Why be just one of the crowd? Why suffer in silence because your voice is unable to be heard? Following the herd is the most sure fire way to be lost. Why is it then, that most of us are trapped in the herd of mediocrity. Why do we continue to conform to being average. Is there something that causes us to cluster toward the average, instead of stepping out into greatness? I believe that many of us, individually and corporate, just don’t know how to break out and distinguish ourselves. Most of us are also fearful that if we do ‘dare to be different’ that we will appear to be foolish or weird. What steps, both small and large, can you take to breakout and start out on the path less traveled. Here are a few steps that you can take that can point you in a new direction: 1. Dream a little. Most often, people have dreams and aspirations that we fail to act on. There was an credit card advertisement that once ran a list of dozen of things that people should do in their life. Why not extend that ideal to us personally. If you had the opportunity to be or do something different, what would you be or do if money, time, and all constraints were removed. Take the time to dream and write down what you want deep down. For the corporate citizens, you can do this too. If you could move your company in to new directions, without fear of failure or cost or loss, what business or product would you wish to be in or produce. 2. Stop doing things that you don’t want to do. If you find that you are unhappy working at what you do, or are in a job or situation that is not leading you to personal fulfillment, just stop it. Change it. Do everything to eliminate this millstone around your neck. 3. Decide what is important. Does being accepted by others or stepping out into new light motivate you? This could be the most difficult thing. Deciding what’s important, really important, could be what you need to do to making a spectacular life vs. an ordinary life. 4. Take Action. Once you have dreamed of a life that you desire, eliminated efforts that are preventing your success, focusing on what is really important, execute your plan! Purposeful action is all that is usually required. It is not an overnight solution, but it will make your life the life you have envisioned. Related Posts:Dare to be Different3 C’s for Success100% ResponsibilityPowerful Written Goals In 7 Easy Steps!Realizing the Full Potential of Your Goal

We all instinctively know that learning and development within the corporate space is ‘supposed to’ make a difference. Yet, far too often the programs (not necessary the people) fail due to the following reasons. Some of these reasons are structural, but too many times it is just poor project management. A primary reason many programs and courses fail is because there is no "Accountability". Learning and Development departments think that they provide accountability by counting the number of seats in the program, or talking about how and why this program is valuable. But they fail in the correlation of the program to the participant job or position. If accountability exists, then the second most prevalent reason programs fail would be evident. Most programs lack any type of "Monitoring". I see many programs that do not have any requirements on monitoring the participants. Monitoring is not just watching the student sit in the program, and do some exercise. Monitoring is an actively engaging effort that is time-consuming, yet highly valuable. Monitoring is done by everyone involved: it involves the student, the direct supervisor and the HR department. The work is hard in this arena and yet the payoff is highest. It is a shame that far too many Learning & Development groups miss this. Monitoring is more than just happy sheets. It needs to include pre, mid or post program testing and a 30-60-90 day post program implementation of the concepts taught in a course and/or program. "Implementation" is the third area in which many programs fail. HR departments create comprehensive programs that no one seems to ever complete. Learning paths are not just something to create, but HR departments need to insure that staff follow-up to completion. What use is having staff take the introductory programs and then ‘get too busy’ to complete the balance of the curriculum? The value to the program creation and completion is to shorten the time that it takes for an employee with limited knowledge to evolve into a fully functional member of the team. The fourth reason many programs fail is that they allow the employee to ‘lose focus’ and effectiveness. Courses, learning paths and programs need to be highly coordinated, delivered in a meaningful way, and continued in a reasonable time frame. I have seen way too many courses cram too much information into a short period of time. Even the best of us can only effectively absorb new information for only certain periods of time. Seeing staff subjected to nine-hour programs for multiple days is catastrophic. Learning levels drop off so quickly in the late period that they become useless. Repeated days of long learning hours make many programs non-effective for both the participants as well as the energy level of the instructor. The converses of a lengthy delivery are programs that are so short that no material can be delivered. It takes time for participants to get into the groove of a program. Unless the participant is fully prepared, offering an extremely short program is ineffective for anything but a procedural program. The fifth reason many programs fail is the ‘short term feel good’ aspect of too many programs. Since when does a company offer programs that do little for the effectiveness of an employee? Who approves these programs anyway? Corporate learning and development is exactly that: ‘Learning and Development’. The programs offered should meet those basic criteria at the development stage. Why waste your development resources on programs that offer nothing towards the corporate goals? Feel good programs are for the summer picnic and winter party. Aside from those events, all of the training programs should have a specific objective and criteria for delivery and value to the firm. This brings us to the sixth reason why many programs fail. I am cheekily going to refer to this as the ‘what then’ part of many programs. Program manager, line managers, stake-holders too often have a ‘what then’ approach to corporate training. All these stakeholders know that they need programs, but have no foresight as to how to continue and elevate the programs that their staff attends. Once the staff have taken the introduction programs, where do they go next to develop deeper and more meaningful skills in various areas. Ideally, all training programs should be completely aligned with the corporate objective. This alignment and high correlation provides the biggest return on corporate training, insuring that what is delivered has relevancy, value and effectiveness to both the employee as well as to the company. By providing and developing programs that not only support the corporate objectives, but continuing these programs by delving deeper skills with the company’s staff, most companies and their employees will see a greater return on both the personal and corporate investments. This list of six constraints is often the reason many corporate training programs fail. This is not an indictment of the programs, but more of a roadmap to the bumps, potholes and log jams that many programs encounter in their development and delivery. Avoiding these issues can only make many programs better and more valuable. Related Posts:Corporate Training Programs ConstraintsTraining for a "New Face"RSDR 4: Development7-Steps to Creating a Coaching and Mentoring Program Four: MeasurementEngaging Participants 7: Evaluating for Engagement

"My great-grandfather use to say to his wife, my great-grandmother, who  in turn told her daughter, my grandmother, who repeated it to her  daughter, my mother, who used to reminder her daughter, my own sister,  that to talk well and eloquently was a very great art, but that an  equally great one was to know the right  moment to stop."  - Mozart Related Posts:Risks of LeadershipBuilding a Corporate University: Marketing and PromotionRisks of LeadershipPersuasion and Influence Are Part of Foundations of Leadership7-Steps to Creating a Coaching and Mentoring Program Four: Measurement

In the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, an Italian economist and sociologist, Vilfredo Pareto, noted that 80% of Italy’s money was held by 20% of its population. More study concluded that other countries had the same imbalance in wealth distribution. The Pareto Principle became widely used to explain and motivate in other areas, such as sales, marketing, personal development, and human resources. When you look at the 80/20 rule mathematically, the distribution can change. What do today’s mathematics say about the Pareto Principle? Is the 80/20 rule still accurate or has a shift occurred? In general terms, we can say that 80% of effects come from 20% of causes. In marketing, Pareto is used to say that you have to expend 80% effort, including manpower and money, to gain 20% in sales. From the sales angle, we can say that 20% of our customers carry the majority of our worth. In Human Resources, the Pareto Principle is assigned to dreamers versus achievers - where the 20% are the ones who actually get the work done. With that understanding, let’s look at what numbers tell us about our work in the 21st Century. In online communities, the Pareto Principle doesn’t come close to being accurate. Web 2.0 wisdom says that 90% of online community members are lurkers, the people who watch and never say anything. 9% of the community contributes a very small amount of the discussion, while 1% are usually the ones carrying the entire community. This shifts the mathematics to 99/1! Consider sports purses and salaries: in a golf tournament, the first place purse can be double that of the second place finisher. If you had 100 golfers, it’s reasonable to say that the top 5 finishers would receive up to 95% of the total prize money. In the big four sports leagues in the U.S. (NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB), the smallest salaries for a backup bench player are around $300,000 - but the biggest stars can command annual salaries of up to $20 million! In business, the average household income is around $48,000 annually, while the average CEO racks up about $10 million during the same time period. What about taxes? The GAO can show you that the top 10% of income earners pay nearly 90% of federal taxes. So if we look at the Pareto Principle today, has 80/20 shifted to 90/10 or even 95/5? In any situation, we can expend 80% effort to obtain 20% reward, but is the effort enough in relation to the reward? If the shift has occurred, we need to be looking for value in the top 10 or top 5 percentiles for whatever reward we’re seeking. Think about your organization and what it spends its time doing. If you’re ready to take it to the next level, to really succeed, think about today’s numbers. Your new goal is not 20% but more like 5 or 10%. You must examine every action you take and adjust it to the smaller success margin. The same principle applies to the choices you make - a choice based on the new success margin must be more well planned and executed than ever before. You’ll still gain success, but it will only come with higher standards and more targeted actions. Related Posts:Is the Pareto Principle Still 80/20?Pareto Rule: 80/20Sales Performance AnalysisOpportunity ManagementSales Pipeline: Fact or Fiction

"Technology on its own isn’t strategic. But technology combined with the business idea is more strategic than ever. In fact, the ubiquity of technology is what makes it strategic." — Jim Champy (Re-engineering Guru) Related Posts:NSA NYC Speaker March 18, 2011Corporate University:Include TechnologyCreating Your Training Vision 2011: Organizational StrategyTraining Alchemy: 5 Disruptive Training TechnologiesDeveloping Internally vs. Licensing Externally : a Combined Approach

In 1897, Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, in his study of the patterns of wealth and income, observed that the distribution of wealth was predictably unbalanced. He first discovered this pattern in 19th-century England and found it to be the same for every country and time period he studied. Over the years, Pareto’s observation has become known as the 80/20 principle. The principle is simple, but counter-intuitive: Nature creates imbalances. This is true for money (20% of people have 80% of the wealth), crime (20% of criminals commit 80% of crimes), energy usage (15% of population uses 85% of energy), competition (20% of suppliers have 80% of market share)and even carpet (20% gets 80% wear and tear). Pareto’s findings have touched a great many students of business and economics. In fact, every MBA graduate at one time or another has heard of the "80/20 Principle". The "80/20 Principle", also know as Pareto’s law, simply states that approximately 80% of the output is a result of just 20% of the input. In Pareto’s case, he found that 80% of the world’s resources/wealth was under the control of just 20% of the population. Please note that the use of the term 80/20 is used loosely and is not to be taken literally. The disproportionate relationship could easily be 90/10, 65/25, 70/10, etc. The basic idea behind Pareto’s law is that the relationship between input and output is rarely if ever balanced. The key then is to isolate what input is causing the most output. This law can apply to an infinite number of disciplines and can be used to increase productivity on the micro and macro level. The list of relationships goes on and on, but here are just a few examples: 1) Business: Customers-to-Sales, Product Lines-to-Sales, Items-to-Sales, Raw Material-to-Finished Product. 2) Sociological: Automobile Type-to-Number of Accidents. 3) Personal: Hours Worked-to-Productivity, Types of Investments-to-Investment Returns, Scheduled Tasks-to-Personal Happiness. In a non-linear world: 1) Celebrate exceptional productivity, look for the short cut. Be selective, only do what you do best. 2) Keep it simple. Size often creates complexity - which in turn creates inefficiency. Pour your effort into the 20% that makes a difference. Sometimes it is better to lose unprofitable customers to competitors 3) Hold on to your good customers and employees forever! 4) The key to 80/20 is not time-management. Don’t try to do more. Just do more of the right things. 5) Do what you enjoy because enthusiasm and success is a complementary cycle. Related Posts:Is the Pareto Principle Still 80/20?Is the Pareto Principle Still 80/20?Sales AnalyticsBuilding Long-Term RelationshipsThe 29 Costly Implications of Losing Customers

Building an effective e-learning program is a seven-step process. The first step is to assess the current learning situation in three parts: content, learners, and systems. Before we discuss these elements, it’s a good thing to remember that e-learning in general is different than traditional learning interventions. E-learning is a different concept, with different conventions, rules, and delivery methods. So if you’re new to e-learning, wipe your mind clean while we discuss the seven steps of creating an effective e-learning program. Along these lines, assessing e-learning requires a different "eye" than assessing traditional learning. With that in mind, let’s discuss assessing the situation before you begin an e-learning program. The first element of assessing e-learning is to look at content, both existing and future. Before you look at your existing content, decide what is appropriate for e-learning. In many cases, informational course material is the best way to start with an e-learning program. This type of material can be made easily interactive and lends itself to participants who are not in a classroom. Tutorials, pre-work, and some collaborative exercises such as case studies may also be good candidates for transformation to an e-learning platform. As far as your future content, you’ve got a blank slate. One way to see what content is being used and in what contexts is to go out to major Learning Management System vendors such as Learn.com or GeoLearning and ask for a free tour. You’ll see that e-learning possibilities are very broad and are only limited by your audience and possibly your budget. Next, you should assess your learners. On the surface, this may seem like an easy task. You know where your learners are located, how many exist, and what jobs they hold. But to successfully implement an e-learning program you must go deeper into the learner’s skills and abilities as they relate to technology. In fact, that’s the first question. Are your learners "tech-savvy"? Do they have exposure to computers and computer programs every day? Some parts of your organization may have this exposure, while some may not. It all depends on your industry and your specific organization. Do you think the learners will be able to learn via online programs? This question extends past ability and into environment. For example, skilled workers who are members of a union may have to have special time and permission written into their contracts. With this question comes the question of management: will you be able to train the management to give their groups time to complete online learning programs? Are your learners adaptable? Let’s face it: some groups are not necessarily the most ready to accept change. But then again, if the organization is ready to modernize then it may be time to separate the change champions from the status quo. Once you’ve assessed your learners, you must assess your organization’s requirements. The first requirement is simply a question of budget. How much money will you have to spend on e-learning development and delivery? Once you have an idea, take a look at the vendors again to see what they have to offer - and at what cost. But before you ask for a demo, decide what "bells and whistles" your system will have. Do you want or need to use streaming video or will a simple platform with basic graphics suffice? Do you have a large number of learners, let’s say, over 1000? Finally, determine what technology is already out there - and decide if these computers and equipment stand up to the test of modern e-learning software and applications. We will discuss systems in more detail in the third step of our seven step series on the successful implementation of e-learning programs. This three-step assessment is probably only the beginning, but you will answer some of the basic questions that can point you toward the right staff, systems, and e-learning content. You’ll also have a good idea of what requirements to hand over to your vendors or your IT department, depending on who will help you roll out the new e-learning program. Once you’ve taken the time to assess, you’re ready to move to step two, converting and creating content. Related Posts: 7-Steps to Creating an Effective E-learning Program Part 2: Convert and Create Content 7-Steps to Creating an Effective E-learning Program Part 5: Evaluation LMS Implementing and Analysis 7-Steps to Creating an Effective E-learning Program Part 4: Implementation 7-Steps to Creating an Effective E-learning Program Part 3: Online Learning Systems

You’ve taken the time to assess your content, learners, and overall system requirements. The next step is to understand how to build and deliver e-learning content. In regard to converting existing content, the task is not as simple as dumping pages into an online learning management system or content builder application. The conversion takes careful planning and adherence to some general standards on content. The creation of new content is somewhat easier - as long as you know the standards. Let’s discuss content and delivery. E-learning content, as we’ve seen previously, is a completely different concept than traditional learning material. First, online content should be brief and must not wander. "Wandering" content is somewhat more acceptable in traditional learning materials, because typically participants take the written materials with them as references. In online learning, the participant is going to learn what content is directed their way and they are probably not going to take anything with them. You can develop content in a brief format by trying to keep each frame to 70 words or less. With this guide, you can also be sure that your content is to the point, that is, in the realm of "need to know" versus "nice to know". Training managers and instructional designers must exercise quite a bit of editorial license to prepare traditional materials for transfer to e-learning platforms. The content must be learner-directed, as well. Think about a traditional textbook, with "pop outs", tables, exhibits, and references. In e-learning, you can turn appropriate "extras" into a bit of an adventure for the participants. For example, your content can say, "for more information about X, click here". When the participant clicks, you can show a "pop up" or callout with more information. That information will make a special impact in the learner’s mind, so use this type of learner-directed concept wisely. Along the lines of learner-direction, e-learning content should be interactive. Have you ever seen an online course that was simply like turning the pages of a virtual book? Learners can read handouts that are emailed just as easily as logging into your learning management system, so create a way for the learner to interact every few frames. This interaction may be as simple as a review question, a callout, or a quick interactive exercise. In more sophisticated delivery systems, the interaction could be a collaboration with other learners, a video, or even a tutorial or simulation. The idea is to keep your learner’s interest by asking them to interact every few minutes. One of the final things to keep in mind on e-learning content is that modules should ideally be thirty minutes or less. You already know how hard it is to keep an adult learner’s attention in the classroom for more than an hour at a time, especially when those learners have jobs, e-mails to answer, and goals to satisfy. Don’t make the assumption that an e-learning audience is captive. Keep content brief, learner directed, and interactive. What special guidelines apply to e-learning delivery? In addition to the usual adult learning principles, such as applicability and timeliness, e-learning content should be the "need to know" content. A fun course is great as long as the content serves a purpose. The quickest way to fail your e-learning program is to use it as a catch-all. Learners will begin to question why they are taking their valuable time to complete courses that make no difference in their jobs. In addition, e-learning content delivery should be accessible. Don’t make it too hard for learners to sign in, take a course, and have a grade recorded. Along those lines, the accessibility of programs is a great place to begin questioning a possible vendor. The content should be "book-markable", that is, the learner should be able to exit the course and go right back to where they left off. Your courses should always begin with a set of instructions on how to use the course, how to advance, how to go back, and how to bookmark. Make this section something that the learner can opt-out of, but have it available anyway. When you start creating and transferring content for your e-learning programs, keep these guidelines in mind in order to make the experience a good one for all of your learners. Related Posts: 7-Steps to Creating an Effective E-learning Program Part 1: Assessment 7-Steps to Creating an Effective E-learning Program Part 5: Evaluation Engaging Participants 1: Keys to Engagement Engaging Participants 4: Virtual Engagement 7-Steps to Creating an Effective E-learning Program Part 3: Online Learning Systems

Your existing content has been converted and your new content is ready to be delivered. Now what? Your organization must have some type of delivery system for the online learning program, commonly referred to as a Learning Management System, or LMS. There are numerous questions to analyze and topics to consider before you choose a system. Let’s take a look at those topics so that you and your organization can begin asking the right questions in order to implement the right delivery system. First, you must consider the origin of the delivery system. Will the organization choose a vendor to assist or will it go with internal expertise, namely the IT department? When considering this important decision, remember that there are benefits and drawbacks for both. A vendor-purchased system is typically made-to-order by a group that specializes in just that. You can give the vendor your organization’s specifications and they can come back with a system design and price. On the drawback side, the specifications can sometimes be costly - and changes can be slow and costly, as well. A homegrown LMS is fantastic if you have the expertise and resources in-house to build it. An in-house development team knows the organization, its growth, and its audience. Plus, a homegrown system may cost less in the long run. The potential roadblocks to this path are that the expertise must be present in-house - and they must be able to devote themselves pretty much full time to the project. If the department’s knowledge of LMS architecture is marginal, you may find more problems than you bargained for. Once you’ve made the decision to go internal or external for the build-out of the delivery system, you can begin thinking about the features you’d like to see. Do you want the system to track completion and record grades? Do you want to use those features to register and track your traditional learning programs, as well? Should learners be able to print a certificate of completion for their online courses, no matter where they are located? On the technical side, does the LMS need to have the capability of creating complex video streaming, interactive modules, and collaboration? If so, how is the existing technology able to accommodate the LMS? On the design side, would you like to see a built-in content development engine, where content developers can essentially "dump" information into the LMS and create effective courses? Or are you going to have a team of technology designers who can take the content, develop it in Flash or HTML, and upload it to the LMS? We’ll discuss staffing in a moment, but these technological specifications should be part of your systems discussion from the beginning. There are some other considerations, as well. What population is going to be accessing the delivery system? Can the organization’s infrastructure and bandwidth handle the influx of users? What about access? Do you want users to be able to access the system from the Internet, that is, from anywhere, or just within the confines of the organization’s firewall? When thinking through these considerations, be certain that a vendor can offer you all of these options. Add-ons, as we have discussed, can be very expensive. If you’re going with an in-house construction, consider pulling an IT person to become the administrator of the online delivery system. Someone will need to make changes as the e-learning program and the organization continue to grow. Along those lines, what are your staffing needs for the system itself? Typically a person (or more than one person) is needed to administer the system, even if it is purchased from a vendor. Your decisions about the structure of the technology may also affect your staffing. If you are going to design courses outside of the LMS, you’ll probably need content designers, who write the material, and graphic designers who can create the course framework, the interactivity, and the testing pieces. And keep in mind that setting up course roadmaps, course schedules, and maintaining the recording end of the LMS may take an administrator, as well. Now that you have quite a bit to think about when implementing an e-learning system, take the time to answer your questions thoroughly. You’ll be glad you did. Related Posts: 7-Steps to Creating an Effective E-learning Program Part 6: Modification 7-Seven Steps to Creating an Effective E-learning Program Part 7: Regular Monitoring Learning Management System Basics (LMS) 7-Steps to Creating an Effective E-learning Program Part 4: Implementation LMS Implementing and Analysis

Your content is ready to go. Your LMS is in place and ready to deliver quality online courses to your entire organization. Is the implementation simply a matter of flipping the switch? It can be, but that is not an effective way to change the organization’s mindset when it comes to online training. And a new e-learning program is certainly going to require a new mindset. When you’re ready to implement, you must market with a message - and look at changing how the organization thinks about training. First, marketing is not reserved for the organization’s products. Marketing must occur with an e-learning implementation. You should determine how you want to "brand" your online learning. Do you want to use the organization’s brand and continue it into the program? Or do you want to create a secondary brand that’s used in-house? Either way, you may need to engage your in-house marketing department or an outside consultant to help you design the look and feel of the courses and their rollout. But overall, think about how e-learning is going to change the organization’s "life": it’s learning that’s easy, effective, and a new and exciting way to meet learning requirements! Consider these aspects as you plan your marketing. The presentation of the message and marketing is equally important. Consider creating informational emails or memos that market the learning program and encourage learners to check out the new system. Along those lines, consider going on "road trips" to various groups in order to plug the new and improved learning. If your organization is already technologically advanced, put your marketing into every virtual location, such as blogs, online collaboration, e-newsletters, and Intranet articles. In addition to marketing, it is a necessity to obtain buy-in from the executive level in the organization. This group must be ready to get behind the online learning program and sing its praises at every opportunity. In more advanced organizations, the executives even go out on the road trips to talk to the populations. In these organizations, training personnel sometimes test the LMS and new courses on executives. A high-level testimonial from someone’s favorite CFO is a great marketing tool and should be used to every advantage. When it comes to marketing the e-learning program, remember that you are pushing a new product - and you need "buyers" for it. From the operational standpoint, first consider if the rollout of e-learning will be one large act or a phased-in approach. Do you want to hit the entire organization with a few excellent courses, or do you want to roll to a smaller group to get them up and running first? There is really no wrong answer here. It all depends on your organization. Along with this, be sure that you know what the initial headcount could be. You don’t want your delivery system to crash because you underestimated the number of users who will be acessing it in the first day, week, or month. A final word on operations: test the system before you roll it out. You can begin testing within the training organization and then expand. Have everyday users go to the courses and evaluate content, ease of access, wait times, and recording. If the test on a small scale goes well, you know you can expand and roll out to a larger number of users. Finally, remember that implementing e-learning is a change in the mindset of many organizations. It’s not just a new system and a new way to take classes - it’s a new way of life, one that will make things easier for all involved. But with this new way of life comes new opportunities. For example, managers must learn to schedule employees for training, even if that employee is sitting at his or her desk. The temptation is to call them back into action before they are finished, simply because they are present in the workplace. Plus, someone has to be held accountable for getting learners on the system and allowing them to complete their courses. Typically that accountability also goes to organizational managers. Along with these considerations, remember that if employees are able to access training at home, there may be issues with pay, unions, and maximum work time requirements. The best thing to do with "mindset" is to make a list of all of the considerations, from buy-in to accountability to hourly pay - and decide how the organization will work with each. This way, no question will go unanswered during the implementation phase. Related Posts: 7-Steps to Creating an Effective E-learning Program Part 6: Modification LMS: Training, Marketing, and Technology 7-Steps to Creating an Effective E-learning Program Part 3: Online Learning Systems 7-Steps to Creating an Effective E-learning Program Part 5: Evaluation 7-Steps to Creating an Effective E-learning Program Part 1: Assessment