I’ve got a problem…
Last night after dinner with a class colleague I sat down to readdress the problem statement. I am still struggling with the concept of writing the problem statement and find the recipe for it, canned and awkward. So, I broke out of the mold and still find the statement a bit off, but closer to my actual thought process.
Essentially, I want to talk about the millennial generation of workers and how to capture the high levels of energy, accomplishment and success of that generation in the workplace. I feel that existing training modalities lag the technological evolution rising at the feet of these emerging workers. Collaboration and social software like wikis, podcasting, blogging, social networking, instant messaging are being used to establish teams, accomplish work, learn and discover. Much of the research on this is in the K-12 and higher ed arena but little or none is reaching out to corporate learning and performance.
As a performance worker I am more concerned with how training links to performance in the operation. Chiefly, looking at error rates and other productivity metrics leads me to a more concrete picture of how people’s knowledge leads to their job and transfer. While lots of research on training spend is out there, I am leary of linking my research to that. Simply put, there is too much controversy about how it is done. Sure there are experts in the field and widely accepted methods, but does a 600% return on learning sound right to you? It happens, sure, but the reality is that saying this to a operations expert will get you tossed out on your ear without significant proof, something much harder to arrive at. There are many variables at work there, formal education, past experience, processed, systems, training, personality, luck, cheating, etc.
So, all that said, I wrote a new problem statement. I am looking forward sitting down 1:1 with the professor and hashing it through again. Yesterday’s class-wide discussion helps and it got me to go back to my passion. Today should help me clarify the problem into a strong starting block.
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