Making Competence Easy
Hal Christensen
Christensen/Roberts Solutions
MetroSet – New York
January 19, 2006
© Christensen/Roberts Solutions
Why does it take so
long and cost so much
to get workers up to
competence?
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The Learn - Retain Do Model
1. Has inherent inefficiencies
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Link
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The Learn - Retain Do Model
1. Has inherent inefficiencies
2. Masks the high cost of
learning
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The Cost of Competent
Performance
Incompetence
Trial & Error
Searching
Asking
Fixing Mistakes
Training Cost
With little or no
training or support,
the cost of
incompetence is
unacceptably high.
Learning Cost
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The Cost of Competent
Performance
With training
courses, the cost of
incompetence is
reduced but not
eliminated.
Incompetence
Failed to Learn
Forgot How
Training Cost
Learning Cost
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The Cost of Competent
Performance
With training
courses, however,
the cost of lost
productive time
spent in training is
significant.
Unproductive Time
Time spent in
training
Incompetence
Failed to Learn
Forgot How
Training Cost
Learning Cost
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The Cost of Competent
Performance
The goal is to drive
the costs of
incompetence and
lost productivity
towards zero.
Unproductive Time
Incompetence
Training Cost
Learning Cost
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What if we could make
it so easy for someone
to accomplish a task
that competence was
immediate—without
learning?
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Make Competence
Easy
1. Make learning a byproduct of doing
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The Training Wheels Concept
o Create a work environment/interface
that will prevent or greatly reduce the
chance for error.
o Allow learning to occur in the act of doing
rather than prior to doing.
o Allow learning to occur implicitly rather
than through explicit training.
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Make Competence
Easy
1. Make learning a byproduct of doing
2. Iron out barriers to
getting the work done
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The Systemic View of Work
Conditions
Input
Thru-put
Output
Results
Feedback
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The Systemic View of Work
Conditions
Input
Output
Results
Feedback
© Christensen/Roberts Solutions
The Systemic View of Work
Conditions
Input
Output
Results
Feedback
© Christensen/Roberts Solutions
The Systemic View of Work
Conditions
Input
Output
Results
Feedback
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VS
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Because of hurdles like these,
Workers in most American factories spend just 20
percent of their time making things. Supervisors
spend no more than 20 percent of their time doing
things that appear in their job descriptions.
Knowledge workers spend just 20 percent of their
time adding core value…
Jay Cross and Tony O’Driscoll
“Workflow Learning Gets Real,” Training Magazine
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Make Competence
Easy
1. Make learning a byproduct of doing
2. Iron out barriers to
getting the work done
3. Reduce the need for
conscious learning
© Christensen/Roberts Solutions
© Christensen/Roberts Solutions
Make Competence
Easy
1. Make learning a byproduct of doing
2. Iron out barriers to
getting the work done
3. Reduce the need for
conscious learning
4. Eliminate unnecessary
work and the need to
learn how to do it
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Link
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Let’s take a peek at what that would
look like.
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Demos
Making User Competence Easy
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Making Competence Easy
Hal Christensen
Christensen/Roberts Solutions
MetroSet – New York
January 19, 2006