This past summer, the world watched amazing feats of strength and agility in the Rio 2016 Olympics. One especially competitive event was the long jump. Jeff Henderson took home the men’s gold for the USA, flying 27 ½ feet, while USA’s Tianna Bartoletta won the gold for the women with a personal-best distance of over 23 ½ feet.
While it appears that the athletes simply run and jump, there are actually four distinct phases in a successful long jump: (1) the approach run, (2) the takeoff, (3) the flight, and (4) the landing. It occurred to me that each of these phases are critical in learning as well, particularly the approach run. “The goal of the approach run is for the athlete to reach optimal takeoff speed and position just as he/she reaches the takeoff board.”[1]
In today’s competitive business world, learning must keep up with the speed of business. When a new product rolls out, training on the product must be available either with, or ideally, prior to launch of the product. The same is true for many other topics. We cannot wait for complete content, the full catalog of branding and images, and for all of the stakeholders’ calendars to align to begin. We must approach the project already running.
At Principled Technologies, when a client identifies a learning need, we immediately take the following strides to ensure a running start:
Simple proposals
Writing 12-page contracts for three snackable sales enablement modules is overkill and can take longer to usher through procurement than it takes to complete the project. A one or two-page statement of work that defines the need, describes the approach, and lists the cost and payment terms should suffice. Details are important, but so is speed. Streamlining the agreement process (e.g., working under a master services or retainer agreement) helps simplify getting started.
Early consultations
By bringing PT into the conversation early, we can lend our expertise in learning to help define what’s needed to achieve your business goals. We bring an objective lens to the challenge and help find creative solutions which may include microlearning, videos, live instruction, and/or social learning. We can help figure out what you need, without superfluous digital bling that you don’t.
Flexible resourcing
PT employs a revolutionary approach to resourcing projects that accelerates each phase of production. Full-time employees jump on tasks that match their skillsets, interests, and availability throughout the project; it’s not unlike Amazon Mechanical Turk or Upwork (formerly Elance) in the contracting world, only everyone at PT is under one roof. Since each project has dozens of tasks, your project will benefit from the input of more than a dozen different professionals who will provide individualized expertise. The keys to this model are our ongoing task-based training in various technologies, methodologies, and techniques. Each project also has a dedicated project manager as your single point of contact. This approach gives us a running start so we can kick off new projects quickly after receiving the signed statement of work.
Just as with the long-jump approach run, we pick up our pace the closer we are to kickoff—holding internal prep sessions, reviewing documents and resources you’ve provided, and identifying any immediate gaps we need to fill. Getting a running start in learning is essential if you want your business to fly across the finish line and beat your own personal bests.
