Cal Wick
Founder and Chairman
Fort Hill Company

Arie de Geus observed that "the ability to learn faster than your competitors may be the only sustainable competitive advantage." I believe that applies to learning and development professionals as well.

We were delighted earlier this month when learning leaders from a number of our clients agreed to meet and share ideas and best practices.

I was encouraged not only by the innovative ways in which these leaders are approaching program design and using follow-through tools, but also by the open sharing and exploration of ideas.

We are pleased to share highlights with you in this issue of Learning Alert.

Cal Wick

Cal Wick is the Founder and Chairman of Fort Hill Company.

Cal is a nationally-recognized consultant, educator and researcher on improving the performance of managers and organizations.

Cal's research led to the concept of Follow-Through Management® and the development of web-based Follow-Through Tools® that improve results by increasing follow-through and learning transfer.

Cal graduated as a Rockefeller Fellow from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut and continued his studies as an Alfred P. Sloan Fellow at MIT's Sloan School of Management.

The purpose of the Learning Alert is to share best practices that help learners follow-through and improve their personal and business results.

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What Works: Best Practices

In early May, learning leaders from 12 great companies gathered in Wilmington, Delaware to share ideas and best practices for maximizing the value of learning and development.

The program was organized around the six disciplines that turn learning into results (6Ds™):

1. Define outcomes in business terms
2. Design the complete experience
3. Deliver for application
4. Drive follow-through
5. Deploy active support
6. Document results

Mary Savage (Program Manager, Advanced Leadership Program, Thomson Corporation) underscored the importance of treating learning as a process, not an event. She described how she and her team have taken a comprehensive approach to program design integrating communication, delivery, and follow-through with the help of corporate communications.

Jim O’Hern (Director, Leadership Development) and Malini Janakiraman (Director, Corporate Learning) of Honeywell described the importance of delivering for application. Best practices include challenging participants to “leave a legacy” of successful application, and collecting and publishing these (with attribution) for participants in subsequent programs.

Elisabeth Hughes (Corporate Training Manager, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Massachusetts) addressed the importance of driving follow-through in transforming an existing Core Leadership Curriculum from a learning event to a continuing process. The program now includes a 10-week learning transfer period supported by a web-based follow-through management system (Friday5s^® ). Over 90% of participants reported follow-through actions; managers, peers and coaches provided on going feedback and mentoring through the system.

Laura Santana (Enterprise Associate) and Wynne Whyman (Blended Learning Manager) of the Center for Creative Leadership discussed CCL's innovative approach to providing on-going support for learning transfer. In addition to a face-to-face meeting during the Center's flagship Leadership Development Program (LDP)^®, CCL coaches now use the Internet to provide feedback on the participant's goals and on-demand coaching during the follow-through period.

Elad Levinson (Director, Management and Employee Development, Agilent Technologies) described the importance of taking organizational context and history into account when designing programs. He stressed the value of using a structured approach to the design, such as the 6Ds, to ensure that all the elements that influence learning and transfer are taken into account.

Jody Grawey (Manager, Talent and Organizational Development, Sony Electronics) described an integrated leadership curriculum with strong links to business needs and individual accountability for ROI from learning. The program's approach to follow-through is designed to foster “coopetition” (a blend of cooperation and competition) among learning teams. During a virtual re-connect attended by an executive from Sony's Talent Management Council, participants report out their business outcomes. Senior managers hear firsthand the power, impact, and results of their investment in learning and follow-through.

Ideas for Action

1. Design learning as a process, not an event. The program plan should include what happens before as well as after the classroom session, with particular attention to the learning transfer / follow-through period.
2. Hold participants accountable for turning learning into results, leaving a legacy, and generating a return of the company's investment in their development.
3. Use new communication, follow-through management and virtual meeting technology to provide on-going support to ensure that learning is transferred and applied in a way that produces results.

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