Author: Jesse Brodkey, VP Communications

When knowledge gaps are identified among individuals or teams, we want to believe a concise topical workshop is the best solution. After all, unappealing alternatives include everything from costly new talent hires to paid up-skilling through college level continued education—all which are expensive, pull people from their current responsibilities, and fundamentally delay innovation.

What we want is a workshop magic bullet.

“...only one-quarter of the respondents to a recent McKinsey survey said their training programs measurably improved business performance”

—McKinsey

Though workshops can be delivered quickly, on point, and cost effectively, they simply can not offer the equivalent depth of a college-level education. Expert innovators likely have advanced graduate degrees, a Masters or PhD, that represent the many years of dedicated practice needed to both hone and put into practice the complex tools that yield true business value.

However, it is important to note that recent graduates often do not have much real world business experience. We can leverage the professional strengths already present in our workforce to build out an equivalent training program.

What is fundamentally missing from the workshop, but built into every university program, is breadth of theoretical knowledge solidified through practice—or more simply put, pedagogy. At a high level, employing a pedagogical framework to an enterprise-level training program must take into account a comprehensive and overarching view of all needs—rather than, for example, a single Band-Aid lunch and learn. Continual utilization of the tools and familiarization with skills synchronously at work not only ground learners in the value of each process, but reinforce the necessity of following best practices at every stage of development. This first pedagogical equivalency ensures every participant-learner is engaged holistically from the start.

Individual workshops provide the most value when fresh in the mind. However, project schedules do not always align with workshop topics. Rather than expect active projects to make space for workshops, a better method is to map workshops to project timelines. This second pedagogical equivalency ensures materials from each workshop are put to work immediately, and honed through daily practice (much like a lab in the university setting). This folding of workshop learning and daily work practices increases learning retention and likelihood of project success.

The third equivalency standardizes learning while working. In essence, structuring a series of regular workshops & mentorships, specifically tailored to active business needs, that both reinforce and build upon daily activities, will result in a comprehensive understanding of materials similar to the breadth of a university program with their 101, 201, 301 courses. Though only particular workshops may seem prescient to say, a Marketing specialist, the lack of a holistic understanding will impede their overall comprehension, clarity of purpose, and general effectiveness collaborating at an expert level with, for example, someone in Business Development.

The fourth equivalency becomes evident as participants who have completed their path through all the courses become champions for new team members. These now in-house, fully formed experts will routinely engage with their peers—both in theory and practice—without the need of external training vendors, thus establishing a true culture of innovation.

“Outcomes are much better when business leaders participate in the design and delivery of training programs and connect them to the new ways of working.”

— McKinsey

For these four pedagogical equivalencies to truly take root and result in real business value for the enterprise, this newly established culture of innovation must actively be supported and energized at all levels. This does not mean VPs need to design apps and validate assumptions, or that field workers have to deliver a value based pricing strategy, but everyone must support the new practices, methodologies, and technologies through controlled adoption, tracking metrics, and rewarding the seed planters of each success.

“We will do it for you, and teach you while we do it.”

— Adrian Garcia, Daito

Daito training & mentorship is geared specifically to ensure expert innovation best practices become habitual by employing all four of these pedagogical equivalencies. We are actively designing new relationships with our clients, and encourage every company to expect more from their vendors.