritical.RunningTrainingLikeaBusinessmeansL&Dmustbecomemarketersand
packagersofatrulyperformance-inducingproduct.LikeGatorade™foremployeeperformance.
Thelastdimensionofspeedisspeedtovalue.Whilethisdimensionisgreatlyimpactedbytheother
two,bykeepingitfrontofmind,itcanalsohelptoinformbothproductanduserpositioning.Startups
focusonuseronboarding.Inthestartupworld,thismeansgettinganewusernotjustupandrunning
withtheirproductorservicebutactuallyreadytoreceivevaluefromit.Similarly,learningand
developmentcanthinkofthisasgettingauserupandrunningwiththenewskills.Whyisthiscritical?
Forstartups,theaverageapploses77%ofitsactiveuserswithinthefirst3dayspostinstall.This
attritioncanbemitigatedbydeliveringvaluequicklytousers.ThesameistrueforL&D.
InpartduetoL&D'scoursebasedmentality,valueisoftendeterminedatamacrolevelratherthana
microlevel.Thisdelaysuserperceivedvalueandoftencausesattritionofthenewskillsuse.Asales
programthatpromisesahigherclose-ratioinanindustrywithalongersalescyclemaypushthevalue
outtoofartodrivestickinessofthenewskill.Combinedwiththeever-shrinkinghalf-lifeofcertain
skills,speedtovalueisanimportantdimension.SpeedtoucheseverypartofbusinessandL&Disno
exception.
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4.15.19v2 61
SpeedtoProduct
Thefrequentlyusedprocessfordevelopinglearningsolutionsisinspiredbythetraditional“waterfall”
methodforsoftwaredevelopment.Thisisalinearprocessthatstartswithintensecustomer
engagementtoidentifytheneedsandthenasolorunbytheproductdevelopmentteamtodeliverthe
finishedproduct.Atthetimeofitsinitialadoption,thisprocesshadanumberofbenefits,including:
- Earlyidentificationofcustomerspecifications.
- Easymeasurementoftheprogressagainstthelinearsteps.
- Easymanagementoftheresourcesastheresourcescouldbemappedtoeachphaseinthe
process.
- Abilitytodeliverafullycompletedsolutionallatonce.
However,inthecurrentdynamicenvironmentbusinessrequirementsoftenchangesoonaftertheneeds
identificationprocessiscompleted.Inthetraditionalprocesswherethecustomerinvolvementends
aftertheneedsanalysisphase,thereisnoprocessforcapturingandintegratingthenewneeds.
Additionally,thespecificationprocessitselfcanbetooburdensomeforsomecustomers.Finally,the
fullyintegratedapproachtakestime,sometimestoomuchofit.
Whilewaterfalldevelopmentremainspreferableforsometypesofprojects,anewprocesscalledAgile
hasreplaceditinmanycases.Agilefocusesonspeedanditeration,deliveringfunctionalcomponents
ratherthanfullsystemsforreviewbyboththecustomerandtheteam.Thisprocessincreases
engagementbetweenthecustomerandtheproductdevelopmentteam,andensuresalignmentwith
needs.AsbusinessalignmentcontinuestobeasignificantissueforL&D,asevidencedbytheprevalence
ofscraplearning,whydoesthestraight-linedevelopmentprocessforlearningsolutionsremainthe
defaultmethodology?
Focusingonbusinessissues,nottrainingcontent,andlettingdemandshapeL&D'sofferingswereall
coretotheoriginalRunningTrainingLikeaBusinessconcept.Weevenintroducedaprocess,whichwe
calledtheDo-Si-Dodesignedtobetterconnectcustomersandsolutions.Inabusinessenvironmentthat
placesapremiumonspeed,whatcanwelearnfromthesoftwaredevelopmentindustry'sadoptionof
anAgileprocess?
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 62
RunningTrainingLikeaBusinessdescribedtwocoreprocesses;onefocusedonrelationship
managementandoneondelivery.ItwastermedtheDo-Si-Doprocessbecauseontheinterlocking
“dance”thatwasdescribed.Inastartup,theseareequivalenttosalesandengineering.Inordertotake
fulladvantageoftheAgileprocess,innovativetechnologycompanieshaveathirdprocess,product
management.Speedtoproductinthesestartupsistheresultofproductmanagement.ForL&D
organizations,theproductmanagementactivitiesofferexamplesofhowL&Dmightimproveandspeed
upthecoreprocessesbybetterdefiningtheroleofthesolutionarchitect.Thisnewdefinitionincludes
twomainproductmanagementfunctions:connectiontothebusinessinordertodeterminewhatis
mostvaluable,andoverseeinganiterativedevelopmentprocess.
BrantCooperauthoredTheEntrepreneur'sGuidetoCustomerDevelopment,whichoutlinestheprocess
bywhichstartupsbegintodeterminesolutionstoproblems.Thisiswhereproductmanagementbegins.
AsthenameofthefirstpartoftheDo-Si-Doprocessimplies,relationshipmanagersfocusonthe
relationshipwiththebusiness.Onceaneedhasbeenidentified,itistheroleofthesolutionarchitectto
getadeeperunderstanding;oftheproblem,theultimateusersofasolution,aswellasidentifyingthe
smallestsolutionsthatcandrivethelargestvalue.Thesolutionarchitecteffectivelybecomesthevoice
ofthecustomerthroughoutthelifecycleofthatproductrelease.Whythesmallestsolution?Because
fastmovingorganizationsuseaconceptcalledminimumviableproduct(MVP)whichcanbethoughtof
asminimumviablelearning(MVL).
MVP'sarebuiltforvalueandtocapturelearnings.JonAtkinson,FoundingDirectoroftheLoyola
UniversityCenterforEntrepreneurshipstatesthat,"atrueMVPisthesmallest(functional)featureset
thatprovidesvaluetoaparticularcustomersegment.Thekeyhereisthatthecustomersegmentcan
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easilyrecognizethatvalue...".MVL'shavesimilarcharacteristics.Productmanagementguidesthe
developmentoftheMVL,capturesthelearningsfromtheearlyusersandincorporatesthefeedbackinto
newcomponentsorupdatesastheteamiteratesthroughthiscycleasfastaspossible.
Thisrapiditerationreplacesthetypicallinearinstructionaldesignmethodology.Companiesare
spendingagreatdealontrainingprogramsthataremisdirectedandineffective.Bythetimetheyrealize
it,iftheydopriortolaunch,theyoftenfeelliketheyhavecommittedtoomanyresourcestochange
course.MVL'savoidthedevelopmentofscraplearningorunappliedlearning,whichrepresents
approximately45%ofalllearningaccordingtopastCEBstudy.Thisapproachallowsthelearnerstoco-
createthesolutionthroughtheirfeedbackandactions.Inanynumberofwayslearnerfeedbackwill
helptoshapethemostimpactfullearning.Combinedwithhardmetrics,goodproductmanagement
helpsanorganizationtoprioritizeandgradeperformancesupportefforts.
Whileaniterativedevelopmentprocesshasaroletoplay,itisthefunctionsprovidedbytheproduct
managerthatareessential.Sittinginbetweentherelationshipmanagersandthedesigners,developers
andvendorresources,thesolutionarchitecthasacriticalroleinrunningtraininglikeastartuptoday.
Therearecertainlysomemeaningfullearningstobegainedbylookingattheroleoftheproduct
managerinfastgrowingstartups.
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SpeedtoLearner
WhentheideaofSpeedtoLearnerasanimportantdimensionoforganizationalspeedwasintroduced,
itwasexplainedthatL&Dneededtoshiftfrommanufacturertomarketer.Butwhatdoesthismean?
L&Dneedstospeak,targetusers,andthink,likeastartup.Whilelaunchinganewlearningofferingcan
benerveracking,imaginethestressentailedwithlaunchingyournewcompany.Thestakesarehighfor
startups.Whilebuildingagreatproductisessentialtoastartup,yourtargetmarketmuststillknow
aboutit...anduseit.
Ifyousellanythingwithanysuccess,youknowthatpeopledon'tbuydrills,whichisaproductfeature,
theybuyholes,theproduct'sbenefits.Sowhyisthecommunicationandlanguagearoundlearningso
featurebased.Theindustryspeaksof"salestraining"not"closemoredeals,makemorecommissions
training".Courseobjectivesareoftenwritten,"attheendofthiscourseyouwillbeableto..."whenthe
importantpartisfoundbyadding"sothat..."totheend.L&Dshouldleadwithbenefits.L&Dshould
knowwhatthebenefitsareforlearnersandclearlystatethemintermsthatthelearnercanrecognize.
ForastartuporL&D,thisiswhereallvaluableproductsbegin,withatrueneed.
Consumeradvertisinggetsabadnamebecausemanyassumethatsizzlereplacestheneedforquality
steak.Manystartupsfeelthesameway.Youhaven'theardaboutthosestartupsbecausetheyvery
oftenfail.Winningsolelyonthebasisofasuperiorproductmayfeellikethehighgroundbutwhatis
missedisthatinanagewhenweareallbombardedwithmessageseveryday,cuttingthroughthatnoise
withthebenefitsofyoursolutionisalsoneeded.
ThenextsteptoimprovingspeedtolearnerisforL&Dtounderstandtheroadtoaudienceadoption.
Startupsunderstandthattheycan'tgeteveryonerightaway.Insteadtheyfocusonapartoftheir
addressablemarketcalledtheearlyadopters.Inhis1991book“CrossingChasm”,GeoffreyMoore
describedanapproachoflookingatthewaynewtechnologiesareadoptedbyamarketthatisstillused
today.
Inthebook,hedividedthemarket,representedbyabellcurve,intofiveparts.Fromthethinleftedge,
hebeganwithinnovators.Movingrightheidentifiedthemarketpartsas;earlyadopters,earlymajority,
latemajorityandlaggards.Eachparthasitsownrequirementsfortheadoptionofnewtechnology.
Innovatorsvaluenewoverperfect,whiletheearlymajorityrequiresproofpoints,valuebeingdelivered
insituationsthatlookliketheirs,inordertoembracethenewtechnology."Technology"isfromthe
Greek"tekhnologia"whichmeansthesystematictreatmentofanart,craft,ortechnique.Soundslikea
learningoffering,doesn'tit?
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
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GeoffreyMoore,CrossingtheChasm
WhenL&Drollsoutanewinitiativethereisoftentoolittlethoughtgiventohowitshouldberolledout.
Whatpartsofthedesiredaudiencelikenewbutuntestedandpotentiallyimperfectsolutions?Which
partswillrequireproofpointsorendorsements?Ablanketapproachrarelyworkswithanythingother
thancompliancetrainingwhereattendancecanbemandated.Understandingmoreaboutyour
audience'srequirementsforadoptioncanmakeforamuchmorerapidandsuccessfulrollout.
Finally,L&Dmustmoveawayfromitsfocusonsingletransactionsandshifttoonefocusedonthe
longer-termrelationshipthatitisbuildingwithitslearner.Developmentplansarenotarelationshipany
morethanrecipesarethesameastheconnectionyouhavewithyourfavoritecornergrocer.Startups
frequentlyuseacustomerfunneltodescribeandmanageacustomer'sentirejourneyfromawareness
andacquisitionthroughretentionandreferral.Thisfocuson,andoptimizationof,thecompletelifecycle
ofacustomer,notjusttheinitialtransaction,iscrucialinbuildingacustomerbaseforfutureproducts
andturningcustomersintoco-marketersofnewsolutionsthroughreferrals.
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• Awareness:Howdoesourtargetmarketknowweexist?
• Acquisition:Howdowegetthemtocomeforusforasolutiontotheirproblem?
• Activation:Howdowegetthemtotryoursolution?
• Retention:Howdowekeepthemusingoursolutions?
• Referral:Howdowegetthemtospreadthewordaboutthevalueofoursolution?
WhatifL&Dorganizationsapproachedtheirpost-learningcommunicationsinarelationshipfocusedway
thatmovedlearnersfurtherdownthefunnel?L&Dcouldasknotsolelyaboutthelearningdeliveredbut
couldalsogivethelearnerrecommendationsonlearningofferingsthatotherswhotooktheonejust
completedhadliked.Thecommunicationcouldaskforreferralstoothersthatthelearnerthoughtcould
benefitfromwhathadjustbeenlearnedandevenaskforawrittenreviewwhichcouldbeusedto
markettheofferingtoothergroupswhoserequirementsforadoptionincludedadditionalproofpoints.
Builditandtheywillcomeisastrategythatonlyworksinthemovies.Manysuperiortechnologieshave
lostouttoalesseroneduetoalackoffocusonspeedtouserandinabilitytoturncustomersintoraving
fans.
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AQuickNoteonSpeedtoValue
Gettingvaluefromnewlearningquicklyisessentialforadoptionandretention.Whiletheconceptof
minimalviablelearningwasintroducedinthespeedtoproductsection,thefocusofthisbookisnoton
instructionaldesignmethodology.However,thereisaninterestinganalogyworthconsiderationfrom
theworldofstartups.
Asmentionedbefore,startupsthinkhardabouttheonboardingofnewusers.Thisissomewhatsimilar
thewaycompaniesthinkaboutonboardingemployees.AsdefinedbyPulkitAgrawal,EditorofTheUser
OnboardingJournal,whichanalyzeshownewtechnologiesaregettingtheirusersstarted,forstartups,
"Onboardingisthephasebetweenusersfirstcomingintocontactwithyourproductandthem
internalizingthevaluethatisbeingprovided."Throughoutthisphaseareusermilestonesthatthe
startupfirstassumes,thenwithdataandexperienceproves,movetheusertowardsdeeper
engagement.Akeyareaoffocusinthephaseisfirsttimeuserexperience(FTUE).
TobetterunderstandFTUE,thinkaboutthelasttimeyoulearnedanewgame.Ifthegameistoohard,
youmaybecomefrustratedandquit,nevertoreturntothegame.Ifthegameistooeasy,thenyousee
littlechallengeorvalueandarelikelytoquicklyloseinterest.ThekeytothebestFTUEistofindawayto
quicklydelivervalue.Valuethatlockstheuserintocontinuetheirjourney.Deconstructingcomplex
skillstoallowusersquickwinswithcomponentskillscanoftenbepartofbuildingtrustwithlearners
andthehookthatbringsthembackformore.
Obviously,speedtovalueisintimatelytiedtotheothertwodimensionsofspeed.Improperlydesigned,
theFTUEofalearningofferingmaynotengagetheuserandlimittheadoptionofnewskills.Bykeeping
speedtovaluefrontofmind,L&Dorganizationscanaccelerateadoptionanddeliverunmistakablevalue
sooner.
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TheNeedforSpeed:DiscussionQuestions
• Whatareyoudoingtodrivespeedinyourorganization?
• Howareyoumanagingyournewsolutionbuildingprocess?
• WhatnovelthingsareyoudoingtogetyourL&Dsolutionstothelearner?
• Howareyouthinkingaboutbuildingvalueinyoursolutions?
• Whatdoesyourlearnerfunnellooklike?
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
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DataDrivenExecution
"WheneverpeopleaskmewhichcompanyIthinkwillwintheself-drivingcarrace,IsayTesla.Andthe
reasonisthattheyhavemoredata."
-FredWilson,PartnerUnionSquareVentures,InvestorSkillshare,Kickstarter...
AtthetimeofwritingRunningTrainingLikeaBusiness,theavailabilityofdataaboutthelearning
occurringincompanieswaslimitedtomanualcollectionoruseofwhatwasthencalledTraining
ManagementSystems.AlsolimitedwasourabilitytoputthedatatoworkfortheL&Dorganization.At
thattime,IwasworkingwithafinancialservicescompanythathadL&Dstaffmanuallyinputthelevel
oneevaluations.TheevaluationswereevenfaxedtotheL&Dteamifthecoursewasoffsite!Allofthis
datawasmaintainedincomplexExcelspreadsheetsthatwerehardtoaccessandevenharderto
interpret.
Now,almosttwentyyearslater,dataiseverywhere.ApplicationssuchasTinCanhavetheabilityto
capturemorekindsoflearningdataandvariousdataanalyticsapplicationsareabletorepresentthis
complexdataintoeasytoreadrepresentations.Yet,therecontinuetobeL&Dorganizationsstruggling
toputdatatoworkforthem.Thisisnottosaythatgreatstrideshavebeennotbeenmade.Theworkof
theROIInstitutetocaptureaclearandcredibleapproachforidentifyingtheimpactandreturnon
learninginvestmentsisanexample.TheCenterforTalentReporting(TDRP)hascreatedaproposed
approachfordescribingthelearningfunctionthatwouldallowforconsistentcomparisonsandreporting
isanother.
However,dataisthe'what'notthe'why’.ItisnotenoughtosimplycapturethedatabutinsteadL&D
mustturnthatdataintoactionableknowledgethatcanbeappliedtodriveincreasinglyvaluable
solutions.Whileinthepast,availabilityandqualitydatawasachallenge,inthecurrenttimes,abilityto
makemeaningfulinterpretationsfromthelargevolumeofavailabledataistoday’schallenge.Infact,
theprocessofdatacollection,extractionandanalysiscanbeoverwhelmingforL&Dorganizations,
especiallywhereresourcesarelimited.
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Today’sstartupshavefarmoredatathanatypicalL&Dorganization.Frompixelbypixeleyetrackingto
clicksandcookies,thereisdataeverywhere.Sohowarefast-growingstartupsdealingwiththedata
tsunami?Successfulstartupstypicallypracticeevidence-basedexecution.Thatis,theyrelyondatato
informtheirnextsteps.Theygiveprioritytounderstandingdataandanalyzingdatatoconvertitinto
meaningfulreports.Theyreducetheclutterbyfocusingonafewkeyparametersthatareimportantfor
theirimmediatebusinessgoals.Finally,andmostimportantly,theybringtogetheracollectionofinter-
relateddatapointsinacohesive,easytointerpret,andactionableformatbyusingdashboards.
ForL&Dorganizations,datawillcontinuetobemoreandmoreeasilycollected.ThismayresultinL&D
organizationsbecomingevenmoreoverwhelmedandsufferingfromanalysisparalysis.Using,not
collectingdatainaproductivewayhastobethegoalforL&D.Focusingondashboardsandremaining
committedtoactingonthatdatawillbeessentialtothoselearningorganizationsthattrulywantto
deliverthenextgenerationofvaluetotheircompanies.
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DashboardsThatDriveValue
Amongstallthebestpracticesthatstartupsapplytoeffectivelyleveragedata,collectionsofdatapoints
representedasdashboardstounderstandtheircurrentperformance,istheonethatL&Dorganizations
canmostbenefitfrom.Thepowerofdataismagnifiedbythejuxtapositionofmultipledatapointsand
thedataiseasytointerpretwhenrepresentedinvisualdashboards.
Dashboardsareinterrelatedcollectionsofkeydatapointstargetingcriticalsuccessfactorsthatdrivean
understandingofhowtobetterexecute.Useofdashboardsallowsforthedeterminationofwherethe
weakestlinkisinagivenvaluechain.Forstartups,adashboardmaytrackthecustomeracquisition
funnelwhichfollowtheprogressofacustomerfromawarenesstoretention.ForaL&Dorganization,
thismaymeanaseriesofmetricstrackingtheperformanceoftheteammovingfromproblem
identificationtosolution.
Focusingonlyonaselectsetofkeymetricsisanotherwaystartupsusetheirresourceswiselywhile
gainingimpactfulinformation.Hominginonkeyareasforoptimizationallowsforinternalandexternal
stakeholderstounderstandtheprioritiesoftheorganization.Thesekeyperformanceindicatorsarenot
necessarilystatic.Asorganizationschange,sodotheirdashboards.Onceyouknowyouaredelivering
qualitylearning,youmaythenturnyourmeasurementattentionandresourcestothespeedof
deliveringasolutionorotherareasorfocus.
Startupslookatthingslikemarketshareanddailyactiveuserstoseeprogress.Asmentionedpreviously,
havinga5-starratingmeansnothingifyourproductisn'tbeingused.Similarly,iftheL&Dorganizationis
onlysupporting50%ofthelearningthatisoccurringintheorganization,howvaluableistheproduct
thatitisproviding?Whatarethebarrierstoacquiringsupportingtheother50%?Isitspeed,expertise,
organizationalbarriersorsomethingelse?Ifcompliancetrainingprogramsaretheonlylearningevents
thatarebeingconsumedbyahighpercentageofitsL&D'stargetemployeebase,thenisnon-
compliancetrainingonlyseenbytheemployeesasanicetohaveandnotanimportantwaytotruly
improveperformance?Behaviordoesnotlie.Tryingtoshieldyourselfwithactivityorsatisfaction
numberswithouttakingactionontheobservedbehaviorsisonlyatemporaryrefuge.
WhilethedashboardsshouldbedesignedbasedonthegoalsandprioritiesofthespecificL&D
organization,thefollowingfourdashboardsthathighlightkeyandactionableperspectivesonthe
operatingperformanceoftheL&Dorganizationarerecommendedasastartingpoint.
1. Productvelocity–howfastisourorganizationabletoprovideimpact-producingsolutionsto
identifiedneeds?
2. Portfoliomanagement–howwellarewemanagingthecatalogoflearningsolutionsfor
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4.15.19v2 72
maximumvalue?
3. Marketshare–isourorganizationimpactingthemaximumnumberoflearners?
4. Executive–whatistheorganizationinvestinginlearningandwhatreturnisitreceivingforthat
investment?
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
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Dashboard1:ProductVelocity
Anearliersectiondescribedthedimensionofspeedcalledspeedtoproduct.Productvelocitycaptures
thespeedortimeittakesaL&Dorganizationfromidentifyingtrainingneedstodeliveringtargeted
valuefromlearning.L&Dmustwatchthisgaugecarefully.Aperfectsolutiondeliveredtoolateislost
valuethatmayneverberecaptured.Adollaradaystartingtomorrowisalmostalwaysgoingtoreturn
morethanwaitingforfivedollarsadaystartinginacoupleofweeks.
Considerthis.IfL&Disabletoimplementalearningsolutionthatdelivers80%ofthedesiredimpactin
3⁄4ofthedevelopmenttime,ittakesmeaningfultimeforthe100%solutiontodelivermorevalue.Ifthe
developmentcycleforagivenlearningsolutionisfourmonthsthenthe80%solutiononlyrequiresthree
monthstolaunch.Amonthmaynotseemlikemuchbutdependingontheshelflifeofthelearning
solution,thevaluelinesmaynevercross.Animperfectsolutionsoonerisoftenmorevaluablethana
perfectonelater.
Month 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
80%Solution Development
Time
80 80 80 80 80
TotalValueDelivered 0 0 0 80 160 240 320 400
100%Solution DevelopmentTime 100 100 100 100
TotalValueDelivered 0 0 0 0 100 200 300 400
Similarly,ifL&Disabletoreducethecycletimefora100%impactsolution,byreducingthetimeto
deliveryofvalueby25%,Thelearningsolutiondelivers20%morevalueoverthesameperiod.
Therefore,ProductvelocityisakeydashboardforanyL&Dorganizationlookingtodelivermorevalue.
Thepurposeofthisdashboardistoensurethatspeedfromneedidentificationthroughsolutiontovalue
deliveryisbeingtrackedandoptimized.Theprocess,eithertheDo-Si-DorecommendedinRunning
TraininglikeaBusinessorsomeother,involvesmultiplehandoffs,contributorsandfeedback-based
iterations.Alloftheseactivitiescanslowtheprocessdramatically.Thisdashboardisdesignedtoprovide
ameansofmakingthecurrentperformanceonthiskeydimensionvisible.
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 74
ThefollowingTalentDevelopmentReportingPrinciples(TDRP)metricsareexamplesofpossibleinputstothevelocitydashboard.
Cycletime,handofftodesignanddevelopment
Cycletime,designanddevelopmentforILTandvILT
Cycletime,designanddevelopmentfore-learning
Cycletime,handofftodelivery
Cycletime,total
TotalNumberofNewTrainingImplementations
TrainingImplementationCycleTime
Courses,developed,numbermeetingdeadline
Courses,developed,%meetingdeadline
AveragedevelopmentcostofanewILTorvILTclass
Averagedevelopmentcostofanewe-learningclass
Inaddition,itmaybeofvaluetocapturethecycletimeoftheactivitiesthatcompriseotherelementsof
L&D'ssolutionpipeline.Dataonthenumberofnewtrainingneedsidentifiedorexplored,pilots
conductedandotherscangiveL&Dabetterpictureofcapacitydriversandpossibleareasof
opportunitiesforimprovement.Agrowingnumberofnewneedsmayplaceconstraintsofsolution
architects.Growingtimebetweenpilotandfinalhandoffmayindicatethattheorganizationismoving
toofastandtheresultispilotsolutionsthataremissingthemarkbymorethaninpriortimes.
Finally,allsolutionsarenotcreatedequal.Moreexpansiveimplementationsmayappropriatelytake
monthstobringtofruition.Performancesupporttoolsorstandardoff-the-shelfofferingscanoftenbe
selectedandpurchasedveryquickly.Itisimportanttonotlosethisdistinctionintheaverages.Some
segmentationofsolutionsmayberequiredtoseethecycletimemetricsinthecorrectlight.
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 75
Dashboard2:PortfolioManagement
AtthetimeofthewritingofRunningTrainingLikeaBusiness,thetermcurriculummanagementmeant
theadministrationofalearninglibrary.WiththewaveofLMSimplementationsoverthepasttwo
decades,thetoolshavechanged,butnotthefunction.Today,whenthecreationandmaintenanceof
learningofferingsisthoughtofasaninvestment,itrequiresadifferentkindofattention.Portfolio
managementputsafocusonthisessentialperspectiveonacompany'sinvestmentinlearning.
Whilemixoflearningmodalitiesisoftenheldupasanimportantmetric,toooftenthesenumbersare
skewedwiththepurchaseofasingleeLearningcatalogorthemetricsmaybechasedafterfortheirown
sake.L&Dorganizationshavealsotoooftenadoptedaquicktoadd,slowtodeletementalitywherethe
sizeofthecatalogisameasureofsuccess.Additionally,thereisthedefinitionofactive.Withoneclient,
therewasanextremelyrobustlistofactivecoursesfortheprioryear.Uponfurtherexamination
however,itwasfoundthatasignificantpercentageofcoursesdeemedactivewereattendedbyfewer
than10people.Insomecases,thisisjustified(example,ahigh-endsimulationtraining),butinmostitis
not.
Lookingattoday'scurricularequiresanewlensthroughwhichtoviewit.Tobeeffective,curriculamust
bedynamic,keptevergreenandhighlybusinessrelevant.Datafromthecurriculamustbeusedto
eliminateredundanciesoridentifyscraplearning.Thisdatashouldalsoprovidethebasisfordiscussions
regardingmodality,needandaudience.Tothisend,metricscapturingnewproductsadded,aged
contentandcontentretiredmustreplacemetricslikehoursavailable,activecoursesandmodalitymix
asL&D'smeansofdescribingthevalueofthecatalog.
Thegoaloftheportfoliomanagementdashboardistoensuremaximumvitalityofthecurricula.With
thebusinessesthatL&Dsupportsrapidlyevolving,thecurriculamustbeactivelymanaged.Active
managementmustensurebusinessalignment,leverageofnewlearningmodalities,evolvingwaysof
working,audience’sneedsandintendedimpact.Itisnolongeracceptabletoconductannualreviews
andaudits.Instead,continuousanalysisandactionbasedontheanalysismustbemaintainedtoensure
thehighestvalueproducingcurricula.
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
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ThefollowingTDRPmetricsareexamplesofpossibleinputstotheportfoliodashboard.
Courses,%used
Courses,totaldelivered
Uniquehoursofformallearningused
Uniquehoursofformallearning,%used
AverageTrainingHoursperEvent
PercentofL&DVendorLicensesUtilized
E-LearningLicenseUtilizationRate
Efforttoupdateexistingcourses
TrainingCostperHour(TCH)
AmountLearned(Level2Estimate)
PercentageofTestsPassed
ScrapLearning
TherearemanyTDRPmetricsrelatedtolearningsolutionsandaddingstandardmetricsforimpactgives
afairlyrobustviewontheperformanceoftheportfolio.Lookingatoverallutilizationcanhelpto
determinethetruesizeofthecurricula.Liketheoldsayingabouttreesfallinginaforestwithnoone
around,ifacourseisinacatalogandnooneeverusesit,doesitmakeanimpact?Inadditiontothese
measures,newmetricsrelatedtotheageofsolutionsandsolutionsretiredcanhelptobetterguide
investmentsinupdatesanddeterminethetruelifetimevalueofacourseorcurriculum.
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
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Dashboard3:MarketShare
ThemarketsharedashboardcapturesasetofmetricsassociatedwithL&D’scustomersandthe
behaviorsofthosecustomersbeingservedbytheL&Dorganization.Marketsharerunsboth
horizontally,acrossthecompany,andvertically,withinabusinessunit.Forstartups,therearetwo
importantwaystodescribemarketshare:penetrationandshareofwallet.Penetrationdescribesthe
numberofpotentialcustomerstouchedversustheaddressablemarket.Shareofwalletisamonetary
descriptorshowinghowmuchoftheoverallspendinyourcategoryyouarecapturing.Forexample,
whilegrocerystoreshavenotlostpenetration,wearestillshopping,theyhavelostshareofwalletaswe
spendlessongroceriesandmoreondiningout.Bothofthedimensionsareimportantforstartupsand
L&Dtounderstand.
NoteveryL&Dorganizationhasthemandateforalllearning.Thismeanstheaddressablemarketis
reducedperhapsbygeographyorbycontentfocus.However,thereisvalueinmanycasesforaunified
L&DorganizationandL&Dshouldbeabletoearntherighttoit.Forthepurposeofthisexample,letus
assumethattheL&Dorganizationdoeshaveaglobalmandatebothgeographicallyandforcontent.
Sinceweallknowthatthetoprightquadrantofanyfour-boxchartliketheonepresentedbelowisthe
bestandthelowerleftisnevergood.Forthisreason,letusfocusontheothertwo.Thisexampleisnot
meanttoprovideauniversaldiagnosisbutsimplyillustratehowthemarketsharedashboardcan
provideactionableinsights.
QuadrantA–Highpenetration/Lowshareofwallet
ThisquadrantmayrepresentaL&Dorganizationthatisservingalargepercentageoftheaddressable
marketbutahighpercentageoflearningspendisgoingelsewhere.Thiscouldbeareflectionofa
specializedgroup(i.e.newhire,leadershiporcompliancetrainingfocused).Thismayalsobean
indicatorofbusinessleaders’lackofdesiretoletgo,believingthatnooneelsecanunderstandtheir
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 78
business.Thewillingnesstosacrificequalityoflearningforcontrolandperceivedcredibilityisoftena
hiddencostfororganizations.Thiscostmayshowupinlostbuyingleveragewithvendorsorlost
productivityfromSME’spressedintolearningdutiesandnottomentionineffectivelearning.
QuadrantB–Lowpenetration/Highshareofwallet
Touchingasmallpartofthemarketbutbeingdeeplypartoftheirlearningeffortsmightbetheresultof
L&Dstaffhavingastrongfamiliaritywiththatbusinessoranexecutiveinthebusinessthat“getsit”.L&D
organizations,notunlikeallofus,tendtogowheretheyarewelcome.Ratherthantakethelongroadto
convertingnon-believers,organizationsmayfocustheirresourcesonpartsofthecompanywithfewer
barriers.TheproblemwithhavinganarrowcustomerbaseinL&Disthesameasinbusiness,ifthose
fewcustomersleave,thebusinessisintrouble.
ThegoalofthemarketsharedashboardistoprovideinsightontheaudiencecurrentlyservedbyL&D
andofferpossiblewaysinwhichthoserelationshipsmightbedeepened.Byshowingtheaudience
currentlyserved,thisdashboardalsomayhighlightopportunitiesforbroadeningthataudience.
Whethermarketpenetrationand/orshareofwalletisthegoal,thisdashboardmakesL&D’sprogress
againstthosegoalsvisible.
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 79
ThefollowingTDRPmetricsareexamplesofpossibleinputstothemarketdashboard.
UniqueParticipants
TotalParticipants
%reachedbyL&D
ParticipantsregisteredforILT
ParticipantscompletingILT
Participants,%completingILT
ParticipantsregisteredforvILT
ParticipantscompletingvILT
Participants,%completingvILT
ILTAttendance
TotalParticipantHoursofTraining
TrainingHoursperLearner
Aspresentedearlier,therearetwodimensionsofmarket:penetrationandshareofwallet.Whilethe
TDRPmetricsfocusontheexistingcapturedmarket(participants),bothpenetrationandshareofwallet
occurinthebroadercontextoftheentirecompany.Forthisreason,understandingthe%ofemployees
thatareparticipantsandhowthetrainingprovidedthroughtheL&Dorganization,whetherinternally
developedorsourced,comparestootherutilizedsourcesisanimportantdatapoint.Understanding
howmuchlearningcomesfromsourcesoutsideoftheL&Dorganizationsuchasdevelopedinthe
business,deliveredbysubjectmatterexpertsordirectlyprocured,areimportantadditionstothis
dashboard.WhatcanyouinferaboutanL&Dorganizationthatonlyserves30%oftheemployeesor
deliversonly25%ofthelearningconsumedinacompany?BasedonthecharterofL&D,theseresults
maybeeitherappropriateorasignofthecompanynotrecognizingthevaluethatL&Dcanbring.
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
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Dashboard4:Executive
Sharingdatawithexecutivesisakeyelementinbuildingrelationships,credibilityandsupport.After
decadesofrelyingonintuitionandgoodwillnowthatL&Dhasthedata,theurgeistoshowitoff.Allof
it.L&Discanbetooeagertodemonstratethemanyfacetsoftheorganizationanditsperformance.
Whilesharingdataisakeytoenhancingcredibility,itmustbetherightdata,deliveredintherightvalue
addingway.
NotefromJ.
Afterthereleaseofthefirstbook,whenEdTrolleyandIstarteddoingL&Dorganization
assessmentstogether,Iwastaskedwithcompilingandanalyzingthecollecteddata.Iwould
spenddaysreviewingandcrunchingnumbers,surveyresponsesandotherinformationwehad
collectedfromtheclient.Iwouldtakehourstopainstakinglybuildchartsandgraphs
representingtheresults,juxtaposingmultipledatapointstosupportourfindings.Thenwhen
thedraftpresentationdeckwasready,IwouldpresentitEd.Iwouldsitthereashestudiedmy
masterpiecethenhewouldpauseandaskonesimplequestion.“So,what?”
Theexecutivedashboardneedstobea"readandreact"dashboard.Unlikeactivity-basedmeasuresthat
showyouwhatyouhavedone,theexecutivedashboardprovideskeyoperatingmetricsthatallowthe
CLOandexecutivestoseehowL&Disperformingandhowitmightdosobetter.Inacar,thisisthe
differencebetweentheodometershowingyouhowfaryouhavedriven,andthespeedometershowing
howfastyouaregoingrightnow.KPI'smustbeactionableandmustbeactedupon.
Asalearningleader,youaresubmergedintheoperationsoftheL&Dorganization.CLOsunderstandthe
contextandimplicationsofthemetricswithoutneedingtohaveitexplained.Businessexecutivesonthe
otherhandaresubmergedintheirownbusinessnotL&D.Makesurethatwhenyouaresharingdata
withyourstakeholdersthattheyunderstandwhythedataisimportantandwhatyouaregoingtodoas
aresultofit.
AFinalNoteonDashboards
Dashboardsliketheexamplespresentedherearemeanttohelpprovideanactionablebaseofdatafor
strategydevelopmentandtotrackprogresstowardstheorganization’sgoals.Theseexample
dashboardsarenotmeanttobetheonlydashboardswatchedbyL&Dorthatthefourexamples
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presentedareofequalimportancetoeveryL&Dorganization.
EveryL&Dgroupmustdeterminethehighestvalueperformanceindicatorsforitscompanyandfocusits
attentionandeffortsthere.Ifthecompanyisgoingthroughaperiodofrapidchange,perhapsthe
productvelocitymetricsarethehighestpriority.Ifcostisparamounttoanorganization,thentheL&D
organizationmayturnitsattentionmoretowardstheportfoliomanagementdashboard.If
fragmentationinthesourcesoflearningsolutionsandtheresultingpoorqualitythatoftenaccompanies
isthefocus,thenL&D'sfocusmaybeonmarketshare.
Thissectiondoesnotmeantoimplythatthesedashboardsstandindependentfromoneanother.In
fact,likethecollectionofdatapointsthatmakeupeachdashboard,thedashboardsthemselvesarealso
veryinterrelated.Insightsfromtheportfoliodashboardmayhelpindeterminingthedriversofmarket
growthorloss.Anincreaseinsolutionvelocitymaybecontributingtothevitalityofthecurricula.
Growthinmarketsharemaycreateamorerobustpipelineofnewlearningsolutionstobedesigned,
developedanddelivered.Drawinginsightnotsimplyfromasingledatapointordashboardbutfromall
canhelpaCLOtobetterunderstandhowL&D'sservicedeliverymodelisworking.
Acolleagueoncetoldmethatyoucannottellthedirectionacarismoving,ifatall,fromasnapshot.
Dashboardresultsmustbeputintothecontextofhistoricalperformanceandfuturegoals.Theaddition
ofdashboardtrendsovertimeiscriticaltoaddingthiscontext.Dataisvaluable,notwhenitiscaptured,
butratherwhenitisputtoworktodriveimprovedvalue.
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DataDrivenExecution:DiscussionQuestions
• Whatareyourcustomers(learners,managersandexecutives)tellingyouthroughtheir
behavior?
• Whatmetricsareyouwatching?Howareyouputtingyourdatatoworkforyou?
• HowisyourL&Dorganizationtrackingvelocity?
• Howisyourorganizationmanagingthecurricula?
• HowmuchofthelearninginyourcompanyisyourL&Dorganizationsupporting?
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ANewFramework
Onepictureisworthtenthousandwords
-Chineseproverb
RunningTrainingLikeaBusinessintroducedaframeworkcalledDynamicBusinessScorecard(DBS).DBS
wasdevelopedbyacolleague,BillFonvielle.Billsawthatwhilethebusinessworldhasgrownenamored
withtheworkofNortonandKaplanonBalancedScorecard,thatmetricsworkbestwhenthedrivers
anddependenciesofthevariouselementscouldbemademorevisible.TheDBSdisplaysthedriversof
results,notsimplytheresults.Thismakesdiagnosisandcommunicationmorestraightforward.Using
theDBS,organizationscoulddeterminehowtheywereperformingacrossthevaluechainandwhen
somethinggoeswrong,rootcauseiseasiertodetermine.
RunningTrainingLikeaBusiness
Throughoutthisbook,IhavesoughttoexplainwhyIbelievethatthenewL&Dorganizationhasnew
requirements.Theymustbeabletoconsistentlydeliverthemeasurablevalueneeded.Inordertodo
thisL&Dmust:
§ Becharacterizedastheexperimenters.
§ Createanorganizationthattries,failsandtriessomemore.
§ Acknowledgethatinthisperiodofrapidchange,onewaytoservetheircompanyistoembrace
aprocessofrapidreleaseswithaquickiterativefeedbackcycle.
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Forthisreason,theframeworkbywhichweviewlearningorganizationsmustsupportthesenew
requirementsandthisiterativeprocessaswell.WhilethedynamicbusinessmodelhasservedL&Dwell,
ittooisinneedofanupdate.
TheLearningModelCanvas
Manyoftoday'sfastestgrowingstartupshaveaddressedtheneedforsupportingrapidlychanging
businessrequirementsbyabandoningmulti-yearbusinessplansinfavoroftheBusinessModelCanvas
(BMC).TheBMCwasdevelopedbyAlexanderOsterwalder,aSwissbusinesstheorist,consultantand
authorofBusinessModelGeneration.
Startupsfindthatthecanvasisapowerfultoolforfocusing,creatingacommonlanguage,makingthe
systemvisibleanddrivingstakeholderalignment.TheBMCisalsomulti-purpose,servingas:an
assessmenttool,anactionchecklist,acommunicationtool,andanongoingscorecard.TheBMCis
treatedasalivingdocument,continuouslyevolvinginthisfast-movingworldofbusiness.Adaptingthe
approachandlearningsfromtheBMC,anewframeworkforthinkingaboutacompany'slearning
organizationisalsoinorder.
TheLearningModelCanvas
SimilartotheBMC,theLearningModelCanvas(LMC)isanchoredbythevaluepropositionwedescribed
inthediscussiononCLOcommunication.Themodelcontainsfivecoreareas.Foreacharea,abrief
descriptionisprovidedbelow.Thepagesthatfollowwillprovideadditionaldetailoneacharea.Inthis
section,eachoftheseareaswillbeusedtohelpyoubetterunderstandthecurrentstateofyour
organization'smodel.Thefivecoreareasare:
§ Customer
§ ProductsandService
§ ServiceDeliveryModel
§ StrategyandGovernance
§ InvestmentandReturn
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Customer
Alearningorganization'scustomersfallacrossmultiplesegments;learners,managersandexecutives.
Eachofthesesegmentshasitsownsetofrequirementsandneeds.Byclarifying theexpectationsof
eachofthesecustomersegments,alearningorganizationcansmartlyinformitsvalueproposition.By
identifyingthecustomerexperiencerequired,L&Dcanoptimizeitschannelstolearnersandimproveits
productstodrivebetterbusinessresultsforthewholecompany.
Products&Services
ThisareaoftheLearningModelCanvasbringsthevaluepropositiontolife.Whatyouareofferingdrives
thedeliveryofthevaluepropositiontoyourcustomersanddefineswhatyourservicedeliverymodel
lookslike.Thisareaalsoincludesthemanagementoftheproductsandservicesrequiredtosupportthe
entirelifecycleofalearningsolution.
ServiceDeliveryModel
Thisareadescribeshowthelearningorganizationoperatesinawaythatmeetstherequirements
definedbythecustomerexpectations,theresultingvalueproposition,andtheproductsandservices
thatdeliveronthevaluepromise.Thisareaincludeswhatneedstobedone,howitwillbedoneand
whowilldoit.TheservicedeliverymodelareaoftheLMCalsochallengesustoaskwhatnewactivities,
likecurationorsocialmediafacilitation,notcurrentlyencompassedbythelearningorganization,need
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tobeincludedbasedontheresultsthatcustomersexpect.
Finally,thisarearequiresL&Dtore-evaluatedoingityourselfversusoutsourcing.Whenthewayin
whichyouaccomplishkeyactivitiesisrapidlychanging,companiesoftenpushtheburdenofthatchange
onpartnersratherthantakingitonthemselves.AglobaltechnologycompanyIworkedwithhadagoal
ofturningoveracertainpercentageofitssoftwareengineerseveryyear.Thisallowedthemtobringin
knowledgeofcurrentprogrammingtechnologiesinsteadofutilizingoutsidepartnerstoscaleupand
downandgainaccesstonewexpertiseandexperience.Ithinkwecanallagreethatuseofpartners
ratherthandrivingturnoverisamuchbetterlong-termapproach.
Strategy&Governance
Alignmentandmanagementofthelearningorganizationisdescribedinthisareaof theLearningModel
Canvas.Throughstrategicgovernanceandsteeringcommittees,dashboardsandcommunication
strategies,thisareaensureswhatthecompanyneedsarebeingmetinthemostefficient andeffectivewayspossible.Thisareaalsobringsintofocustheneedtokeepkeystakeholdersengagedandinformed
inordertocontinuouslyimprovethevaluedeliveredbyL&D.
Investment&Return
ThefinalareaoftheLMCcapturesthevaluebeingdeliveredandthetotalinvestmentthatthe largerenterpriseismakinginordertodeliveronthevalueproposition.Frequently,organizationslookonlyat
thedirectcostlineitemsrelatedtolearningsuchaspayroll,travelandthird-partyspend.These
organizationsfrequentlyfailtocapturetheinvestmentmadeintheformofsubjectmatterexperttime,
lostemployeeproductivitycausedbybeingawayfromjob,andotherlessobviouscosts.Inone
organization,anassessmentfoundthatwhiletheirtrainingstafftoemployeeratioreflectedahighly
efficientorganization,thecompanywasinvestingmorethantheentiretrainingdepartment'spayrollin
subjectmatterexperts'timealone.L&Dhadeffectivelytransferredonebudgettoanothermakingitself
lookbetterwhilemakingtheinvestmentbeingmadeinlearningbythecompanymoredifficultto
captureandmanage.
StillDynamic
SimilartotheBMC,alearningorganization'sLearningModelCanvasismeanttoevolveastheneedsof
theorganizationanditscustomerchange.Ongoingconversationswithcustomers,aswellasfeedback
fromsteeringcommitteesandmetricsdashboards,mustcontinuouslybeusedtoensuretherequired
valueproposition,theproduct,servicesandtheorganizationtosupportitallcontinuestodeliver
unmistakablevalue.
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CustomerDomain
WebeginourdiveintothedomainsoftheLearningModelCanvaswiththecustomer.Thefirststepto
delightingyourcustomersisunderstandingwhotheyare.Notunlikeenterprisesoftwarecompanies,
L&Dhasthreedistinctcustomersegments,eachofwhichmustbesatisfiedinordertosucceed.For
software,thesesegmentsmightbethepayor,whofundsthepurchase(executive),thebuyer,who
selectsthesoftware(seniormanager)andtheuser(employee).ForL&Dorganizations,theyare;
executives,managersandlearners.Whilebothexecutivesandmanagersareoftenalsolearners,forour
purposeswewilltreattheseasroles,nottitles.
§ Executivesareinvestingresources,whichisoftencompetingwithotherpossibleareasof
investmentsthatcanhelpthemadvancetheirbusiness’goals.
§ Managersareinvestingtheirpeople'stime(lostproductivity,replacementcost,etc.)inorderto
advancetheirunit'sgoals.
§ Learnersareinvestingtheirtimeinordertoadvancetheirpersonalgoals(promotion,increased
productivity,etc.).
Foreachofthesecustomersegments,theL&Dorganizationmustworktounderstandtheexpectations
ofthecustomerandbasedonthatdetermineL&D’sperformance.
Expectations
Itiswidelyacceptedthatdissatisfactioncomesnotfromabsoluteperformancebutfrommissed
expectations.Youneedlooknofurtherthanyourlastbudgetairlineexperienceforproof.Delays,small
seatsandpoorservicewouldusuallyleadtocomplaintcallsandrefunddemands.Instead,whenasked
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aboutservicefromalowbudgetairline,mostofuswouldsay,"ItwasOK."Thereasonforthisisthe
sameonethatisseen,fartoooften,inL&D.Aspartofthemanyassessmentsconductedovertheyears,
hundredsofinterviewshavecapturedthelevelofexecutivesatisfactionwithL&D.Ourreports
repeatedlycontainaphraseEdTrolleycoinedlongagoatForum,"Executiveshavelowexpectationsof
L&Dandtheyarebeingmet."
Itisforthisreasonthatitisimportanttonotonlyidentifycurrentexpectationsbuttoalsounderstand
thembyasking"why?"Withoutanunderstandingoftheexpectations,allL&Dhastogaugeitscurrent
performanceagainstisthecustomerfeedback."ItwasOK."Whilethismayfeelgoodtosome,itdistorts
thetrueperceptionofL&Dbythecompany.Thetrueperceptioncanlikelybeseenindirectlyinbudget
reduction,tepidexecutivesupportforinitiativesandlearningbeingdonewithinthebusinessesrather
thanutilizingmoreskilledL&Dresources.Thejobofthelearningorganizationisnottosimplymeetthe
expectationsthatcurrentlyexistbuttoworktoraisethoseexpectations.L&Dneedstobesaying,"You
shouldexpectmoreandwecandeliverit."
Whiletheexecutivecustomersegmentisusedintheexampleabove,thisprincipleappliestoall
customersegments.Managersfrequentlyjustwanttogettheirstaffbackmorequicklytominimizetheir
investment.Learnersmaybringnegativeexpectationsintoacompliancesessionbecausetheyfeelitisa
"checkthebox"sessionthatrequiresnothingmorethantheirbuttinaseat.Fallingshortofhigh
expectationsisbetterthanmeetinglowones.PeterDiamandis,founderofSingularityUniversityandX
Prize,anon-profitorganizationthatdesignsandmanagespubliccompetitions,intendedtoencourage
technologicaldevelopmentthatbenefithumanity,statesthatgettinghalfwaytoabillion-dollargoalis
farbetterthangettingallthewaytoamilliondollarone.
Experience
Softwarestartupstalkabout"totalcostofownership"(TCO)asawaytodescribetruecosttoa
customer.Thereareamultitudeoffactorsthatneedtobeincludedincost,whichwillbediscussed
further,inthesectionontheInvestmentandReturnareaoftheLearningModelCanvas.Butthe
conceptofTCOappliestotheexperienceanyofthethreecustomersegmentshavehadwithL&D.Itis
notjustwhatgotdone,buthowitgotdone.
Thinkaboutcallingyourcablecompanytogeta$10errantchargeoffyourbill.Youmayaccomplishthe
goalofremovingthecharge.Butthehow,whichincludedanhouronholdfollowedby30minuteson
thephoneandthreerepresentativeescalationseachresultinginthere-explainingtheproblem,needs
tobeconsideredaswell.Wasitworthit?Whenthecustomers'expectationshavebeenproperly
capturedthese"how"costscanthenbeincludedinthemeasurementoftheexperience.
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4.15.19v2 89
CustomersofL&Dmayfeelthatthetrainingwasgreatbutfindingtherightcourseandsigningupforit
wastime-consumingordifficult.Managersmayfeelthatthelearningdeliveredwasgreatbuttheuseof
SMEswastootime-consuming.Startupsrecognize‘UX’,userexperience,asbeinganimportantpartof
theirsuccess.Thisservestofocusthestartupontheentireexperience,notsimplythetransaction.L&D
mustdothesame.
Performance=Experience-Expectations
Whileperformancemaylookliketheresultofasimpleequation,itisinthecombinationofthe
performanceresultsfromvariouscustomersegmentswheretheinsightcanbefound.Letustakeahigh-
levellookathowcombiningperformancedatafromvariouscustomersegmentsprovidesadditional
insight.Asalways,thesearenotmeanttobeauniversaldiagnosisbutsimplyexamplesofpossible
causes.Theperceptionsofeachoftheaudiences,whencombined,canbedirectional.Suchaswhen
executivesareimpressedbyashrinkingbudgetorlearnersaretheonlyonescheeringforlearning.
+positiveperception-negativeperception
WhatevertheperformanceresultsforaL&Dorganization,havingaclearsetofcustomerexpectationsis
critical.ItisfromtheseexpectationsthatCLOscandesigntheproductsandservicesneededandthe
servicedeliverymodelthatwilldeliverthebestexperiencetothecustomersofL&D.Beyondtheinitial
design,itisfromtheseperformanceresultsthatL&Dcancontinuetoimproveandoptimizethem.
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ProductsandServices
FollowingthereleaseofthefirstbookwhentheDBSwasintroducedtoclients,Iusedtoalwayssaythat
itoperatedfromlefttoright.Peopleandprocessdroveproductstocustomersthatdeliveredthe
businessresults.Iaddedthatithadtobebuiltfromrighttoleft,anchoredbythebusinessresults
desiredbythecustomer.Althoughthemodelhaschangedfromthedynamicbusinessscorecardtothe
LearningModelCanvas,thecoreprincipleisthesame.Yourproductsandservicesmustallstartwiththe
customer'sexpectations.
Forstartups,thealignmentbetweenacustomer'sneedandthesolutionofferediscalled
Product/MarketFit(PMF).PMFoccurswhenastartupfindsasignificantlysizedsetofcustomersthat
resonatewithitsproduct.ThePMFconceptwasdevelopedandnamedbyAndyRachleff,co-founderof
BenchmarkCapital,abillion-dollarventurecapitalfundthathasinvestedinmorethan500startups.
Rachleffsays,"Ifthedogsareeatingthedogfood--thenyoucanscrewupalmosteverythinginthe
companyandyouwillsucceed.Conversely,ifyou'rereallygoodatexecutionbutthedogsdon'twantto
eatthedogfood,youhavenochanceofwinning."
AnL&Dorganization'sproductsandservicesarethetangibleembodimentofthevaluepropositionthat
deliversthesolutionthatisrequiredandhasbeendefinedbythecustomer.Therehasbeenplenty
writtenaboutcurriculumevaluation,catalogmanagementandmodalitymix.Allareimportant.The
caveatisthatwhilethingslikequalityandadministrationcanbejudgedintheabstract,dimensionssuch
asmodalityandcontentselectioncanonlybeevaluatedinthecontextofcustomerrequirements.By
recognizingthedifferencebetweenbestpractice,benchmarksorgenerictargets,andthosethatare
customerdefined,youavoidchasinggoalsthatmayinadvertentlymoveL&DawayfromPMF.
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SohowdoesanL&DorganizationknowifitsproductsandserviceshaveachievedthePMFpromisedby
itsvalueproposition?TherearetwoverystraightforwardwaysforaCLOtomeasurethelevelofPMF.
Onemeasurementisaddition-basedandtheotherissubtraction-based.
In2003,whenFredReichheldpublished"TheOneNumberYouNeedtoGrow"hechangedtheworldof
measuringcustomersatisfactionforasecondtime.Hehadfirstdonesowhenhisbook"TheLoyalty
Effect"provedthattop-boxscoringwasmeaninglessandthatonlycustomersthatratedyouthehighest
showedanybehavioraldifferencetothoseinthemiddle.Badwasstillbad,ofcourse.NetPromoter
Score(NPS)washisnextcustomersatisfactionbombshell.
Reichheld'srecognitionthatinordertogrowandsolidifyitscustomerbase,acompanymustturnits
customersintosalespeoplestemsfromhisLoyaltyEffectworkthattermedthesehighlyloyalcustomers
"evangelists".Therefore,thenumberoftheseevangelists,lessthenumberofdetractors,asakeymetric
isasimple,measurableandnowwidelyadoptedapproach.NPSappliestointernalorganizations,such
asL&D,aswell.Wordofmouthisonlypossibleifyouhavedelightedyourcustomer.Youcannotdelight
yourcustomers,allthreesegments,unlessyouhavePMF.Additionalcustomers,additionalinteractions,
additionalvalue,italladdsup.WithsomecompanieslikeJetblueandVanguardreportingnetpromoter
scoresinthe70’s,accordingtoDeloitte,theNPSforL&Dis-31atthetimeofthiswriting!
ThesecondtestofPMFisbasedonsubtraction.Overthepasttwodecades,anumberofclient
companieshavestruggledwithbloatedcatalogsofofferings.Thousandsofcourses,whilegoodfor
meaninglessmetricbenchmarking,tendtosufferfromlowutilizationduetoagingirrelevanceor
businessstrategyshifts.Manyclientswilloftenciteyearlonginitiativestoevaluateandmake
recommendationsregardingthefateofindividualofferingswithinthecurricula.Recognizingthat
complianceofferingsareaseparateanimal,asimplerapproachissimply,"stopitallandseewhatis
missed".
L&Doftenappearstobetoofocusedon,"whatmorecanwedo?"ratherthan,"whatcanwestop
doing?"Thismaystemfromdecadesofbudgetcutsoritmaybetheresultofwhatstartupscall"vanity
metrics".Forstartups;thisequatestometricssuchasnewsign-upsornewfeaturespushed,bothof
whichdonotreflectthevaluedelivered.Didasign-upbecomeanactiveuser?Isthecustomergetting
morevaluefromthosefeaturesandcanyoutellthatfromtheirbehavior?ForL&D,thehoursdelivered
metricisoneofthesevanitymetrics.Withtheprevalenceofwhattheindustrycalls“scraplearning”,
howdoesthismeasurevalue?Numberofavailablelearningofferingsisanothersimilarlyuselessmetric.
Sizereallydoesn'tmatter.
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InthespiritofNPS,simpleandeasytocollect,perhapsL&Dneedstoadoptanothersimplemetric.The
PerceivedValueScore(PVS).PVSisusedtodeterminehowmanycustomerswouldbedistraughtifthey
couldn'thaveyourproduct/serviceanymore.LiketheNPS,itreliesonasinglequestion.
"Onascalefrom"extremelyimpacted"[10]to"wouldnotnotice"[1],howwouldyourbusinessbe
affectedifourL&Dsolutionswentaway?"
Thismetriccanbeusedatthesingleofferinglevel,withmanagersregardingallthelearningprovidedto
theirbusinessunit,orwithexecutivestocapturethevalueofL&Dasawhole.Thismetricisscored
similarlytotheNPS.OnlythemostimpactedcountasL&Devangelistsandthenthatnumberisreduced
bythenumberofrespondentsonthe"wouldnotnotice"endofthespectrum.
ThesetwosimplequestionsarecrucialtounderstandingthelevelthatL&D'sproductsandserviceshave
achievedPMF.
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ServiceDeliveryModel
TheServiceDeliveryModel(SDM)areaoftheLMCensuresthattheorganizationisdesignedfromtopto
bottomtodelivertheproductsandservicesrequiredtofulfillthevalueproposition.Becausecustomer
expectations,andthereforevaluepropositions,forL&Dwillbecompanyspecific,everyL&D
organizationmaylookdifferent.TheSDMhasfivecoreareas;process,technology,suppliers,people,
andmanagement.
§ Process:InRunningTrainingLikeaBusiness,thevariousprocessesessentialtotheL&D
organizationwerehighlightedanddiscussed.Whiletheprocesseshaveevolvedsince,theneed
tohaveclearlydefinedanddocumentedprocessesisevenmoreimportanttoday.Fluidteams,
anincreasedpaceandthecontinuouspushforoptimizationmakeprocessexistenceand
managementarequiredcorecompetencyfortoday'sL&Dorganizations.
§ Technology:Whenthefirstbookwasreleased,eLearningwasstillinitsinfancy.Today,new
learningtechnologiesseeminglylauncheveryweek.Fromdeliveryplatformstotoolsfor
development,communication,feedbackcollectionandcollaboration,L&Dmustalwaysbeon
thelookoutfornewtechnologies.Notforthesakeofhavinganew"toy"butrathertoidentify
moreefficientandeffectivewaysofdeliveringitsvalueproposition.
§ Suppliers:ThelandscapeofserviceproviderstoL&Dorganizationsisinconstantmotion.The
selection,evaluationandmanagementofsuppliersisofgreatimportance.Thisimportanceis
amplifiedbytherequirementtoachievebetterfocusandleveragefromtheinternalL&D
organization.
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§ People:ThemakeupofthetypicalL&Dorganizationischanging.Oncefullofinstructional
designersanddevelopers,today'sL&Dorganizationrequirestechnologists,curators,data
scientistsandpeopleskilledinproductmanagement.Ensuringthattheteam'scapabilities,
structureandrolesareinalignmentwiththevaluepropositionisessential.
§ Leadership:Thetopoftheorganizationmustcontainthethreecapabilities(productexecution,
customerrelationship,innovationleadership)describedintheearlierTeamsection.The
leadershipofL&Dmustcontaintheinternallyfocusedskillstoleadinitiativessuchasprocess
improvementanddatastrategyandtheleadershipstyletomanageateaminatimeofrapid
changeandexperimentation.
Servicedeliverymodeldesignisakeyforthesuccessofstartups,oftendeterminingthefeasibilityof
theirbusiness.L&Dorganizationsarenodifferent.Onlywithaclearviewofwhatisneededtodeliveron
thevaluepropositioncanaCLOconfidentlyrecruitorreskilltheirteam,organizeandallocateresources,
selectpartners,andchooseoutsourceproviders.L&Dbuiltinthiswayisdesignedtodeliverthevalueits
customersrequire.
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StrategyandGovernance
RunningTrainingLikeaBusinessfocusedontheimportantchallengeofeffectivelyensuringbusiness
linkage.Oneofthetoolssuggestedforincreasinglinkagedescribedinthebookwasgovernanceboards.
Thisemphasiswasbecause,withouttheclearlinkagetotheobjectivesofthebusiness,theopportunity
todrivevalueisseverelylimited.Adecadeafterbeingpublished,CorporateUniversityXchange
conductedasurveyofover150companies.Thesurveyfoundthatonly60%wereusinganexecutive
governingboardandonly10%sawitashighlyeffective.So,whilehavingaboardisrecognizedas
valuable,ensuringitperformswellisevenmoreimportant.
Asanindustry,thetalkofgettinga"seatatthetable"continuesalmosttwodecadesafterthefirstbook
wasreleased.So,whatislimitingtheeffectivenessofL&D'sgoverningbodies?WhyisitthatCorporate
UniversityXchangeconcludedthat"thebusinesslinkageoflearninganddevelopmentdwindlesasissues
becomemorestrategic"?Inworkwithmanycompanies,thegovernanceprocesshasproventobea
powerfulconnectiontothebusiness.IftheServiceDeliveryModelisseenasthe"body"oftheL&D
organization,thenthegovernanceprocessisthe"head".
Inadditiontotheirinvestors,startupstypicallyhaveasecondgroupofoutsidesupport,theadvisory
board.Advisorscanbeindustryexperts,individualswithstrongnetworksrelevanttothestartup’sgoals
orsimplywellrespectedfellowentrepreneurs.Asyoucanimagine,manyoftheseadvisorsaresought
outbymultiplestartupsputtingastrainonanadvisor’stime.Inordertosetclearexpectations,many
startupsuseaformaladvisoragreementthatincludesspecificsconcerningthecommitment,numberof
meetings/calls/emails,andservicesexpectedfromtheadvisor,suchaspromotion,recruiting,contacts
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andprojectsupport.Whiletheformalityofacontractisalsorequiredduetothestockcompensation
manyadvisorsreceive,theclarityforboththestartupandtheadvisorisinvaluable.
ForL&Dorganizationswewilllookatgovernanceinthree-tiers.Eachtierofadvisorshasitsown
participantsandobjectives.
Strategic
Tactical
Operational
Thefirsttierisstrategic.MorethanseniorlevelmoralsupportforL&D,thisgroupofseniorexecutives
ensuresstrategicalignmentandprovidesimportantorganizationalfeedback.Meetingonceortwicea
year,thisgroupideallyconsistsofexecutivechampionswithstrongcredibilityamongsttheirpeers.The
objectiveofthistieristoprovidestrategicdirectionfortheL&Dorganization.Typicallyheldinthe
fourthfiscalquarter,thisstrategicgroupmeetingandtheassociatedannualreportcanbeanimportant
precursortobudgeting.
Thesecondtierismoretacticalandconsistsofseniorbusinessmanagers.Thisgroupmeetsquarterly.In
additiontofacilitatingfeedbackcollectiononperformanceandkeyindicators.Thequarterlymeetings
arefocusedondiscussionsinvolvingtheprioritizationofneedsand,whereappropriate,removalofany
barrierstoL&D’sperformancethatmayexistwithinthebusiness.Thesebarriersmayincludelimited
managerengagementoradditionalaccesstoneededsubjectmatterexpertsforsolutiondevelopment.
Thefinaltierofgovernanceisoperationallyfocused.Participantsinthistierfrequentlymeetmonthlyto
provideprogramlevelfeedback.ConsistingoflinemanagersandkeyL&Dresources,including
relationshipmanagersandsolutionarchitects.Thisgroup’smeetingsareprimarilyfocusedonnear-
termactionsthatcanbetakentoimproveresultsandoncapturinglearningsfromcurrentactivitiesto
improvefutureactivities.
Fastgrowingstartupsmustusetheiradvisorstotheirbestadvantageinordertosucceed.Atthe
strategiclevel,startupsworkwiththeirinvestorstocapturevaluefromthembeyondmonetarysuchas
keycustomerintroductions.Atamoretacticallevel,leadingfounderscollectagroupofkeyadvisorsto
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helpthemsolvecomplexproblems.Finally,attheoperationallevel,frequentmeetingsthatinclude
solutionsleadsandkeycustomersarecriticaltoacceleratingproductimprovements.
AshighlightedbytheCorporateUniversityXchangereport,L&Dmustfocusonnotjusthavinggroupsof
stakeholdersbutmustensurethatitisgettingthemostfromtheseimportantgroups.IfL&Dfailstodo
thistheyarewastingthetimeoftheseimportantstakeholdersaswellastheirown.Belowarestartup
bestpracticesthatcanhelpL&DgetthemostoutofStrategyandGovernancestructure.
§ Usealllevelsofadvisors'timewisely-Alltheparticipantsinthesethreetiershavemany
demandsontheirtime.Thisraisesthebarforallmeetingswiththem.Preparatorymaterials,
focusedagendas,andstrongfacilitationareallrequiredtoavoidadvisorymeetingsfrom
becomingavictimofthebusycalendarsofthemembers.
§ Don'tstaylocal-Whileitmaybeeasytoselectparticipantsbasedonlocation,itisimportant
thattheadvisorygroupsreflectgeographyofL&D'scustomerbase.Withtechnologynowwidely
availableforvirtualcollaborationandmeetings,thereisnoreasontosettleforagoodadvisor
whoisnearbyratherthanthebestadvisorelsewhereinthecompany.
§ Getdiversified-GroupsneedtoaccuratelyrepresentthecustomersbeingservedbyL&D.Make
surethatparticipantsarecontributingdiversepointsofview,especially,inthetacticaland
operationaltiersofadvisors,L&Dcanbenefitgreatlyfromthesediverseperspectives.
§ Setthegroundrules-L&Dhastosetupcleargroundrulesinordertogetmaximumvaluefrom
itsadvisors.Candidandproductiveconversationsarenecessarytoachievetheobjectivesof
eachgroup.Establishingasharedsetofrulesofengagement,capturedinanadvisoragreement
canmeanthedifferencebetweenafeel-goodmeetingthatresultsinnovalueandanhonest
onethatdeliversresults-producinginput.
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Investment&Return
ThekeystothisareaoftheLearningModelCanvas(LMC)are:
§ changingthediscussionfromcosttoinvestment,
§ understandingthetruecostsoftraining,
§ andusingtheinformationinanactive,ratherthanhistorical,way.
RunningTrainingLikeaBusinessdiscussedtheimportanceofuncoveringthetruefullcostsoftraining.
Visiblecosts,suchasthirdpartyspendandthesalariesofL&Dstaff,arecommonlyrecognized.Italso
presentedthreecategoriesofhiddencoststhatareoftennotincludedinthediscussion.Thesehidden
elementsareessentialtoreframingthedialogueasoneofinvestmentandworthrevisitinghere.Early
stagecompaniesarewellversedintheeconomicssystemoftheirmarket.Hiddencostscanoftenmean
thedifferencebetweenadoptionandextinction.Makinghiddencostvisibleontheotherhandcanoften
unlockthetruevaluebeingdelivered.
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
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RunningTrainingLikeaBusiness
Let'sbeginwiththecostoflostopportunity.Thiselementofcostisusuallynotincludedinthe
investmentdiscussions.Theopportunitycostcapturesthelossassociatedwithnotreceivingthevalue
thatcomeswithimprovedperformance.Thisperformanceimprovementopportunitymayinclude;
additionalsales,lowerhiringcosts,decreasedtimetoproductivityandreducedattrition.Thisrepresents
thecostofdoingnothing.Turningthislostopportunityintovaluethroughtheprovisionoflearningis
thereturnthatisbeingsought.Forexample,ifacompany'ssalescloseratioisbelowtheindustry
averageandlearningcanbeusedtoimprovethisratio,thentheopportunitycostisthedeltabetween
thecurrentperformanceandtheindustryaverage.
Example1
§ Salesaudience(A)100salespeople
§ Averagesales(S)$500,000
§ Closeratio(C)15%
§ Industryaveragecloseratio(I)25%
§ Opportunitycostpersalesperson(O)=(I-C)*Sor(25%-15%)*$500,000=$50,000
§ Totalopportunitycost=O*Aor$50,000*100=$5,000,000
Inthiscase,theOpportunityCostorcostofdoingnothingis$5,000,000inlostsalesrevenue!
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
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Calculatinglostopportunityfornon-salesrolesispossibleaswell.Forserviceroles,efficiencyinthe
formofcallshandledoranotheractivitycanbeconvertedtoadollaramountbytakingthefullcostof
thatemployee(salary,benefits,space,etc.)anddividingthatbythecapacityofanindividual
contributor.
Example2
§ Customerservicerepresentativeaudiencesize(A)1500
§ Customerservicerepresentativecost(S)=$30,000
§ AverageannualcallcapacityperCSR(C)=2,000
§ Highperformercallcapacity(H)=2,600
§ Costpercall(P)=$17.50
§ OpportunitycostperCSR(O)=(H-C)*Por(2600-2000)*$17.501%= $10,500
§ Totalopportunitycost=O*Aor$10,500*1500=$15,750,000
InExample2,ifalearningsolutioncanbedeliveredsuchthatitresultsina20%improvementin
efficiency(morecallshandledperCSR)theresultisover$15Mincostsavings,orrecaptured
opportunity.Similarly,wecanalsocalculatetheopportunitycostforsofterskills.Ifmanagementisa
driverofattrition,thentheopportunitycostisafunctionofthehiring,onboardingandtimeto
productivityforreplacementstaff.Thecostofdoingnothingtoaddresssub-parperformanceisnever
nothing.ItisimportantthatL&Disabletoframetheexistingcostsascontextfortheproposed
investment.
Nowthatwehaveidentifiedthecurrentstatecosts,wecanturnourattentiontounderstandingthefull
investmentrequiredtoaddresstheperformancegap.Inadditiontothevisibleexpenditures,wemust
alsocapturethehiddenones.Whilewastedorscraplearningisamoresubjectivehiddencost,lost
productivityisquantifiableandanimportantpartoftheequationthatisoftenoverlooked.Thesimplest
waytodeterminelostproductivityisbytakingtheannualrevenuesofthecompanyanddividingthatby
theemployeebase.Thisisastandardeconomicmeasureusedbybusinesses,financialmarketsand
governmentstoreflectthevalueofoutputperinput,inthiscaseinputisanemployee.Thiscanthenbe
usedtodeterminethelostproductivitywhiletheemployeesareawayfromtheirjobsandintraining.
Example3
§ Companyannualrevenues(R)=$10,000,000,000
§ Employees(E)=20,000
§ Revenueperemployee(P)=$500,000
§ Workingdaysperyear(D)=(365-weekedends-holidays-vacationtime)=220
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
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§ Productivityperday=P/Dor$500,000/220=$2,272
NotefromJ
Makingthecostoflostproductivityvisibleisalsoapowerfultoolindemonstratingthevalueof
modalitychangesthatresultintimecompressionorlesstimeawayfromthejob.Consider
workingwithaclienttoconvertahighvolumeeight-hourclassroomsessiontoathree-hour
eLearningsolution.Withover10,000learnerseveryyearthereductionoffivehoursoftime
awayfromthejobreturnedover10milliondollars’worthofunproductivetothebusiness,far
outstrippingthecostofconversion.
UsingourExample1fromabove,wecannowhaveatrueinvestmentdiscussionwithabusiness
sponsor.
"Ourcurrentsub-parsalesperformanceiscostingusfivemilliondollarsayear.L&Dcanclose
thatgapthroughdeliveryofalearningsolution.Thehalf-daysolutionincludingdevelopment,
deploymentandothercostsforyour100salespeoplewillrequireaninvestmentof$125,000.
Evenifthesolutiononlycloseshalfofthegap,youarestillrecapturing$2,500,000ofthelost
opportunityforrevenue.Isa20Xtoplinereturnoninvestmentintrainingyourteamsomething
youmightbeinterestedin?"
WithL&Dnowlookingatinvestmentandreturninthefulllight,howL&Dusesthisinformationisthe
finalpointtocover.Todoso,weagainlookathowhighperformingstartupsaremanagingtheir
investmentinbuildinganddeliveringproducttotheircustomers.Forstartups,thisisbestexemplifiedby
"burnrate".Burnrateisthepaceatwhichastartupisconsumingtheinvestmentfunding.Muchlike
L&D,startupsareoperatingonafixedbudgetpriortogeneratingsignificantrevenues.UnlikeL&D,
startupsusethisfixedbudgetasadailyfocusingmechanism,notahistoricalaccounting.
Investmentsinstartupsaregenerallymadeatseveralpointsduringthelifeofthestartup.Thesepoints
areoftendelineatedbytheachievementofimportantmilestonessuchasproductlaunch,numberof
customersacquiredorrevenuetargets.Whataburnratedoesforstartupsisplaceatimelimitonthe
achievementofthosemilestones.Becausetimeoncespentcannotberegained,startupsarevigilantin
trackingwheretheyareeverydayontheprogresstowardsmilestones(valuedelivered)versus
investment.Startupscannotwaitfortheclocktorunoutandthenlookbacktoseehowtheydid.
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
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ForL&D,themilestonesarealmostalwaysbasedonthebudgetcycleandtheimpliedburnrateissimply
adivisionofthebudgetacrosstheyear.ThegoalofL&D,atanygivenpointintheyear,istohave
deliveredmorevaluethaninvestmentburned.Whilethisisnotalwayspossible,projectkickoffsorlarge
initiativesmaytemporarilycausetheinvestmentamounttobeabovethevaluedeliveredamount,it
shouldbeafocusoftheorganization.Forexample,anL&Dorganizationwitha$10millionbudgethasa
burnrateof$45,000perday.Thismeansthatinordertobeonthepositivevaluesidebytheendof
January,L&Dshouldhavedeliveredatleastamilliondollarsofvaluetoitscustomers.Bykeepingburn
ratetopofmind,L&Davoidsgettingtoitsannualmilestoneonlytorealizethatithasnotdelivered
enoughvalueandcannotgetthetimeorinvestmentback.
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
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ANewFramework:DiscussionQuestions
• HowareyouthinkingabouttheoperatingmodelyourL&Dorganization?
• Howareyouandyourteammanagingtheexpectationsofyourcustomers?
• HowdoyouthinkyourcustomerswouldanswertothePVSquestion?Whatdoyouthinkarethe
keystoimprovingthatscore?
• HowhaveyoudesignedyourL&Dorganizationtodeliverthevalueyourcustomerrequires?
• HowareyoukeepingL&Dconnectedatalllevelsofthecompany?
• IsL&Dseenasaninvestmentoracostinyourorganization?Whydoyouthinkthatisthecase?
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Section3:Launch
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 105
GetStarted
"Agoodplanviolentlyexecutednowisbetterthanaperfectplanexecutednextweek"
- GeorgeS.Patton
RunningTrainingLikeaBusinessoutlinedthephasesoftheLearningOrganization’stransformation.The
transformationphases;assessing,planning,installingandrunning,detailedinthebook,arestill
relevant.However,whathaschangedisthatthetransformationprocessisnolongerlinear.
Transformationintoday’senvironmentisachievedthroughafast-movingiterativecycle.Thejourney
youareabouttoundertakeisonethatdoesnothaveadestinationotherthan"betterthanyesterday."
"Askingtherightquestionishalftheanswer."
-Aristotle
Thefirstbookincludedasetofkeyquestionsinthetransformationsection.Thissectionwillprovideyou
withadditionalkeyquestionsthatarefocalpointsforexperimentsandassessment.Thissectionwill
continuetousetheLearningModelCanvastoorganizeoureffortsandagainwewilltakeourcuefrom
thebestpracticesofstartups.Usingthismodel,youcanlookatwaysthatyoucanquicklygainthe
informationyouneedtodriveimprovement.Sincetransformationisaniterativeprocess,thefocuswill
beongetting"justenough"tostarttheprocess.Asyouproceed,yourorganizationshouldcontinually
revisitandreviseyourcanvas.Thissectionwillalsoinitiallylookatusingdataorresourcesalready
availabletoL&D.Incaseswherenewdataisrequired,thesuggestedprocesshasbeenextremely
sensitivetooptimizingtheuseofL&Dandotherresources.Thegoalistomaketheprocesssimpleand
fast.
Thehopeisthattheprinciplesintroducedinthisbookhaveyouenthusiasticaboutseekingoutand
capturingopportunitiestooptimizeyourL&Dorganization.Sowheretobegin?Simple.Acoreprinciple
ofbothstartupsandeffectivelearningorganizationsistostartwiththecustomer.
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
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ItStartswithaQuestion
Earlierthisbookfocusedontheimportanceofexperimentation.Allgoodexperimentsstartwithasking
therightquestions.Buildingontheassessmentfromthebeginningofthisbookanumberofkey
questionsthateachL&Dorganizationmustaskitselfinordertodelivernextgenerationvaluehasbeen
outlined.Thesequestionsthenprovideafocusfortheexperiments,whichinturnleadtomore
questions.Thesequestionsareorganizedtoallowforquickiterationsandfastfailure(betterseenas
learnings).Aspresentedinthediscussiononexperiments,allwelldesignedexperimentshaveasimilar
structure.
• Whatwebelieve
• Whatwewilldotoverify
• Whatwewillmeasure
• Whatourmeasurementneedstobeifweareright
Thislastpiece,whatdoesthemeasurementneedtobeifourassumptioniscorrect,iscritical.Startups
sometimeswaituntiltheresultsareintodefinesuccess.Alltoooften,thisleadstorationalizationofthe
datatosupportthedesiredoutcome.Ifastartupthinksthat70%ofthecustomersneedtobewillingto
payforitsproduct,thenthatisthehurdlethatthestartupneedstocross.Ifonly60%expressthis
willingness,theresponseshouldnotbe"closeenough,"butratherthequestion,"whynot?"Deciding
thehurdleobjectivelyandpriortotheexperimentassuresthatthisissueisavoided.
Tohelpwiththisprocessweincludedaquickself-assessmentatthestartofthisbookthatcapturesyour
currentassumptionsaroundtheperformanceofyourlearningorganization.Inallcases,unlessthereisa
databasisfortheratingitisonlyanassumption.Allassumptions,positiveandnegative,mustbeturned
into'knowns'throughexperiments.Thissectionhasanumberofapproachestogetyoustarted.
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4.15.19v2 107
Thefirstplaceforustobegintheassessmentprocessisthequestforproduct-marketfit.Todothis,we
havetodefineourmarket.Therefore,theveryfirstquestionis“whomcanL&Dserve?”
WhomcanL&Dserve?
Geography,mandateandhistoryallcontributetheanswertothisquestion.Thekeyhereistofocuson
whocouldgetvaluefromL&D.Perhapsyourorganization'sfocusisonlyonsoftskillsoronlyforpartsof
thebusiness.Theanswertothisquestiondefineswhatiscalledtheaddressablemarket.Whilehavinga
largeraddressablemarketisbetterforstartups,recognizingthelimitationsallowsustoconcentrateour
valuecreationonourtruepotentialcustomers.
Now,havingdefinedthefullpotentialmarketforourproductsandservicesthenextquestionweneed
toaskis“WhodoesL&Dservicetoday?”
WhodoesL&Dservice?
ThisisthemarketsharequestionthatL&Dhastoaskitself.OftheXnumberofemployeesL&Dcould
delivervalueto,howmanydoesL&Dactuallyreach?AreviewofdatafromanLMSorotherregistration
systemscanoftenbehelpful.ItisnotuncommontofindthatalthoughL&Dsaysitisforacertain
definedmarket,itisusuallyfocusedonasubsetofthatmarket.Thismaybetheresultofhistory,
executivesupportandbusinessdrivers.Wearenotsuggestingthisisaconsciouschoicetoexclude.
Knowingthetrueanswerstothesefirstmarketsharequestionsisanimportantfoundation.
Answerstothesefirsttwoquestionsregardingaddressableversusactualmarketpopulationshave
potentialinsightstooffertoanL&Dorganization.Fortheaddressablemarketthatiscurrentlynot
served,theL&Dorganizationmustaskitselftwosimplequestions:
• Whydon'twe?
• Howcouldwe?
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 108
FocusingonL&D'scurrentmarket,thenextquestionis,“Areweaddingvalue?”
Whatvalue?
Thetwosimplesurveyquestionswedetailedintheearliersectioncanhelpfindanswerstothis
question.Itistemptingtowanttosendoutasurveyrequestingfeedbackonallthevariousfacetsofthe
L&Dofferingandsolicitingsuggestionsforimprovement.Wearesupportersoflovingdata,remember?
L&Dmustrememberthatthisfirstphaseofrunningtrainingmorelikeastartupisaboutspeedand
efficientuseofresources.Onceweknowmore,wecandoubledownonresourcesmoreconfidently.In
addition,weallknowhowsurveywearymostcompaniesare.Twosimplebutpowerfulquestions,the
NetPromoterScoreandthePerceivedValueScorerequirelessthanthirtysecondsofyourcustomer’s
time…thatisallittakestodetermineifyourL&Dorganizationisaddingvalue.
Byallowingthedatatodrivetheprocess,startupsquicklygettheinputtheyneedwhichinturndictates
thenextstep.IfyourL&Dorganizationgetsanetpromoterscoreof50%,stopreadingthisandgetback
towhateveritisthatyouaredoing.Stopwastingyourtimeondatacollection,youaredoingfine.Ifnot,
readon.
Theresponsestothesetwoquestions,collectedfromallthreecustomerconstituencies;executives,
frontlinemanagers,andlearnersisthefirststeptowardsdefiningifthereisaproblemandifthereisa
problem,howbigitis.Ifyoubelieveyouaddvalue,(hopefullyyoudo)whatscoredoyouanticipate?
Thentakeadeepbreathandaskthequestions.Youmaynotliketheanswersbutnowyouhavethedata
andyoucanstartdoingsomethingaboutit.
NPSquestion:
"Onascaleof0to10,howlikelyareyoutorecommendthevalueofworkingwiththeL&Dorganization
toacolleague?"
PerceivedValueScore(PVS)question:
"Onascalefrom"extremelyimpacted"[10]to"wouldnotnotice"[1],howwouldyourbusinessbe
affectedifallofourL&Dsolutionswentaway?"
Whenreviewingthedata,oneofthedimensionstobeconsiderediswhattheresultsacrosscustomer
segmentstellabouthowL&Disservingeach.LinemanagersandlearnersvaluingL&Dbutexecutives
scoringitlowercouldbeanindicationthatL&Dneedstodoabetterjobcommunicatingwiththetop.
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 109
LinemanagerswhoarelesslikelytorecommendL&Dthanlearnersmayindicatethatthelearningisof
valuebuttakestoomuchtimeawayfromthejoborthelinemanagerisnotseeingperformance
improvement.Also,lookforinconsistenciesbetweenthetwoscoresforeachsegment.Highlyvalued
butunwillingtorecommendisapoliteanswer.Thisistrueforthereverseresultsaswell.Peopledon’t
recommendsomethinginwhichtheydon'tseevalue.
ExpectGreatThings
Letusassume,forthesakeofthissection,thatyourscoresarelowerthanyourassumptions.Nowitis
timetorollupyoursleevesandgettowork.DefiningthegapinL&D’sproduct-marketfit,thecritical
goalthatvalidatesthevaluebeingdeliveredtothecustomer,startswithournextquestion.
Whatvalueisneeded?
Toanswerthisquestion,Irecommendtwoapproaches;executiveinterviewsandanexpectations
mappingprocess.Executivesinterviewsprovideimportantdataregardingtheexpectationsofthebuyers
ofL&D'sproductsandservicesandinitiatetheprocessofchangingthediscussionfromcostto
investment.Combinedwiththeexpectationsmapthesegenerativetoolswillprovidetherequirements
andspecificationstocompareagainstthecurrentstate.
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 110
TalkingtotheTop
Havingconductedmanyexecutiveinterviews,therearetwokeystocollectinginsightfulandactionable
datathatstandout.FirstisthatthediscussionmustnotaboutL&D,untiltheveryend.Thiscanbeabit
confusingforsomeexecutiveintervieweeswhowonderwhenyouaregoingtoaskthemwhattraining
dotheyneed.YoucanassurethemthatyouwillgettherebutL&Disforsolvingbusinessproblemsso
thatiswhereyouaregoingtostart.Thiscanalsobeachallengefortheinterviewerwhointheirearnest
attempttofixthings,wantstojumprighttothe"whatcanL&Ddobetter"questions.
ThesecondkeytotheexecutiveinterviewsisthatL&Dmusttryhardtogetcandidfeedback.Your
colleaguesarenotpredisposedtotellaboutallthingsthatarewrongorthattheybelievewhatyouare
doingisawasteoftimeandmoney.Itcanfeeltoopersonal.Thisdynamicmakesitveryimportanttoset
thecontextforthediscussionandtomanagetheinterviewinaveryopenway.Ifyougetdefensive,or
theyarenotcandid,theL&Dorganizationwillnotgetthedataitneeds.
Startupsuseinterviewslikethisoneallthetimetovalidateaproblemtheybelieveneedssolving,to
defineasolutiontheyarebuildingorformakingimprovementstoanexistingproductorservice.We
haveadaptedsomeofthequestionstypicallyusedintheseinterviewsforthispurpose.Examplesofthe
typesofquestionsweincludeinexecutiveinterviewsareprovidedbelow.
Thetypicalinterviewstructureusedis:
• Introduction-Thesetuptotheinterviewprovidesthepurpose,benefitsandprocesswhilealso
settingthetoneforanopenconversation.Thisisusuallyincludedinthecommunicationusedto
requesttheinterviewaswell.
• Customer-Youmustunderstandwhoyourcustomeris.Itmaybeinterestingtoaskquestions
abouttheircareerpathwithinyourcompanyandinanypreviouscompanies.Weallhave
differentpathsandworkinginotherbusinessunitsandcompaniescaninfluenceyour
customers’expectationsandperceptionofL&D.
• Business–Mostlikely,youareveryfamiliarwithyourexecutive'sbusiness.Evenso,asking
aboutstructure,size,growth(realandtargeted)andprioritiescanallowtheexecutivethe
opportunitytoprovidethebusinessbackdropastheyseeit,whichmaybedifferentthanhowit
wasdescribedinthelatestannualreport.
• ProblemIdentification–Theobjectiveofthissectionistoprovideananchorforbusiness
alignment.Askingaboutchallengesfacedorbarrierstothebusinessachievingitsgoalsensures
thatL&Disfocusedonthebusinessissuesandisabletocommunicatethatinbusiness'own
words.
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 111
• Capabilities-Withthebusinesscontextnowbetterunderstood,thequestionscannowturnto
thecapabilitiesthepeopleinthebusinessneedtoovercomethechallengesandpursue
opportunities.Inadditiontothecapabilitiesrequired,askingaboutwhichpopulationshavethe
greatestneedforcapabilityimprovementcanhelptosetprioritiesforL&D.Understanding
thesegapscanhelpensurethatL&Disdeliveringthevaluethatthebusinessneeds.
• L&D–Finally,itistimetodiscusstheexecutive'sexpectationsofL&D.Byaskingaboutthe
executive's"ideal"L&Dpartner,L&Dcancreateapicturetobevalidated.Askingquestionsto
helpdescribethis"ideal"L&D'sroleinthebusiness,desiredinteraction,andopportunityfor
valuecreation.Theresponsetothisquestionrevealsalotabouttheexecutive'sperceptionof
L&D.
Insomecases,aninterviewwillalsoincludeaquicknumericscalequestionattheendofasectionto
provideaquicksnapshot.Aquestionlike"iftenisidealL&Dorganizationforsupportingyourbusiness,
whereisL&Dtoday?"canbehelpfulinbaseliningimprovementasyoumoveforward.Dependingon
theanswer,thissimpledatapointcanalsobeusefulincommunicationandgeneratingbuy-infor
change.
Whoshouldbeinterviewedisgoingtobedeterminedbythestructureofyourcompanyandthe
customersyourL&Dorganizationserves.Aswithanydatacollectioneffort,CLOswillwantthistobea
groupthatisreflectiveofthemarketL&Dcanserve.Onewaytostartthinkingabouttheinterviewlistis
tothinkbacktotheStrategy&GovernancesectionoftheLearningModelCanvas.Whowouldyouwant
tohaveonyourL&Dboardofdirectors?
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 112
ExpectationsMapping
NowthatL&Dhascapturedtheexpectationsofitsexecutivecustomersthroughexecutiveinterviewsit
istimetolearnmoreabouttheothertwocustomersegments.Fortheothertwosegments,managers
andlearners,anotherquickandeasysurvey-basedtoolcanbeusedtocollectthatdata.Onesimple,
open-endedquestionisallthatitwilltaketogettothenextiterationofthelearningcycle.
TheapproachtoexpectationsmappingisamodifiedapplicationofNominalGroupTechnique(NGT),
originallydevelopedbyAndreDelbecqandAndrewH.VandeVen.Startingwithasinglequestion,the
approachgeneratesalistofcharacteristicsdescribingtheidealL&Dfunction.UnliketraditionalNGT,
whichremovesduplicatesandthenusesavotingtechniquetodeterminethemostfavoredresponse,
thisprocesssimplyusesfrequencyasavote.Also,sincethereisnotaneedtoselectasinglefavored
response,theresponsescanbesubjectivelyorganized,basedonexperience,tohelpinunderstanding
thecustomer'sexpectations.
Thisapproachrequiresaslightlydifferentquestiontobeusedforeachofthetworemainingcustomer
segments.Forlinemanagersthequestionis,"WhatadjectiveswouldyouusetodescribetheidealL&D
organizationforyourbusiness?"Forlearners,"Whatadjectiveswouldyouusetodescribetheideal
learninganddevelopmentforyou?"Inbothcases,respondentsareencouragedtosupplythree
responseswithanoptiontocontributeupto10.
Oncetheexpectationdataiscollected,eachcustomergroupisanalyzedseparatelybutinthesameway.
First,frequencyofeachadjectivesubmittedistabulated.Droppingtheadjectivesinoneofthefree
onlineWordCloudtoolsisaneasywaytogeneratethisresult.Idroppedthissectionofthebookinto
oneofthesefreeonlinetools.Theexhibitbelowiswhatwasreturned.Thiswillimmediatelyhelpto
identifythemostcommonexpectations.Thespecificwordsarealsovaluableasorganizationslookto
driveincreasedspeedtolearnerthroughmorecompellingcommunications.
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 113
Thenextpartoftheexpectationmappingprocessissynthesizingresultstodeterminetheessenceofthe
desiredvaluepropositionofL&Dtothatcustomer.Thisisdefinitelymoreartthansciencebutgenerally
takesthefollowingsteps.First,looktoremoveorcombinesimilarterms,keepingthemostfrequently
usedoneastheheadline.Second,lookattheonesthatcanbegrouped.Forlearners,thismaymean
bundlingtermsreferringtochannelexpectations(mobile,ondemand,offsite)orproductexpectations
(short,interactive,video-based).Formanagerresponsesregardingtheorganization,abundlemightbe
processfocused(fast,responsive,flexible)ororganizational(embedded,businesssavvy,local).Afterthe
bundling,therestoftheanalysisprocessissummarizingwhatyourcustomershavetoldyouabouttheir
desiredvaluedrivers.
Withthreesurveyquestions,ahandfulofinterviewsandsomelightdataanalysis,L&Dorganizationscan
answerthefourfoundationalquestionsfacedbyallstartupsandessentialforrunningtraininglikea
startup.Attheendofthisprocess,L&Dwillbetterunderstandexpectationsfromallthreeoftheir
customersegments.L&Dnowalsoknowswhatavaluedproduct,theL&Dorganizationanddesired
resultslookliketothecustomers.Nowitistimetodeliverit.
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 114
AssessingtheSituationWiththegoalnowdefinedinthecustomerareaoftheLearningModelCanvas,L&Dnowhasthe
foundationalinformationrequiredtotakeafreshlookattheproductsandservicesoffered.Armedwith
itscustomerexpectations,L&Dcannowbegintoexploretheimplicationsfortheorganizationitself.In
thesectionondata,weidentifiedanumberofkeydashboards.Wewillrevisitthemhereastoolsfor
assessingthecurrentstate.
Inaddition,theprocesswillcontinuetofocusoniteratingquicklyandfocusingresourcesonthehighest
areasofimpact.Inthelasttwodecades,Ihaveconductedasignificantnumberoforganizational
assessmentsforL&Dgroupsofallsizes.Duringthattime,Ihavesatinwarroomsfullofboxesofdata
andinformation.Whileatonetime,itmadesensefororganizationstogoallinonhugechange
initiativeslayingoutfive-yearplansandcommittingenormousresources,theworlddoesnotworklike
thatanymore.
Thissectionisnotaboutbenchmarks.Thereareplentyofotherplacestofindthose.Benchmarkscan
alsobedangerous.Startupssometimeslookaroundforcomparators.Lookingathowfastanother
startupisgrowingorhowmuchmoneywasraised.Likebenchmarks,thesecomparatorscanbe
misleading.Thereisnothingwrongwithusingbenchmarksbutremember,beinginthesameindustryor
thesamesizedoesnotnecessarilymeanyouareinthesamecohort.Areyourcomparatorssolvinga
similarsizedproblem?Doestheirmarkethavesimilarcharacteristicssuchascustomerexpectationsand
buyingcycles?Insteadofbenchmarks,ourtouchstonewillbethecustomers,theirbusinessandtheir
expectations.
Whilesomequestionsareconnected,theideasinthesectionarenotdesignedtorequireallthe
questionstobeansweredatonce.Eachonecanbestand-aloneanddonewhenthetimeisright.Asa
CLO,maybeyourcustomershavetoldyouthatthereareopportunitiesforL&Dtoaddmorevalue.The
goalofthissectionistohelpyoumakeadata-drivendecisiononhowtoproceed.MostL&D
organizationshaveaprettygoodideawherethepainpointsare.Pickaspot,collectsomedataandget
tobuilding.Thegoalofthissectionistoprovideawaytogetyoustartedsmartlyinthedirectionof
deliveringtheunmistakablevalueyourcustomersdemand.
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 115
Theprocesswillcontinuetousequestionstohelpfocusonthekeyelementstobeassessed.Thisisnot
acompletesetofquestions.Aswiththisentiresection,thesequestionsareonlythefirstround.Based
ontheanswers,youmayproceedtoimplementingchangesimmediatelyoryoumayneedtoaskmore
questions.ThequestionsareorganizedintothefollowingareasoftheLearningModelCanvas:
• Product&Services
• ServiceDeliveryModel
• Strategy&Governance
• Investment&Return
RunningTrainingLikeaStartup
4.15.19v2 116
Products&Services
Howalignedareourproductswiththeexpectationsofourcustomersegment?
Whilethismayfeelsubjective,Irecommendtakingamoreobjectiveapproachtoansweringthis
question.CLOscanassessthecurriculumagainsttheexpectationsmapandcapabilityrequirements.
Whatpercentageofthelearningportfoliois"on-demand"orhowmany"interactive"solutionsare
offered?Isthereacommonthemetoproductsandservicesthatareandarenothittingthemark?
Themesmaybeaspecificcontenttype,businesspartnerorevensolutionarchitect.Bytakingthisview,
CLOscanquicklyidentifyareasforfurtherexplorationandaction.
Whatprocessesdowehave,orneedtoimplement,toensureaportfolioofproductsandservicesare
alignedwithourcustomer'sexpectations?
Howwillalignmentbemanagedmovingforward?Doesexpectationalignmentgetincludedalongside
businessalignmentindesignguides?Isthereaneedforquarterlyorannualreviews?Intoday'sbusiness
environment,customerexpectationsareamovingtarget;itisbesttohaveadynamicprocessfor
ensuringtheportfoliokeepsupwiththem.
Howarewemanagingourproductsformaximumvalue?
ThisquestionreturnstothePortfolioManagementdashboarddiscussedearlier.L&Dneedstobeclear
onhowtobestmanagetheentirelifecycleofasolutionfromreleasetotermination.Aretherepolicies
orstandardsregardingexpirationandupdates?Isthereanidentifiedownerformanagingthis?
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ServiceDeliveryModel
WhataretheactivitiesL&Dmustexecutetodelivertheproductsandservicesrequiredbythevalue
proposition?
Thefocushereisonallthedifferentactivitiesrelatedtothecreationofthevaluepromisedtoyour
customers.Solutiontypes,deliverychannelsandinfrastructureallrequireasetofactivitiesrelatedto
creation,administrationandmaintenance.KeepinmindtheconceptofTotalCostofOwnership(TCO)
aswell.Whatengagement,relationshiporsupportactivitiesarenecessary?Activitiesassociatedwith
theroleoftheCLO,suchasstakeholderengagementandrecruitingshouldalsobeincluded.
Whereshouldthoseresourcescomefrom?
WhetheraneededresourceshouldcomefrominsideoroutsidetheL&Dorganizationisafunctionof
threevariables.Thenecessaryresourcevolumeandthecertaintyofthatvolumeisthefirst.Whether
theresourcerequiresspecializedexpertiseorisitamoregeneralskillset,isthesecond.Thethird
variableistheextenttowhichtheresource'sperformanceiscriticaltothedeliveryofthevalue
proposition.Theanswerstothesequestionsprovideaframeworkforclearandconsistentdecision
makingregardinghowtobestsourceneededcapability.
WhatadditionalresourcesdoesL&Dneedtoperformthoseactivities?
Inadditiontothecapabilitiesneededbytheteam,theanswertothisquestionneedstoidentifyalltypes
ofresourcesincludingbudget,facilities,people,toolsandsupport.Forexample,isadatawarehouseor
ananalyticstooltoprovidemetricsrequiredbyyourcustomers?Arespecialfacilitiesrequiredtoenable
VRtraining?
HowalignedarethecurrentresourcesandactivitieswiththeexpectationsofL&D’scustomers?
DeploymentofL&Dresourcesshouldbeareflectionofwhattheorganizationfeelsisimportant.A
simplereviewofwhereL&Dstaff'stimeisspentcanofferinsightintoneededreallocationoftime,
possibleinefficienciesandopportunitiesfordeliveringmorevaluewiththesameteam.
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StrategyandGovernance
TowhatextentdoalllevelsofthecompanyunderstandthevaluepropositionofL&D?
AstheCLO,itisonethingtoknowwhatL&D’svaluepropositionis.However,itisentirelyanotherthing
tohaveyourcustomersknowyourvalueproposition.Allofyourcustomersandstakeholdersshouldnot
justknowyourvalueproposition;theyshouldexperienceitineveryinteraction.Theanswertothis
questionsupportsimprovedcommunicationstrategiesandothertouchpointssuchasmaterialsor
portals.Thefirststep,however,isforeveryoneintheL&Dteamtounderstandthevalueproposition.
HasL&Dengagedtherightexecutivesandmanagersasitsadvisoryboard?
L&Dneedschampions,evangelistsandinfluencersmanytimesduringtheyear.Whodoyouhavethat
canbeareferenceforbuildingarelationshipwithanewexecutive?Rememberthenewtechnology
adoptioncurveillustratesthatmovingtotheearlyandlatemajoritysegmentsrequiresdifferentvalue
driversthanforearlyadopters.Referencesandproofpointsareacoupleofthosedrivers.
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InvestmentandReturn
Whatarewespending?
Thekeystounderstandingtotalinvestment,orspending,werecoveredintheLMCsection.Makingthe
twoelementsoflearningspend,visibleandhidden,knowntoallisanimportantstepingettingbuy-in
fornewapproaches.Ihavenotdoneasingleclientassessmentwheretheslidecontainingthetrue
investmentfigurewasnotgreetedbysurprisefromthebusinesssponsors.Returningtoourshareof
walletconcept,itisalsoimportanttoreviewthelearningspendthatbusinessesaremakingwithout
involvingL&D.Fragmentedspendcanoftenmeanlossofpricingleverage,lackofconsistencyandlossof
quality.ItisalsoindicativeofthelevelofvaluecurrentlyseenbythebusinessesinL&D.
Whatarewegettingforit?
Everyoneagreesthatlearningdeliversvalue.Eventhefirstbookrecognizedthatcompanies
acknowledgedthevalueoflearning.Thequestionis,whatdatayourL&Dorganizationhastoproveit?Is
thatdatacredibletoyourcustomers?HowisL&Dsharingthedatawithitscustomers?L&D
organizationsandthesolutionstheydeliverareaninvestment.Aninvestmentthatiscompetingwith
otherusesforbudgetandresources.IfthebusinesssponsorsaresurprisedbythespendonL&D,they
areequallysurprisedbythelackofcrediblereturnoninvestmentdataforthatspend.
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FinalThoughts:EmbracetheJourney
"I'mconvincedthatabouthalfofwhatseparatesthesuccessfulentrepreneursfromtheunsuccessful
onesispureperseverance."
-SteveJobs,co-founder,Apple.
Iofferafinallearningfromtheworldofstartups.Startupsarehardwork.Sotooisthepathtorun
traininglikeastartup.Thisjourneyisamarathon,notasprint.Whilethepathmaybeunknown,whatis
certainarethesetbacks,hurdles,andrisksthatwillbefaced.Successfulfoundersknowthisandyetthey
continuebuilding.
AmyRosen,formerPresident&CEO,NetworkforTeachingEntrepreneurshipsaysthat,"high
performingentrepreneursseeproblemsastemporaryobstaclesonaworthwhilejourneyforwhichthey
arehighlymotivatedtoseethrough."CLOsandtheirteamsmustaccepttherealitiesofchangeand
uncertainty,takecalculatedrisks,learnfromfailure(andsuccess)andneverstopbeingcurious.The
futureisbuiltbypeopleandlearninganddevelopmenthelpsbuildbetterpeople.Itistimeforallofus
togetbacktobuilding.
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AbouttheAuthor
J.Miguez
Aseasonedstrategist,consultantandserialentrepreneur,J.Miguezhasspenthisentirecareerdriving
growthforcompaniesthroughinnovativesolutions.Hehasspentthelast20yearsattheintersectionof
Learning&Developmentandinnovation.HewasthearchitectandleadconsultantfortheForum
Corporation'sstrategictrainingassessmentofferingworkingwithglobal1000companiessuchasOracle,
GoldmanSachs,E.on,andNatwestBank.HedesignedandlaunchedtheTrainingOutsourcingofferingby
FranklinCovey,lateracquiredbyMellon.J.haspreviouslyheldthepositionofSeniorTalentSolutions
ArchitectforAonHewittfocusedonbringingnewapproaches,solutionsandpartnershipstoclients.
ThroughouthiscareerJ.hasworkedwithclientsaroundtheworldonoptimizingtheirlearning
organizationstomeettoday'sbusinesschallengesofspeed,flexibility,efficiencyandeffectiveness.
J.hasalsofoundedtwosuccessfulstartups,wasafoundingorganizerofStartItUpDE(apublic-private
partnershipthatlaunchedtheDelawaretechecosystem)andisanadvisortoinvestors,foundersand
largecorporations.Hehastaughtentrepreneurshipaspartofacceleratoranduniversityprograms.For
thelast7yearshehasauthoredGrowingUp,aslightlyoff-centeredblogforstartupsandinnovation.
Currently,J.isfocusedonbringingthebestpracticesusedbyfastgrowingstartupstoLearning&
Developmentfunctionsinlargeorganizationsandauthorsseveralblogs.
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