For example, after purchasing a system, a company finds out that managing a long project plan can be harder because they do not understand the new system. It was rolled out hastily and to save costs, they did one training for the user group and expected them to understand a complex tool. Learning properly would take roughly 8-10 hours of reinforced teaching and changing the way that they think currently. The company will claim that there is not enough time or money to invest in this level of training and reduce it. As the users start to use the new system, they become frustrated and begin to create workarounds. They store high level plans in the new system and create longer plans outside the system that fits the way they used to perform this task. This then creates 4-6 hours of rework depending on the number of project they are running because most of the information is outside of the new system and they have to enter data twice for reporting. The chore becomes keeping everything in sync. Assuming each resource takes 2 weeks of vacation, this turns into 200-300 additional hours of work without value because it is "easier."
What if we invested this time to learning the new system properly? Those hours could be invested in value generation versus rework.
This is also true of personal training. The almighty PDU. I am constantly being bombarded with quick and easy training opportunities that give me a PDU to hold my certification. I often wonder if the PDU is adding value or just taking score? I watch so many people waste time looking for the easy or cheap PDU versus finding something that will enhance and grow their career.
John Maxwell states, "Everything worthwhile in life is uphill, but many people have downhill habits." This is very evident in how people pursue or grow their knowledge. Personal development and training should force you out of your comfort zone and help you understand new skills and habits. This is not an easy undertaking, but nothing worthwhile is!
No Day But Today,
Rick
